David Thorpe

David Thorpe is a British former professional motocross racer and racing team manager, born on 29 September 1962 in Sittingbourne, Kent. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1981 to 1993, most prominently with the Honda factory racing team, where he became a three-time FIM 500cc Motocross World Champion, and in 2023 he was named an FIM Legend. He excelled in both motocross and football as a youth and was offered a contract by Queen's Park Rangers before choosing motocross. At eighteen he competed in his first world championship event, the 1981 500cc French Grand Prix, for the Kawasaki-UK team, and in 1982 he finished sixth overall with three second places. He joined Honda HRC in 1983 alongside Andre Malherbe and Graham Noyce and finished fifth.