AMA Congratulates Team USA riders Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper, and team manager Roger DeCoster

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — America is once again the motocross capital of the world. Team USA reclaimed the Chamberlain Trophy, which the United States last won in 2011, when riders Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper, led by team manager Roger DeCoster, triumphed at the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme’s Motocross of Nations at Red Bud Track ’N’ Trail in Buchanan, Mich., on Sept. 25.

“This Motocross of Nations was a perfect demonstration of the success that comes from having the right people — motivated and talented people — in the right positions, from our team coordinators to the riders themselves to our team manager,” said AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. “Congratulations to all who contributed to this effort, and particularly Eli, Chase and Justin, who rode exceptionally well and demonstrated the utmost professionalism while representing America.”

Tomac, Sexton and Cooper defeated teams from 31 countries and two FIM Continental Unions en route to the historic win.

The FIM Motocross of Nations features teams of riders in three classifications: MXGP, MX2 and Open. Racing takes place in three motos. One includes MXGP and MX2 riders; one includes MX2 and Open riders; and one includes MXGP and Open riders. Each team’s rider is scored based on where they finished in the combined motos. Those scores are tallied to determine the winning team.

Tomac finished 1-6 in the MXGP class. Sexton finished 2-3 in the Open class. And Cooper finished 9-4 in the MX2 class. Cooper’s result, the best in the MX2 class, earned him the individual championship in that event.

“When we’re on top of that podium, there is nothing like it,” said Tomac, the Team USA captain. “The whole motocross community comes together for this event. I’ve been on the top of the podium before, but this takes the cake. I will never forget that moment. It will stay with me forever.”

The Motocross of Nations teams are selected by the national federations affiliated with the FIM in each participating country. In the United States, that’s the American Motorcyclist Association. AMA Director of Racing Mike Pelletier runs the AMA effort to select, organize, support and help fund the team.

“The cooperation this year was off the charts,” Pelletier said. “Of course, the riders’ teams themselves, which included Star Yamaha and Team Honda, were behind this effort 100 percent. We also had help from industry partners, such as Feld Entertainment, Alpinestars and Monster Energy, as well as other individuals and groups such as Paul Perebijnos, who organized a golf fundraiser, FMF, who produced fundraising t-shirts, and the family of the late Tom White, who held a fundraiser at Tom’s Early Years of Motocross Museum. The AMA can’t thank these partners enough for supporting this championship-winning campaign.”

Dingman added that the U.S. effort would not be the same without its most important volunteer: AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Legend Roger DeCoster.

“Roger gives his all to this event,” Dingman said. “His experience and leadership help in ways that can’t be quantified. We appreciate his work and the support of his employer, KTM North America, which allows Roger to be a part of this effort every year.”

Dingman added: “It’s an honor to have the support of so many stakeholders at this event. All year these teams and companies compete against one another on the track and through their support of individual riders. Here, we are one team, Team USA, and I’m proud to say, today we are definitively the best motocross team in the world.”

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As for the USA, the team of Zach Osborne, Cole Seely and Thomas Covington struggled in their effort to mount a challenge for the MXoN title but managed to finish just inside the top 10 by the end of the day on the muddy Matterley Basin track, finishing ninth mostly on the strength of Zach Osborne’s third-place finish in Race 2.

The battle for the MXoN title effectively came down to just two teams–France and the Netherlands, and the French trio of Gautier Paulin, Christophe Charlier, and Romain Febvre was more consistent to have the measure of Netherlands riders Glenn Coldenhoff, Brian Bogers and Herlings. Thanks to Anstie’s excellent performance, he and Great Britain teammates Tommy Searle and Dean Wilson finished third, marking the first podium finish for that country in 20 years.

Race 1: MXGP/MX2
When the first of three motos got underway, Coldenhoff pulled the holeshot, only to be quickly overtaken by Anstie, who did his best to pull clear of the field while Coldenhoff was passed by Team France’s Paulin and Team Switzerland’s Arnaud Tonus. Recently crowned MXGP World Champion Antonio Cairoli was also in the hunt near the front, but he crashed early and would be passed by several riders before he was able to get back underway. Slovenia’s Tim Gajser and Australia’s Hunter Lawrence, the highest running MX2 rider to that point, ran just behind Coldenhoff. Gasjer would pass both Coldenhoff and Tonus to move into third place.

Things went south for the USA in the opening race as Seely suffered bike problems that put him out of the moto. Meanwhile, Osborne did his best to overcome a poor start, and he would work his way up to 10th overall.

Up front, Anstie continued to lead, but Paulin was not far behind him, and with the potential for mistakes on the slippery track, anything could happen. However, Anstie maintained his composure to take the checkered flag first. Gasjer was on the charge, however, and the Slovenian was able to Paulin to take over the second spot before the finish. Paulin held on for third place, but the perhaps the most impressive ride of the moto was turned in by Australia’s Lawrence, who rode his screaming 250 past Tonus on the last lap to finish fourth in the moto, easily outpacing all of the other MX2 competitors. Tonus finished fifth.

However, when the resuls were tallied, France emerged with the early lead on the strength of Paulin’s third-place finish and a respectable 14th-place finish turned in by MX2 rider Charlier, the latter no longer contesting motocross but instead focusing on the FIM Enduro World Championship. Coldenhoff’s eighth-place finish combined with Bogers’ 12th-place finish to move the Netherlands into second place, and Switzerland was third after Tonus finished fifth and teammate Valentin Guillod finished 17th.

Race 2: MX2/Open
Herlings rocketed out of the gate at the start of Race 2, which featured the MX2 and Open class riders, getting underneath France’s Febvre to take the lead. Febvre was also off to a good start, as were Estonia’s Tanel Leok and Australia’s Kirk Gibbs.

Herlings was able to hold off Febvre at the front of the race, the two pulling well clear of Australia’s Gibbs, but Herlings’ win as not assured after he slid out ovcer jump and crashed. Febvre inherited the lead, but Herling was quickly back up and running without losing any more positions.

