D
HALL OF FAME
The O’show; Johnny O’Mara Johnny O’Mara is one of those riders whose name will forever be remembered. His silky smooth style and fluidity on the bike was second to none and when paired with his boy next-door look, blonde hair and blue eyes, O’Mara was the 1980’s poster boy of American motocross.
Born and raised in Southern California, his upbringing was constantly focused around dirt bikes with his father being a keen desert rider, so it was only natural Johnny would be inclined to swing his leg over one. While joyous family outings on motorcycles were great it didn’t feed Johnny’s hunger for success and at the age of ten the eager beaver began dabbling in local the motocross scene. Lining up next to the nearest milk crate, a petite-framed Johnny O’Mara would climb aboard his 100cc motorcycle in an effort to bring home some amateur race glory. Although the road up to and through the amateur ranks wasn’t easy, Johnny had one quality a lot of other motocross talents didn’t have – a fierce work ethic.
The saying “Hard work will beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard” is one that Johnny swears by. “I am definitely one that would say with physical training you can never do enough. I believe your body is the only thing that can make you win. They say it’s a lot about the motorcycle, but I don’t agree, I say its more about your body because if you have a weak body you are not going to be able to ride fast on a motorcycle. It’s a combination but it starts with your body.” In the 1980’s, Johnny O became that guy all kids aspire to be, he signed a deal with the dominant force of Factory Honda and was officially living the dream. While most Americans remember him for rolling out dressed in white motocross gear and making it look effortlessly cool, or his famous ‘boot gatorz’, the kids across the Atlantic, in Europe, remember him as a key player on America’s first ever victorious Motocross of Nations team. “My first trip to Europe was in 1981 for the Motocross des Nations in Lommel, a track that will be in my head forever. It was really
gnarly; we had never seen sand like that, just like everybody still says. You can think you’re a sand rider but until you really ride Lommel in race conditions, you can’t say.” In the years that followed Johnny’s first taste of international success he went on to win the Motocross of Nations a further three in more times in ’81, ’82 and ’84 to rack up a record of four Motocross of Nations victories with the pinnacle of his career being his victory on the team named as America’s ‘Dream Team’ featuring David Bailey, Ricky Johnson and himself, at the 1986 FIM Motocross of Nations in Maggiora, Italy. “I am fortunate enough to say that I was always on a winning team or had a winning performance at the Motocross of Nations, so doing that as an athlete you are always happy and that’s the finish deal when you can win.” After a storming eleven years as a pro motocross rider Johnny accumulated 16 AMA national wins of which 7 were onboard a 125cc in the AMA outdoors and a further 7 in supercross with
59