Team USA Wins Motocross of Nations

America dominates MXoN once more

Story and Photos by Steve Cox

After Saturday’s qualifying effort, it was easy to believe that Team USA – which won all three qualifying races on Saturday – was going to run away with the Motocross of Nations here in St. Jean D’Angely, France, but the Nations race format is an interesting one, and things rarely go smoothly for any team.

In the MX1/MX2 moto to start things off, Australia’s Chad Reed grabbed the holeshot while Team USA’s Ryan Dungey moved into second after a few laps. However, it wasn’t long before a torrential – but brief – downpour came through, and as the track got wet – and slick – Germany’s Ken Roczen moved forward, past Dungey, and even started pressuring Reed for the lead.

However, once the rain stopped again, Roczen lost time and fell back into the clutches of Dungey, although Dungey couldn’t make a pass stick before the end of the moto.

Behind them, Team USA’s Blake Baggett went down in the first turn with Great Britain’s Dean Wilson and Italy’s Antonio Cairoli. Cairoli went out with a broken set of bolts holding his bar mounts on a few minutes later, while Baggett and Wilson worked their way through the field. Baggett went down a second time later on and finished 17th, while Wilson came through for a solid ninth.

Behind Dungey in fourth came Great Britain’s Tommy Searle and South Africa’s Tyla Rattray.

Great Britain led at that point.

Moto two hit the course with France’s Gautier Paulin taking the holeshot. The Netherlands’ Jeffrey Herlings had some time out front before Paulin got him back, and both USA’s Ryan Villopoto and Baggett were stuck coming from way back after poor starts. Once they both made it into the top 10, Baggett went down again, getting his bike wedged under a fence. It took him nearly a lap to get going again, but he then put on a charge and caught back up to 17th, matching his position from race one.

Villopoto continued charging forward until he took over third late in the race, then made a charge at Herlings in second, but ran out of time. Paulin took a very popular win in front of the home crowd while Herlings took second and Villopoto third. Fourth and back went to Germany’s Ken Roczen, Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos, South Africa’s Gareth Swanepoel, and Australia’s Brett Metcalfe in seventh.

France led at that point with nine points to spare over Team USA, but the math was that if they threw out one of Baggett’s 17th-place finishes, and Villopoto and Dungey went 1-2 in the final moto, Team USA would definitely win.

Off the start in the final moto, Villopoto started on the outside and swept into second while Dungey nearly got the holeshot from the inside but slotted into third. Out front was Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev. Bobryshev was tough, but Villopoto made it by for the lead, and a few laps later Dungey followed suit. From there, the two Americans pulled away to go 1-2 in the final moto and take the overall for Team USA. They crossed the finish line together in celebration.

Bobryshev eventually suffered a stall and finished sixth, but behind Dungey came Rattray and Tommy Searle, who started nearly 30th.

For the seventh year in a row, Team USA takes home the victory at the Motocross of Nations.

MX1/MX2 Moto

1. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda

2. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM

3. Ryan Dungey, USA, Suzuki

4. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, CLS/Monster Energy Kawasaki

5. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

6. Tanel Leok, Estonia, TM

7. Jonathan Barragan, Spain, Kawasaki

8. Marvin Musquin, France, KTM

9. Dean Wilson, Great Britain, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

10. Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM

17. Blake Baggett, USA, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

MX2/MX3 Moto

1. Gautier Paulin, France, Monster Energy Yamaha

2. Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM

3. Ryan Villopoto, USA, Monster Energy Kawasaki

4. Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM

5. Kevin Strijbos, Belgium, Suzuki

6. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Yamaha

7. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki

8. Davide Guarneri, Italy, Kawasaki

9. Carlos Campano, Spain, Monster Energy Yamaha

10. Arnaud Tonus, Switzerland, Yamaha

17. Blake Baggett, USA, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

MX1/MX3 Moto

1. Ryan Villopoto, USA, Monster Energy Kawasaki

2. Ryan Dungey, USA, Suzuki

3. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

4. Tommy Searle, Great Britain, CLS/Monster Energy Kawasaki

5. Davide Guarneri, Italy, Kawasaki

6. Evgeny Bobryshev, Russia, Honda

7. Chad Reed, Australia, Honda

8. Gautier Paulin, France, Monster Energy Yamaha

9. Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM

10. Brett Metcalfe, Australia, Suzuki

Overall Qualifying Order By Team

1. USA – 26

2. France – 39

3. Australia – 44

4. Great Britain – 46

5. Belgium – 54

6. South Africa – 56

7. Germany – 68

8. Spain – 68

9. Netherlands – 81

10. Estonia – 86

11. Portugal – 98

12. Switzerland – 108

13. Japan – 115

14. Czech Republic – 117

15. Russia – 123

16. Italy – 125

17. Finland – 130

18. Denmark – 132

19. Ireland – 136

20. Austria – 143

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