In the meantime, the USA was in more trouble as Covington fell early in the race and was outside the top 30. Osborne was fairing better as he battled with MX2 competitors Hunter Lawrence and Christophe Charlier. Osborne and Lawrence battled back and forth a few laps before Lawrence moved ahead of Osborne. Lawrence, who ran as high as third at one point, would crash and slip back inside the top 10.

Herlings held on for the moto win over Febvre and Osborne with Lupino taking fourth and Gibbs fifth. Lawrence’s eighth-place finish sealed the MX2 overall win for him as well as the Ricky Carmichael Award for the best new rider of the event.

France continued to lead the MXoN overall ahead of the Netherlands, but Australia had now displaced Switzerland for third in what would prove to be a tight race for the bottom rung of the MXoN podium.

Race 3: MXGP/Open
Anstie was determined to prove that his opening-moto performance was not a fluke, and he grabbed the final holeshot of the day while Febvre moved into second place ahead of Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek. Herlings ran fourth but quickly passed Van Horebeek to move into third place.

Anstie’s hopes for 1-1 moto finishes almost went out the window when he crashed over the same jump that had flummoxed Herlings in the second moto. That gave the lead to Febvre, but Herlings was closing in on the Frenchman again. Paulin, however, was near the front as well, helping to cement France’s position at the top of the MXoN leaderboard. Gasjer was also charging, however, and he was able to pass Paulin halfway through the race.

Meanwhile, the USA’s nightmares continued as Seely dropped in his second moto as well as his first, the victim of a broken shock. Covington also struggled, ultimately mustering a 17th place finish in the moto.

The race at the front remained close as Anstie clearly wanted to win the MXoN overall in front of his countrymen. Anstie attacked Febvre right about the time that the Frenchman elected to toss his goggles and made a mistake, allowing Anstie back into the lead. Herlings also displaced Febvre a lap later to move into second place. Worse yet for Febvre, Herlings blasted the now goggle-less Frenchman with a face full of mud, forcing Febvre to pit for new goggles. Even so, Febvre was far enough ahead of the rest of the field that he never lost a position on the track.

Anstie and the British crowd boisterously backing him proved to be too much for Herlings and the rest of the competition as he took his second race win of the day to take the MXGP overall win while Herlings took the Open overall victory.

“It was unbelievable,” Anstie said. “It was awesome. I tried to race as fast as I could, and the guys rode amazing. This week has been stressful, probably the most stress of all of our lives, but we’ve made the best of it. We’ve kept solid, and it’s an amazing feeling to be on the podium.”

But France scored its fourth MXoN win in a row, an admirable record in light of just how competitive and unpredictable the Matterley track was during the event. According to Paulin, winning the race is a very different feeling than winning a GP.

“The Motocross of Nations is something that you need to live to know how it is,” he said. “Motocross is an individual sport, and you don’t have the same feeling when you ride the MXGP season or similar. Racing here you can talk about lines and other stuff [with your teammates]. Winning the Motocross of Nations mean a lot to be me, but it also means a lot to be able to share it with all the fans and with the French Federation.”

Speaking for the runner-up Netherlands team, Herlings stated, “I think I did a good job, and so did my teammates. I am very proud of them and the whole organization to make this happen. We rode pretty good, but it’s a little disappointing because I worked hard and I really wanted to go 1-1, but I couldn’t.”

2017 FIM Motocross of Nations
Matterley Basin
Winchester, England
Results: October 1, 2017

MXoN Race 1 Top 10 (MXGP/MX2): 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), 36:10.357; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:06.251; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:09.398; 4. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki), +0:41.407; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:44.978; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:55.596; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +1:00.247; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +1:08.634; 9. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +1:19.761; 10. Zach Osborne (USA, Husqvarna), +1:31.126

MXoN Standings (after Race 1): 1. France; 2. Netherlands; 3. Switzerland; 4. Belgium; 5. Australia; 6. Estonia; 7. Slovenia; 8. Sweden; 9. Great Britain; 10. Italy.

MXoN Race 2 Top 10 (MX2/Open): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 37:59.364; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.730; 3. Zach Osborne (USA, Husqvarna), +1:38.876; 4. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +1:40.149; 5. Kirk Gibbs (AUS, KTM), +1:44.122; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:49.117; 7. Dean Wilson (GBR, Husqvarna), +2:01.064; 8. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki), +2:02.897; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +2:07.211; 10. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +2:28.124.

MXoN Standings (after Race 2):: 1. France; 2. Netherlands; 3. Australia; 4. Switzerland 5. Great Britain; 6. Belgium; 7. Italy; 8. Estonia; 9. Sweden; 10. USA.

MXoN Race 3 Top 10 (MXGP/Open): 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), 37:59.163; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.108; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +1:00.011; 4. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +1:20.559; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +1:27.401; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +1:36.967; 7. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +1:44.854; 8. Dean Wilson (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:51.593; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +2:02.765; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +2:07.648

MXoN Standings (after Race 3): 1. France; 2. Netherlands; 3. Great Britain; 4. Belgium; 5. Switzerland; 6. Australia; 7. Italy; 8. Estonia; 9. USA; 10. Sweden.

For complete results, CLICK HERE.

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The following is from Yamaha, regarding its Yamaha YZ125 bLU cRU Cup, which host 34 riders in a special event at the 2017 Motocross of Nations (MXoN):

The 15 national motocross championships that participate in the Yamaha YZ125 bLU cRU Cup program have come to a close. After an exhilarating season of national level racing, 34 of Europe’s fastest YZ125 racing teenagers have earned themselves a place on the gate at the YZ125 bLU cRU Cup SuperFinale, which will take place at the biggest and most prestigious event of the year–the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations–this weekend, September 30 and October 1.

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Former MXGP World Champion Tim Gajser will represent Slovenia while teammate Evgeny Bobryshev will ride for Russia during the 71st edition of the event, which is referred to as the “Olympics of Motocross.” Slovenia has never won the Motocross of Nations. Russia (formerly the USSR) has one Motocross of Nations (MXonN) win with a team that featured three-time FIM 250cc Motocross World Champion Guennady Moisseev (1974, ’77, ’78). France is the defending champion of the 2016 Motocross of Nations.

