Australia podiums at the Motocross of Nations

Team Australia made history in Saint Jean d’Angely by obtaining their maiden podium in the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations. Chad Reed, Matt Moss and Brett Metcalfe have done what no other Australian before them has been able to achieve, finished in third place on the MXoN podium. Team USA and France took first and second, respectively.

Team USA obtained their 22nd Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations victory in Saint Jean d’Angely ahead of team France and team Australia. It was not an easy win for the Americans, who had to give it all in the last race to take the Chamberlain Trophy back to the USA.

Before the third and final heat of the event, France was leading the Nations classification with a nine points advantage over the Americans and twelve points ahead of Belgium, so the home team only needed to obtain two solid results in the last race. The French were touched by bad luck, as Pourcel had to pull out because the mousse of his back wheel broke. However, Paulin did a great race and helped his team to be on the second step of the rostrum.

Team Great Britain finished just two points behind the Australian squad and team Belgium obtained a very satisfactory fifth position.

One of the favourites to fight for the podium today was Team Italy, especially after yesterday’s impressive performance in the qualifying heats. However, the FIM MX1 World Champion Cairoli crashed twice in the first heat and he broke his left hand scaphoid and his ulnar styloid, which made him pull away from the third race. Lupino was not fortunate either, but thanks to the great performance of Guarneri (5-8), the Italians finished 16th.

RACE 1 (MX1 & MX2)

The main event of the 65th edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations started with Reed taking the holeshot and dominating the heat until the chequered flag. Roczen finished behind the Australian and he proved once more his incredible talent beating the 450cc machines. American Dungey started third, overtook Bobryshev in lap fourth, but was surprise by Roczen’s pace by the end of the race. Both Searle and Rattray did very consistent races and finished fourth and fifth respectively.

In the middle of the race the heavy rain surprised all the MX1 and MX2 riders and American Baggett could only finish 17th. Pourcel had to stop in the pitlane because a stone had hit his goggles, but he went out again and finished eleventh, while his teammate Musquin ended eighth.

The British team finished at the top of the Nations standings thanks to the fourth place of Searle and the ninth position of Wilson.

Race 1 top ten:

1. Chad Reed (AUS, Honda), 35:52.640;
2. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), +0:03.485;
3. Ryan Dungey (USA, Suzuki), +0:04.919;
4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:21.469;
5. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:30.845;
6. Tanel Leok (EST, TM), +0:32.870;
7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:38.278;
8. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:44.042;
9. Dean Wilson (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:57.674;
10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:58.484;

Nations top ten: Great Britain, France, Australia, USA, Estonia, Belgium, South Africa, Germany, Portugal, Spain.

RACE 2 (OPEN & MX2)

The 68.000 spectators present in Saint Jean d’Angely went crazy when Paulin took the holeshot of the second heat and managed to finish first, ahead of Herlings and Villopoto. Although Musquin was only 20th, France was at the top of the standings after the second heat. Team USA was nine points behind the French because Baggett struggled a lot and was only eleventh.

Roczen did an incredible race and finished fourth, followed by Belgian Strijbos, who brought some hope to his team, as they were third in the standings after the second race, thanks also to the 12th place of Roelants.

Dutch Herlings led the first laps of the race and starred in a dogfight with Paulin and Roczen in order to keep the first position until the end. However, the French crowd helped instil the home rider with the determination he needed to win the race and Herlings finished second.

Team Australia was not that fortunate in the second race because Moss couldn’t start the race due to a mechanical problem in his bike. However, Metcalfe finished seventh, which kept the hopes up for the Australian.

Anderson and Wilson finished 14th and 27th respectively, so the chances for Great Britain to finish on the podium were vanishing after two such results.

Race 2 top ten:

1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 34:14.392;
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:02.424;
3. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), +0:02.813;
4. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), +0:05.097;
5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.281;
6. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Yamaha), +0:45.403;
7. Brett Metcalfe (AUS, Suzuki), +0:45.914;
8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:56.746;
9. Carlos Campano (ESP, Yamaha), +0:57.873;
10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:07.283;

Nations top ten: France, USA, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, Estonia, Portugal.

RACE 3 (MX1 & OPEN)

The French crowd was desperate to see the gate dropping again and find out if their riders could fulfil their dream to win the Nations at home. However, they were touched once more by bad luck and Pourcel got his back wheel’s Mouse broken and the race was over for him. It was all in Paulin’s hands to finish on the podium and he actually rode really well and helped Team France to be on the second step of the rostrum.

On the other hand, team USA knew that only two good results would guarantee them the overall victory and Villopoto and Dungey went 1-2 in the third heat. Rattray finished behind the Americans and South Africa ended sixth in the final Nations Classification.

Reed could not bring another win to the team, but he finish in solid seventh position. His teammate Metcalfe made a mistake when he was riding fourth, but the Australian succeeded in obtaining their maiden podium in the Nations.

In this third heat, Searle did another amazing race and finished fourth, but such result was not enough for the British to finish on the podium, as Anderson could only be 15th and the Brits had two points more than the Australian.

Dungey (USA) took the individual MX1 victory, Roczen (Germany) won the MX2 and Villopoto (USA) won the Open class. Herlings (Netherlands) obtained the Ricky Carmichael award for being the youngest best-classified rider in the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations.

Race 3 top ten:

1. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki), 34:51.718;
2. Ryan Dungey (USA, Suzuki), +0:00.465;
3. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:05.182;
4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:18.156;
5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki), +0:22.628;
6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:24.594;
7. Chad Reed (AUS, Honda), +0:24.916;
8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.740;
9. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:26.356;
10. Brett Metcalfe (AUS, Suzuki), +0:27.098;