2015 Motocross of Nations Wrap-Up

Transmoto’s 2015 MXoN insights, penned by our man who saw it all in Ernée, Jason ‘JT$’ Thomas…

The 69th edition of the Motocross of Nations has come and gone. As the most prestigious motocross event of the year, it always delivers exciting action regardless of the results. The day is filled with so many highs and lows for every team, making it impossible to not get sucked into the drama. As an American, I was of course cheering for the Yanks but it really is a testament to all of the nations when you consider how much cooperation and organisation goes into an event like this.

Team Australia, for example, lost Jay Wilson just days before the event and had to scramble. Luke Clout was brought in on a return visit from last year’s MXoN but surely wasn’t as prepared as he could have been had he known in advance. That same storyline played out for many countries as many of the sport’s stars were either injured or had circumstances keeping them from attending. Again for Australia, this marked a rare occurrence that Chad Reed was unable to attend, as well as Brett Metcalfe. Those two riders could make a case for the best Australia has to offer, not to mention Kirk Gibbs and Matt Moss both at home while the Aussies did battle. Looking through the list, it really was shocking to see how many were missing – Ken Roczen, Ryan Dungey, Antonio Cairoli, Clement Desalle, Eli Tomac, Ryan Villopoto, Jeffrey Herlings and Tommy Searle are just a few of the sport’s superstars that weren’t able to attend this year. The missing riders were definitely a big conversation point throughout the weekend.

As for the winners and losers, surely France and the USA were the class of the field. They were a full 40 points better than the next best team of Belgium in third position, who had their hands full with the incredible performance from Estonia in fourth. The French were on their home soil, defending their 2014 MXoN championship and did so valiantly. Both Marvin Musquin and Romain Febvre were the men to beat in their respective classes while Justin Barcia was able to best Paulin for the MX1 crown. The final moto was the deciding factor and it really was decided by the start, as many thought it would coming into the weekend. Both Justin Barcia and Cooper Webb fouled the take-off, leaving them mired in the field. Febvre jumped out to the front and made it look relatively easy, leaving Paulin to fight off the charging Americans. Paulin would fight hard to keep Webb at bay but Barcia was too much to tame. The waning laps would see high drama as America needed to pass through to take the crown while France just needed to keep the status quo. The Americans would make moves but not enough as the checkers flew. France won and honestly, they earned it. Febvre and Musquin took it to the world on Sunday.

Next year the event moves to Maggiora, Italy, in what will be a wild and raucous affair. The Italians are not known to hide their emotion and will be vocal in welcoming their eight-time World Champion, Antonio Cairoli, to his home soil. France will be defending back-to-back MXoN titles while America will be desperately trying to win their first since 2011. The last time we went to Italy, America came out victorious, debuting Ryan Dungey to the big-bore world. Who will stand tall next year? Will France make it three in a row? Can America climb back to the top of the mountain and add to their win total? Can Italy send the crowd into a frenzy with a home win? Will Belgium find magic with the return of Clement Desalle and the rise of van Horebeek and Lieber? Can Australia avoid the pitfalls of this event and climb back onto the podium? Will Great Britain rebound from this year’s disastrous go to find themselves in the Queen’s favour?

As you can see, so many storylines and so many questions arise as we sit 364 days from another chance at Motocross of Nations glory.