Gasjer said that he is excited to have been selected to represent Slovenia in the Motocross of Nations (MXoN)—as if he wouldn’t have been selected anyway so long as he was fit to race.

“I love the track there,” Gasjer said of Matterley Basin, which was constructed specifically for the 2006 Motocross of Nations and has been used in the FIM Motocross World Championship sever since. “I know there have been a couple of changes there so hopefully it hasn’t changed the layout too much. The nations is always a really fun event, and the atmosphere is totally different to a GP, so it should be an enjoyable weekend.”

Bobryshev added that the Motocross of Nations (MXoN) is always a special event with which to be involved.

“You are racing in a team of three people, for your country,” Bobryshev said. “It is also strange as although the pressure is off for the championship, you are racing for your country, so it is a different pressure. I feel honored to have been asked to represent Russia again this year. The track at Matterley is really good for fans to view all of the racing. So, the atmosphere as it always is at the nations, will be on another level.”

In MX2, Team HRC’s Michele Cervellin will line up alongside fellow Honda rider Alessandro Lupino and nine-time FIM MXGP World Champion Antonio Cairoli to represent Italy. Cervellin missed the last two FIM Grands Prix of the year due to a groin injury suffered at the MXGP of Americas, but he is fit to race for his home country in the Motocross of Nations.

“This is the third time I would have competed in the Nations and to ride for your country means you give it 100 percent,” Cervellin said. “Although my physical condition isn’t quite as good as it could be following the injury I picked up in the US. I will always try to do my best on track with the new CRF250RW. This will be my last race with HRC but I think it is a good race to end with as we are a solid team especially having the world champion Antonio Cairoli on the team, so hopefully we will get on the podium.”

The Motocross of Nations (MXoN) gets underway October 1 for practice and qualifying. The racing gets underway on Sunday in three races pitting MXGP, MX2 and Open class riders against each other.

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“I think it was a vote,” Hannah once recalled of his nomination to the team. “I remember all the promoters calling me up and saying, ‘Hey, I voted for you to ride Unadilla.’ But I said, ‘What!?’ I don’t want it.’ I wasn’t even racing fulltime anymore.”

True that. Suzuki director of engineering Tadami “Shiggy” Shigenoya had signed Hannah to a testing contract with Suzuki, but with a limited racing schedule thrown in to “race test” some of the technology Suzuki was pursuing.

But come MXdN nomination time, someone at the AMA got the idea that Hannah should be on Team USA one last time. The problem was that with younger superstars
Ricky Johnson and Jeff Ward all but a lock to ride the 250cc and 500cc classes respectively, the only place left to put Hannah was in the 125cc class, a preposterous notion.

“It was crazy because how many years had it been since I’d even been on a 125? Ten?” Hannah recalled. “So, I told Suzuki that I wasn’t going to do it, and Shiggy just threw a rod. He said, ‘We’ve got to ride this. You are going to get a lot of publicity for Suzuki – win, lose or draw.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t want to lose or draw, Shiggy.’ Johnson could have ridden a 250 or a 500 – either way – and I didn’t have a 500 at Suzuki, so the logical thing would have been to put Wardy on the 125, me on the 250 and Johnson on the 500. And that’s if you even wanted my old ass in there anyway.”

As if the situation wasn’t weird enough already after Hannah was confirmed to be Team USA’s 125cc rider, it went from bad to worse when Johnson and Ward publicly chided him for not being a team player because Hannah refused to take part in the Team USA training camp in Pennsylvania.

“Here’s my problem with that,” Hannah said. “It really isn’t a team deal until the day of the race. I took a lot of shit for that, but Johnson and Ward can both kiss my ass. [Team USA manager Roger] DeCoster wasn’t too happy with me at the time, but he knows me really well, so he didn’t buck me too bad. But Johnson and Ward both said crappy crap to me and about me, saying that I’m not the team guy because they were all going to ride at some place in Pennsylvania the week before the race, and they wanted me to come there.”

But if riding a 125 at the MXdN wasn’t originally a part of his 1987 agenda, Hannah decided that he was going to be the one to set his own agenda once he accepted the challenge.

“I needed to ride my bike, and I needed to test my bike,” Hannah said. “I needed to do the job that I know very damn well how to do, and I didn’t need to be holding Ward and Johnson’s hand for a week, eating dinner with them and acting like I’m their teammate. I was going to be their teammate at Unadilla. It doesn’t mean that we needed to have a love affair before then, right? I just told Roger, ‘When the goddamn gate drops, I’ll be ready.’”

With just 30 days to prepare, Hannah went to work.

“I was going there to win,” Hannah says, “so I told Shiggy, ‘Okay, here’s how we’re gonna do this: You call Japan and have them ship two works 125s over here immediately. I’m robbing another mechanic out of your shop to be my practice bike mechanic, and he’s going to Idaho with me for 30 days. I’m going to Idaho, and I’m not coming out of Idaho for 30 days. I’m not going to do squat but ride this 125 every day, and my mechanic Randy is going to get the race bike prepared to do the race. So, I went to Ketchum [Idaho], and I had a run [running trail] there, up Fox Creek. It went from 6000 feet to 8500 feet, and it was about an eight-mile run. I had 21 days straight on that eight-mile run. Twenty-one days straight. I never missed it, and I never missed a riding day either.”

When he wasn’t running, Hannah killed himself daily by racing two 45-minute practice motos on that works 125 practice bike. By the time the gate dropped for the MXdN at Unadilla on September 13, 1987, he was in just about the best shape of his career. And he needed to be when the start of moto one commenced.

“I got knocked off two times on the first uphill by 500s,” Hannah remembered. “Riding a 125 against 500s at Unadilla was going to be tough anyway, but on a muddy track – especially with a bunch of Europeans who were good in the mud there – that wasn’t good.”

Hannah finally got going, in 15th place. It would have been easy to just give up already.

“It would have been, but I didn’t train one month straight to look like a scapegoat,” Hannah said, “and then to get my ass knocked off twice on that uphill and look like a fool.”

