Early career
Van der Ven was born in Bakel, Netherlands on 18 June 1957. [2] At the age of 21, he scored in his first Motocross World Championship points at the 1978 250cc Austrian Grand Prix as a privateer aboard a Maico motorcycle. [5] Van der Ven won the first overall victory of his career at the 1979 250cc Finnish Grand Prix where he finished ahead of Vladimir Kavinov (KTM) and three-time World Champion Gennady Moiseyev (KTM). [6] He ended the 1979 season ranked fifth in the 250cc Motocross World Championship. [6]
1980 marked the best result of Van der Ven's career when he finished second to Georges Jobé (Suzuki) in the 1980 250cc Motocross World Championship. Eight different competitors won Grand Prix events during the season, however none of them were able to score points consistently to challenge Jobé. [7] Van der Ven won five heat races, two more than Jobé, however Jobé's consistent point scoring earned him the championship. [7] Van der Ven's performance during the 1980 season earned him a place on the KTM factory racing team.
KTM factory team rider
Van der Ven won two Grand Prix events in the 1981 250cc Motocross World Championship, however the season was dominated by Jobé who had led the championship by 53 points over his closest rival, Neil Hudson (Yamaha) with four rounds remaining. [8] Jobé appeared to be heading towards a second consecutive World Championship when he was injured while competing in a Belgian National Championship race, allowing Hudson to claim the title by 2 points over Jobé in second place while Van der Ven finished the season ranked third. [8]
In the 1982 250cc Motocross World Championship, he won three Grand Prix races as he battled with Jobé (Suzuki) and Danny LaPorte (Yamaha) for the championship points lead. [9] He briefly leading the provisional standings after the first seven rounds of the season but then faltered at his home Grand Prix in the Netherlands as LaPorte then won three consecutive Grand Prix races to clinch the world championship ahead of Jobé in second place while Van der Ven finished the season ranked third. [9] Jobé dominated the 1983 250cc Motocross World Championship ahead of LaPorte with Van der Ven taking third in the championship for a third consecutive time. [10]
In 1984, Van der Ven switched to the 125 class and won three of the first five Grand Prix events to take the championship points lead until he injured his hand at the sixth round in Switzerland. [11] Michele Rinaldi (Suzuki) then won five of the last seven Grand Prix events to clinch the World Championship ahead of Corrado Maddii (Cagiva) as Van der Ven finished the season in third place. [11] He was ranked fourth in the 1985 125cc Motocross World Championship despite not participating in the final two rounds in Argentina and Brazil. [12] At the 1985 Motocross des Nations event held in Gaildorf, West Germany, Van der Ven was the second highest 500cc individual points scorer behind David Thorpe to help the Dutch team finish in second place behind the American team. [13]
Van der Ven moved up to the premier 500cc class for the 1986 season. The 500cc Motocross World Championships featured one of the most talented field of competitors of the 1980s. [14] Van der Ven was challenged by the powerful Honda factory team of David Thorpe, André Malherbe and Eric Geboers as well as Yamaha's Håkan Carlqvist and the 1983 250cc World Champion Georges Jobé riding for the Kawasaki factory racing team. [15] Although the Honda team dominated the season, Van der Ven won the 1986 500cc Swedish Grand Prix and finished the season ranked fifth in the world championship. [15]
Thorpe began the 1987 500cc Motocross World Championship season with three consecutive victories in the Spanish, French and Austrian Grands Prix to take the championship points lead, however he then suffered an injury while competing in the British National Championship. [16] Van der Ven was challenging Jobé {Honda) for the championship points lead until an injury forced him to miss two rounds. [16] He finished the season strongly by winning the final two Grand Prix races of the year to place third in the final points standings behind Jobé and second place Kurt Nicoll (KTM). [16] At the 1987 Motocross des Nations event held in Unadilla, New York, Van der Ven was the highest 500cc individual points scorer as the Dutch team once again finished in second place behind the American team. [17]
Van der Ven's victory at the 1989 500cc Swedish Grand Prix marked the final win of his motocross racing career. [2] [18] He competed in his final World Championship race at the 1992 500cc Dutch Grand Prix at the age of 35. [2] [19]