Instead, Hannah pinned his screaming 125 to the stop and rode like he was being chased by the devil. When the moto was over, he’d made his way to fourth 125—not great but still in the hunt. In moto two, however, the still-possessed Hannah left nothing to chance, outdistancing Italian ace Corrado Madii and reigning World 125cc MX Champion Davy Strijbos to finish third overall in the moto and go 4-1 in his class, which was good enough to net the 125cc overall win and lift the USA past the tough Dutch team to claim the MXdN gold by two points.

“If we’d lost that race, you know it was going to be Bob Hannah’s ass,” Hannah said. “I hate to say it, but I rode great. And I got lucky. There were a lot of good riders there that day. I told my mechanic afterward, ‘I don’t know how the bike didn’t blow up, because I didn’t baby it.’ I couldn’t. That was a good bike, I have to admit.”

In retrospect, Hannah said he is okay with people remembering him for his last MXdN appearance. Like most of his fans, he believes it to be at the top of his list of heroic performances.

“Absolutely it is,” Hannah said. “You know, I couldn’t do it but I actually had it in my head to try and outrun Johnson in that second moto, but he was just too good on that 250. You know, a lot of people were on my side to run that race but, really, I wasn’t the right guy for the job.”

History proves otherwise.

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MAGGIORA (Italy), 25 September 2016–With 30 years of experience tucked tightly under our belt, the success of the 2016 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by Fiat Professional on the nostalgic hills of Maggiora Park was a mesmerizing spectacle of what has been achieved in our beloved sport thus far.

The enormous, passionate and boisterous crowd has rewritten the handbook of fan etiquette with their non-stop flag waving, chain saw revving, air horn blowing, chanting, singing, and cheering that contributed to this years’ motocross of nations being as hair-raising, memorable and emotionally charged as it was.

It has been a while since the Chamberlain Trophy was so tightly contested. In the final race of the day the ‘Nations Result’ board shuffled between The USA, France and The Netherlands, with USA being one man down after a mind boggling scenario sidelined their best performer of the weekend Jason Anderson immediately after he won Race Two, and also with the defending champions, Team France, being buried at turn one. Meanwhile, The Netherlands had a high-powered start to the race with both of their riders, Jeffrey Herlings and Glenn Coldenhoff, inside the top three.

The Netherlands led the initial stages of the race, but as Coldenhoff faded and Webb propelled forward, The USA took over at the top. Team France had their work cut out for them, but Febvre is never one to shy away from a challenge and eventually caught Webb and put him on the front line for Team USA. Both riders engaged in a titanic battle, which raged on ‘til the moment Webb got cross-rutted and tipped over. With Webb losing a few spots The Netherlands leapt to the top of the board once more, and with one lap to go they were right on the cusp of claiming their first ever Motocross of Nations title before Febvre spoiled everything when he passed Tommy Searle for the vital 1 point that was required for Team France to defend the cup.

Team France won the Motocross of Nations for the first time in 2001 in Namur, Belgium with Yves Demaria, Luigy Segy and David Vuillemin, and they didn’t win it again until 2014 in Kegums, Latvia when Gautier Paulin, Dylan Ferrandis and Steven Frossard silenced the haters with their emphatic win. Since 2014, France is yet to be beaten, and their trail blaze continued in sensational style today around this spectacular hillside circuit, in a cauldron-like atmosphere that we have become accustomed to at the Motocross of Nations.

Race 1 (MXGP vs. MX2)
The Netherlands didn’t only have one Bullet in their gun this weekend; Glenn Coldenhoff was also lethal as he led Italy’s own Antonio Cairoli around turn one. Febvre, who was fifth around the first turn, lost his nerve on lap two and passed Australia’s Todd Waters before pressuring Canada’s Kaven Benoit into a small mistake to take third place.

On the third lap, the Italian erupted as Cairoli ripped up the inside of Coldenhoff to take the lead down the start straight. The following lap, Febvre, who was riding like a man possessed, carried a serious amount of momentum right around the outside of Coldenhoff for second, before putting the exact same move on Cairoli a few laps later.

Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos was silent but violent as he set fast lap after fast lap, and came out of nowhere to pass Coldenhoff for third at the midway mark. Meanwhile Team USA’s Cooper Webb was also on a diehard mission to claw back spots way after starting outside of the top twenty. The American attacked the track fearlessly, yet with an incredible amount of control as he put an effortless pass on Coldenhoff for fourth with less than five minutes to go.

At the checkers, the fans roared for their hero Antonio Cairoli as he crossed the line in second place behind Romain Febvre, who took his third consecutive MXoN race win if we count the two he took last year in front of his home crowd in France. Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos put in an incredible ride for third ahead of USA’s Cooper Webb, while another Belgian in the form of Jeremy Van Horebeek rounded out the top five and was the best placed MX2 rider.

Race 1 Top 10: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), 34:41.712; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:04.648; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.429; 4. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:25.658; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:34.398; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:37.475; 7. Todd Waters (AUS, Suzuki), +0:37.958; 8. Kaven Benoit (CAN, KTM), +0:41.284; 9. Alex Martin (USA, Yamaha), +0:50.538; 10. Cody Cooper (NZL, Honda), +0:52.837

Nations Top 10: Belgium, USA, France, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Great Britain, Australia

Race 2 (MX2 vs. Open)
A good start couldn’t have come at a better time for Team USA. Jason Anderson ripped the holeshot ahead of Switzerland’s Arnaud Tonus, France’s Gautier Paulin and Holland’s Jeffrey Herlings. Herlings doesn’t do anything slowly, and he slung shot past Paulin before the end of lap one and squeezed Tonus on lap two which put him in second place before the end of lap one.

Behind Paulin, Evgeny Bobryshev made Russia’s presence noticeable when he ran hot up the inside of Paulin and almost T-boned him before dropping off the pace. Australia’s Dean Ferris nipped by the Russian who ended up crashing mid-moto in the same dip that caught Cairoli out in the Qualifying Race yesterday.

Meanwhile, Herlings set the fastest lap of the race on lap five and was taking sizeable chunks out of Andersons lead. Herlings showed Anderson a wheel on a couple of occasions before he lost his mind in frustration and slipped into his smaller bike habits where he could hammer the throttle and get away with it. This time he didn’t save it; he got too hard on the gas, lost traction and high-sided. Fortunately he had a good cushion and didn’t lose a spot, although the next three riders did catch him.

With five minutes to go, Herlings, Tonus, Paulin and Ferris put on a breath-taking exhibition of close combat racing as they rode wheel to wheel and ‘bar to ‘bar. Ferris managed to pass Paulin at one point but a gust of wind caught the Frenchman’s sails, and he passed Ferris back before passing Tonus half of a lap later as well.

Meanwhile, the MX2 riders had crept in on the action and with three laps to go ‘the Jeremys’, Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer, who were split by Great Britain’s Shaun Simpson, had Tonus and Ferris in their sights.

MXoN rookie, Jason Anderson, took an emphatic win for the Team USA ahead of The Netherlands’ Jeffrey Herlings, France’s Gautier Paulin, Switzerland’s Arnaud Tonus and Australia’s Dean Ferris.

As is the intense racing wasn’t hard enough on the old ticker, hearts were stopped when the race winner, Anderson, was landed on while celebrating. Jason was taken to the hospital for further observation.

Race 2: 1. Jason Anderson (USA, Husqvarna), 34:59.493; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:06.109; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:07.356; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:08.861; 5. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:09.890; 6. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:10.765; 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:11.126; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:13.493; 9. Alex Martin (USA, Yamaha), +0:16.116; 10. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:30.103

Nations Top 10: USA, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Estonia, Canada, Australia

Race 3 (MXGP vs. Open)
In what is the most evenly matched race of the day with all 40 riders on 450cc bikes, it was the 450cc rookie Jeffrey Herlings who led the way into turn two, with Great Britain’s Tommy Searle being the filling in a Dutch sandwich as he chased Herlings with Coldenhoff, hot on his heels.

Antonio Cairoli kept the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs when he executed a series of great passes to take second place before the end of lap one.

Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos looked better than ever today. Yes, he did win his home grand prix, the MXGP of Belgium, but that was just a mega result on paper. Today, Strijbos was physically riding superb!

As Coldenhoff faded and dimmed The Netherlands chances at hoisting the Chamberlain Cup in the air for the first time in the history of The Nations, Cairoli caught Herlings for a brief challenge, but all it did was tease the boisterous crowd as Herlings sensed he was there and hooked yet another gear to win relatively easily.

Meanwhile, it was the crucial battle for fourth that took epic to an all-new level as Webb and Febvre charged hard with the weight of their nations on their shoulders. At that point, USA had the lead in the overall standings ahead of The Netherlands and France, but then Webb threw it away when he got cross-rutted and fell.

Webb’s mistake worked in favor of The Netherlands who had one finger on the Chamberlain Cup right up till the very last moment when Febvre pulled something out of nothing and made an absolutely vital pass on Searle on the final lap of the race.

The Netherlands’ Jeffrey Herlings was tenacious in his efforts to stretch out a lead for his second ever MXoN race win. The first one was in Lommel back in 2012, which he won in similar fashion when he took the holeshot and checked out.

Cairoli cruised home for second place ahead of Strijbos, Febvre and Searle.

MXoN Race 3: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:34.924; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.624; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:20.781; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:26.248; 5. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:28.215; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:34.054; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:42.218; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:44.343; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:45.113; 10. Cooper Webb (USA, Yamaha), +0:46.305

Nations Top 10: France, The Netherlands, USA, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain, Australia, Estonia, Canada.

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Led by the heroics of Gauthier Paulin (MXGP) and Dylan Ferrandis (MX2), France won the 2014 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in Kegums, Sunday, to hoist the historic Chamberlain Trophy for only the second time in MxoN history.

France claimed the win with a total of just 17 points, with French team members finishing in the top 10 in all three motos. Defending event champions, Belgium, finished second with 27 points. Team USA finished third, with 33 points, prevailing in a tiebreaker over Great Britain by virtue of better moto scores.

The French team of Paulin, Ferrandis and Steven Frossard set the tone right in the first of the three MXoN motos, with Paulin pulling out to a convincing win ahead of Team USA’s Ryan Dungey in the MXGP ranks, while Ferrandis came out on top of a moto-long battle with Team USA’s Jeremy Martin and posted a ninth-place finish. Martin, who was nursing a broken foot suffered during Saturday practice, finished 11th. Team Italy saw its hopes all but dashed in the first moto when reigning FIM MXGP World Champion crashed in a rocker section and suffered a knee injury. Cairoli was able to return to the pits under his own power, but he was out of the race.

Frossard did his part with a strong ride in Moto 2, which pitted the MX2 and Open classes together. He finished second, behind Belgium’s Kevin Strijos, while Ferrandis crossed the line in ninth place again. Meanwhile, Team USA’s Eli Tomac and Martin both suffered horrific starts and were forced to battle their way through the field in an effort to salvage as many points as possible. Tomac managed to finish sixth in the moto, while Martin struggled again and finished 13th.

In the final moto, which featured the MXGP and Open classes, Team USA’s Tomac crashed on the first lap, and Dungey once again struggled to find a solid rhythm on the sandy Kegums track. Tomac recovered from his fall and was clearly the fastest rider on the track, but he was only able to finish third, behind the flying Paulin and Jeremy Van Horebeek of Belgium. Frossard was fourth, easily cementing the MXoN win for France and giving the country its second-ever event win, and its first since Yves Demaria, Luigi Seguy and David Vuillemin won for France at Namur, Belgium, in 2001.

Although Dungey was unable to crack the top 10 in the final moto—he finished 11th—Tomac’s effort was strong enough to slide Team USA into a tie with Great Britain, which appeared to have third place locked up until Shaun Simpson broke a chain and was forced out of the race.

2014 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations
Kegums, Latvia
Results: September 28, 2014

Overall
1. France-17
2. Belgium-27
3. USA-33
4. Great Britain-33
5. Germany-72
6. Italy-73
7. Switzerland-74
8. Russia-75
9. Estonia-77
10. Netherlands-80

Moto 1 (MXGP/MX2)
1. Gautier Paulin-Kaw/France
2. Ryan Dungey-KTM/USA
3. Max Nagl-Hon/Germany
4. Jeremy Van Horebeek-Yam/Belgium
5. Aleksandr Tonkov-Hus/Russia
6. Filip Bengtsson-KTM/Sweden
7. Glenn Coldenhoff-Suz/Netherlands
8. Tommy Searle-Kaw/Great Britain
9. Dylan Ferrandis-Kaw/France
10. Davide Guarneri-TM/Italy

Moto 2 (MX2/Open)
1. Kevin Strijbos-Suz/Belgium
2. Steven Frossard-Kaw/France
3. Dean Wilson-Kaw/Great Britain
4. Tommy Searle-Kaw/Great Britain
5. Fredrik Noren-Hon/Sweden
6. Eli Tomac-Hon/USA
7. Tanel Leok-TM/Estonia
8. Glenn Coldenhoff-Suz/Netherlands
9. Dylane Ferrandis-Kaw/France
10. Mar de Reuver-Hon/Netherlands

Moto 3 (MXGP/Open)
1. Gautier Paulin-Kaw/France
2. Jeremy Van Horebeek-Yam/Belgium
3. Eli Tomac-Hon/USA
4. Steven Frossard-Kaw/France
5. Dean Wilson-Kaw/Great Britain
6. Aleksandr Tonkov-Hus/Russia
7. Tanel Leok-TM/Estonia
8. Arnaud Tonus-Kaw/Switzerland
9. Kevin Strijbos-Suz/Belgium
10. Rui Goncalves-Yam/Portugal

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The American Motorcyclist Association has announced its selection of riders who will compete for Team USA at the FIM Motocross of Nations in Kegums, Latvia, September 27-28. The 2014 team will consist of Red Bull KTM‘s Ryan Dungey, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac and Yamalube/STAR Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin.

The FIM Motocross of Nations format features national teams competing for a combined score to determine the overall championship-winning country. The event emerged in post-war Europe in 1947 and has run uninterrupted since that time. Competition in the FIM Motocross of Nations includes riders in the MX1 class, which features 450cc bikes; the MX2 class, which includes 250cc motorcycles; or the Open class. Team USA last won the FIM Motocross of Nations in 2011 when the event was held in Saint D’Angely, France. The United States is the all-time leader in FIM Motocross of Nations overall team victories with 22. Great Britain is second with 16.

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer and Red Bull KTM Team Manager Roger DeCoster will once again manage the team as it seeks win the prestigious event, billed as “The Olympics of Motocross,” for the first time since 2011. Team USA finished second at the 2013 event and third in 2012.

“If you look at the way Ryan, Eli and Jeremy are riding at the moment, we should be back in the hunt for a victory,” said DeCoster, who competed in numerous FIM Motocross of Nations in the 1960s and ’70s. “The track we will be racing at suits our style, and all the riders are talented and on good equipment. Also, all of these riders want to be here, and compete for their country. That’s what we want in a team.”

Dungey, who will race in the MX1 class, will make his sixth visit to the Motocross of Nations as a member of Team USA, and he says he is ready to win back the title for America.

“It always feels good to represent the United States,” said Dungey, who is currently second in points for the Lucas Oil AMA 450cc Pro Motocross Championship. “To be picked to represent your country is a real honor. The last two years we have been short of that top step on the podium, and we all want to be back on that top step, to show the world what America can do. With myself, Eli and Jeremy, we’re all riding well and we’re all in strong physical condition to get that job done.”

Tomac, who has returned from an early season injury to log an overall win and several top-three moto finishes in the five Lucas Oil rounds he has contested thus far, said he is thrilled to be on the 2014 Motocross of Nations team.

“It’s an honor to be chosen for the U.S. team at the Motocross of Nations this year,” said Tomac, who will compete in the Open class. “Last year’s Motocross of Nations was a great experience, being my first time, but leaving with second place left a sour taste in our mouths. It’s a new year, a new track and a new country. I believe our team will be more than prepared to battle for the win!”

Martin, who currently leads the points race for the 2014 Lucas Oil AMA 250cc Pro Motocross Championship, will be a rookie at the Motocross of Nations.
“It’s a really cool feeling, but I don’t know what to think because I never thought I would be in this position,” said Martin, who will compete in the MX2 class. “The best memory I have of the Motocross of Nations is as a fan when it came to Budds Creek and Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry were on the team and rode real well together as a team. I’m looking forward to riding on a team like that. Ryan [Dungey] and I already train together, and I raced against Eli last year. He’s a good guy and has a good family. I just hope to go out there and do the best I can and bring it home for USA.”

AMA Director of Supercross and AMA Pro Racing Relations Kevin Crowther said that the 2014 team is prepared for world-championship competition in Latvia.

“The Motocross of Nations is a team effort, not just from the perspective of the riders, but from the perspective of their teams, sponsors and the entire industry,” Crowther said. “These riders represent the best of the best in America right now, and with the talented and dedicated support team behind them, which includes AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Roger DeCoster and crew such as the Asterisk medical team, we are fully prepared to bring back the FIM Motocross of Nations world championship to the United States.”

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During the Stateside press conference for Team USA at the final round of Lucas Oil Motocross Championship in Southern California, last month, Team USA manager Roger DeCoster expressed concern about Team Belgium’s chances for victory at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in Teutschenthal, Germany. When all was said and done today, the five-time World Motocross Champion, a Belgian himself, clearly knew what he was talking about.

On a sunny and windy day in Teutschenthal, the team of Ken De Dycker, Clement DeSalle and Jeremy Van Horebeek became the first Belgian team to hoist the fabled Chamberlain Trophy since 2004 in a drama-filled event where consistency was the key to victory. The Belgians topped Team USA, 27-30. Team Italy was third, with 33 points. Team Germany’s Ken Roczen also gave his home crowd a reason to celebrate, as he claimed his fourth consecutive MX2 individual win, while seven-time and reigning FIM MX1 World Motocross Champion Antonio Cairoli earned posted a two-moto sweep to claim the MX1 individual title.

Unfortunately for Team USA, two bad miscues ruined the team’s chances to assuage its defeat in Lommel, Belgium, last year. It started with a crash by Team USA rookie Eli Tomac while he was battling for the MX2 lead in Moto 1, the first of the three motos, and ended with teammate Justin Barcia’s failure to pass his way high enough up in the standings to unseat Team Belgium in Moto 3. In between was a mix of brilliant riding by both Honda men and a rather uninspiring performance by Ryan Dungey, who clearly struggled in both of his motos on the rutty Teutschenthal track.

That Team USA was somewhat shocked by Australia during Saturday qualifying, the Australians claimed the number one seed ahead of the USA, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain, was only a harbinger of things to come.

Moto 1 – MX1/MX2
Moto one pitted the MX1 (450cc) riders against the MX2 (250cc) riders, and when the gate dropped, Australia’s Dean Ferris grabbed the holeshot on a 250cc machine, followed by Switzerland’s Valentin Guillod and Germany’s Ken Roczen. Team USA’s Dungey and Tomac started the first lap mired in 16th and 19th respectively. Ferris looked fast early in the moto, but an off-track excursion after a jump on lap two dropped him to third behind Guillod and Roczen. Great Britain’s Tommy Searle ran fourth, just ahead of reigning MX1 World Champion Antonio Cairoli of Italy.

Dungey quickly started to pick his way to the front on lap three, moving from 16th to 12th, while Tomac improved to 15th. On lap four, Roczen leaped past Guillod on the uphill step-up triple to take the lead overall as well as in the MX2 class for Team Germany, but teammate Max Nagl was stuck in 17th place. Roczen began to build a cushion on the rest of the field. Cairoli was the fastest man on the track, however, and he fired past Ferris for second place overall on lap six to move Italy to the top of the team standings.

But Team USA was just getting going, with Dungey and Tomac moving to eighth and ninth respectively on the track to vault the team up to fifth in the team standings just before the halfway point in the moto, behind Italy, Germany, Belgium and Australia.

Roczen continued to hold the lead on lap nine, with Cairoli staying on the charge in second and pulling to within 3 seconds of the German. Tomac had also settled into a fast rhythm, and he ran down Ferris to challenge for fourth place on lap 11. Tomac completed the pass, which, combined with Dungey’s eighth-place position, moved Team USA up in the standings with little more than seven minutes remaining in the first moto.

Up front, Cairoli cut into Roczen’s advantage about the same time, and when Roczen missed a shift in the final corner before the finish line jump, Cairoli moved around him on the outside to take the overall lead, but Team USA held the top spot in the overall team standings, with Tomac fourth and Dungey eighth. Tomac helped Team USA’s fortunes by stealing away third from Searle of Great Britain, and he wasn’t done yet, as he latched onto the Roczen’s rear wheel with just two minutes remaining and attempted to pass his Lucas Oil (AMA) Pro Motocross Championship rival with two minutes remaining. That was when the first disaster struck Team USA. Tomac cross-rutted at the top of a jump and parted company with his motorcycle, suffering a heavy crash. Tomac was up quickly, and he was able to continue, but in the blink of an eye, Team USA’s fortunes has changed. What seemed like a sure second-place finish ended with Tomac winding up a disappointing 16th at the finish.

Cairoli went on to take the moto win with 7.835 seconds in hand over Roczen. Searle, Ferris and Gauthier Paulin of France completed the top five. Dungey made his way to sixth place to mitigate the damage to Team USA’s hopes as best he could.

Moto 2 – MX2/Open class
Australian rider Ferris pulled the holeshot again, followed by Roczen, Sean Simpson of Great Britain, and Americans Justin Barcia and Eli Tomac. Roczen wasted no time in dispatching Ferris for the lead over the downhill jump, however, while Tomac moved to third place, ahead of Barcia, and set his sights on Ferris. Tomac took over the second position in the left-hand turn before the step-up triple jump on lap two. Barcia also jumped his way past Ferris to third place on the third lap.

Undaunted by his first-moto mishap Tomac once again ran down Roczen, on lap three, and he stalked the German rider. Tomac was the fastest rider on the track, turning in a 1-minute, 42.325-second lap on lap three. Germany’s hopes of a repeat took a huge hit when Dennis Ullrich crashed in the moto and didn’t appear to be in a hurry to rejoin the race.

Roczen continued to hold off Tomac, with Barcia running a comfortable third ahead of Ferris and Clement DeSalle of Belgium. As they ran on the track just before the halfway point, Team USA had rebounded and was back in the lead, with 27 points to Belgium’s 35 and Great Britain’s 37, but Belgium continued to improve, and with DeSalle running down Barcia with less than 10 minutes remaining in the moto, every position on the track would take on added significance.

The action became even more intense when Barcia bobbled over the same jump and nearly crashed in the exact same spot that had claimed Tomac in Moto 1. Barcia recovered, but the miscue allowed DeSalle to close in and pass Barcia for third place overall—a crucial turning point on the day, as it would move Team Belgium ahead of Team USA in the overall team standings.

Meanwhile, one of the best battles on the track was taking place for ninth place among Tonkov of Russia, Alessandro Lupino of Italy and Tanel Leok of Estonia. Leok would get the best of the battle, moving all the way up to sixth place before the end of the moto.

Tomac waited until there were less than five minutes remaining in the moto to put on another charge and erase the 2.5-second advantage that Roczen had enjoyed in the second half of the race. Tomac alerted Roczen to his presence by moving alongside the German over the finish line jump, and that seemed to motivate Roczen to attempt to pull away again as he desperately sought a win in front of his countrymen. It was enough motivation, as Roczen held off Tomac over the finish line to take the moto win and also clinch the overall individual win for the MX2 class. DeSalle held on to finish third, with Barcia fourth, ahead of Ferris.

Moto 3-MX1/Open
The battle for the Chamberlain Trophy was still wide open when the MX1 and Open riders lined up for the third and final moto. Team Belgium clung to a three-point lead over Team USA, 25-28, with Team Italy running third with 36, ahead of Team France with 38 and Team Australia with 39.

But then it seemed as if Team Belgium’s hopes would be dashed in the first turn when DeSalle got tangled up in a multi-rider crash and was knocked out of the race, but the melee that ended DeSalle’s day also claimed Barcia, dropping him to 36th place on the track and putting Team USA in a deep hole to start the moto.

Up front, Nagl led Evgeny Bobryshev of Russia, Cairoli and Dungey, but Dungey was soon pressured by France’s Gauthier Paulin, Belgium’s Ken De Dycker and Searle, who dropped Dungey to seventh place on the track. Barcia was working his way through the pack. He had moved up to 20th place by lap five, and it appeared as though his finish might ultimately decide Team USA’s fate.

As Nagl and Cairoli ran together in first and second on the race track, they built up a 4-second lead over third-placed Bobryshev. Barcia continued to move forward, running 16th by lap eight, while Dungey continued to run sixth. Cairoli finally passed Nagl for the lead over the Monster Energy jump for the lead on lap nine, and he quickly checked out on the field, keeping Team Italy’s hopes alive in the process. Likewise, De Dycker was turning in a solid performance in fourth place to keep Belgium in the hunt.

Dungey gave Team USA a glimmer of hope when he passed Paulin for sixth place, but he ran off the track and gave the position right back to the Frenchman. Barcia was up to 12th place with seven minutes left on the clock. De Dycker, meanwhile, quietly moved up to second place on the track, banking more points for Team Belgium and giving the team a 27-31 over Team USA advantage as the final moto came down to the wire.

The momentum appeared to swing again when a motivated Bobryshev came on strong and pressured De Dycker with just under 2 minutes plus two laps remaining, and Barcia picked up another point for Team USA when he passed Australia’s Tod Waters for 11th place just before the moto clock expired, leaving just two laps for Team USA to get the job done.

Cairoli rode a masterful race, and when the checkered flag fell, the seven-time FIM World Motocross Champion left little doubt as to who was the fastest man on the track in Germany with a brilliant win to claim the MX1 individual title, but briliant De Dycker’s second-place finish, combined with Dungey’s seventh-place finish and Barcia’s 11th-place finish lifted Belgium clear of Team USA for the Motocross of Nations victory, 27-30.

The 2014 Motocross of Nations is scheduled to take place in Latvia.

2014 Motocross of Nations
Teutschenthal, Germany
Results: September 29, 2013

Overall Team Results
1. Belgium-27
2. USA-30
3. Italy-33
4. Australia-40
5. France-44
6. Great Britain-49
7. Germany-57
8. Russia-78
9. Switzerland-87
10. Estonia-92

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America’s representatives to the 67th Annual Motocross of Nations took to the track in its stars-and-stripes gear before the US press at Lake Elsinore Motocross Park today, on the weekend of the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. The three-rider team, which consists of Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey, Muscle Milk Honda’s Justin Barcia and GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac is hoping to assuage a frustrating defeat by Germany at last year’s event in Lommel, Belgium, and if they do, they will do it on the Germans’ home turf. This year’s event is set to take place in Teutschenthal, Germany, September 28-29.

First held in 1947, the Motocross of Nations is the closest thing to the Olympics in the motocross world, and as one might expect, each participating country enters puts tremendous effort into winning it. The scoring for the event works on points system with first place in a moto awarded one point, second place two, and so on, with the lowest team score determining the event winner. The event is composed of three classes: MX1, MX2 and Open. Each class faces the others twice over the course of three motos.

While it is won by an individual country, the Motocross of Nation is a special challenge for Team USA as it often takes on the flavor of a battle for supremacy between the two axis powers in the sport, the US and Europe. Each year, various European teams seem to step up their game to battle for the win against Team USA. Even so, Team USA Manager Roger DeCoster, a motorsports legend who has tasted victory 10 years in a row as a rider for Team Belgium and a record 13 straight times as the Team USA manager, said that there are certain teams that could pose more of a challenge to Team USA, which has won seven of the last eight MXoN events and has gone undefeated in the history of the event whenever it has been held in Germany.

“The French could be good, and the Germans last year were better than I expected as well, but I don’t think they are going to be as good this year,” DeCoster said. “(Italy’s) Antonio Cairoli is really good, but I don’t think they’ll have the third rider they need (to threaten for the overall win). I expect the French and Belgium to be the strongest competition, but I would say to anyone that it is kind of them (Europe) against us, because if one country is tied with the United States going into the third moto, the other countries may make it tough on the USA. There is an atmosphere that it’s the World Championship circuit against the US circuit. People always ask are the Europeans the best or are the Americans the best. Last year they did beat us, and they were better than us.”

The veteran member of this year’s Team USA squad, Dungey, who will race in the MX1 class, remembers the frustration of last year’s event in Belgium, and he is seeking a little revenge.

“Yeah, I am,” he admitted. “I want to win it for sure. It’s a team, and we all have to do a part, but I would really like to bring it back (to the US), but I think we all would.”

Dungey also said that if he could pass along any advice to his teammates, it would “to stay calm. It’s a team effort, it’s not just about one rider.”

Barcia, who made his debut for Team USA at the Belgian event in 2012 and will ride in the Open class this year in Germany, agreed.

“Like Ryan says, you’ve gotta stay calm and let it come to you,” Barcia said. “Last year it was definitely stressful. We really wanted to win, and the track was extremely tough. We rode in sand, and five or six of those guys (competitors) had a real advantage…and we struggled. I think this year the track is going to suit our style a little better and be a more even playing field.”

Riding in the MX2 (250cc) class, Team USA rookie Tomac will certainly be a lesser known quantity on the world stage, but he hopes to counteract the stress of the event be focusing on maintaining the individual momentum that he has enjoyed while wrapping up the 2013 250cc Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship.

“It is a team effort, too, “ Tomac added. “But also I think that this year isn’t as unique of a track as it was last year, and that’s better for me as a rookie.”

DeCoster added that the pressure to win is great not just because of Team USA’s well-established dominance, but because the event itself draws so much attention.

“It’s like what we see in soccer, maybe,” DeCoster said. “Every country is there, and they (fans) all come and support their teams. For me it is a coolest event of the year because it the best riders from every country, and you see all the best riders racing each other. There are a lot of fans and a great atmosphere, and it can get pretty crazy. You see all kinds of things.”

American motocross fans hope that one of them will be the start of another Team USA winning streak.

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