Moto 3 – MXGP & Open
It was a bit of a shock to see Australia atop the Nations Classification entering the final moto, which was largely the result of Lawrence’s exceptional performance. The Aussies carried an eight-point advantage over Belgium and Italy, while Spain, the U.S. and France were all in the hunt as well. Several of these teams, most notably France, had already collected a result they’d likely eliminate in the final scoring, which left little room for error for the riders contesting the deciding race.
When the gate dropped on the third and final moto,Coldenhoff once again seized the moment and surged out to the early lead over Italy’s Alessandro Lupino, with Paulinand Germany’s Ken Roczen giving chase. Herlings started fifth, but he was determined to join the battle with his teammate up front.
The early battle for the Chamberlain Trophy saw France and Italy put themselves in the best position, as the Aussies, Belgians, Spaniards and Americans all were mired mid-pack. While hopes still remained high for Team USA to step up and make things interesting, Barcia and Tomac started in 12th and 14th, respectively. Given the contending countries already in the upper portion of the field, the host nation’s hopes of ascending back to the top of the motocross world and maintaining their undefeated record on home soil felt like a long shot.
It didn’t take long for Herlings to work his way up to second, but once he did he was well back of his fellow Dutchman as Coldenhoff was once again in cruise control. As they pulled away, Paulin settled in behind Lupino as France and Italy continued their battle in Nations Classification. Italy received an added boost from Cairoli, who climbed up into the top five, while Tixier was doing all he could to move up from 14th for France.
Barcia and Tomac connected early in the moto and looked to push one another on a charge through the field, but Barcia’s back-to-back motos started to have an effect as he gradually lost ground and started to drop positions. Tomac, meanwhile, continued to charge ahead.
Cairoli’s march forward carried him past Paulin into fourth,and for a short period of time Italy was atop the standings by running third and fourth on the track. Shortly after that, however, Cairoli made the risky decision to ditch his goggles. It impacted the multi-time world’s champion’s speed immediately, and he dropped several positions. This change effectively put France back in control as Paulin got a second wind and mounted a late charge that would secure another win for his country.
Coldenhoff and Herlings capped of an utterly dominant performance by the pair, who single-handedly brought the Netherlands into a podium spot despite being down a rider.Paulin closed things out with a stellar third-place effort, while Cairoli withstood the roost to finish fourth, just ahead of Lupino. The standings were still tight after the top five took the checkered flag, and it wasn’t until Tixier crossed the line in 15th that France clinched the victory.
Tomac led the way for Monster Energy with a seventh-place finish, with Searle in 10th. Van Horebeek followed in 11th while Barcia couldn’t muster more than a 13th-place finish. Medaglia followed in a distant 23rd, with Desalle in 27th.
When the final results were tallied, France (35 points) edged out Italy (37 points) by just two positions, putting Monster Energy atop the podium with Ferrandis, who contributed a pair of top-10 finishes to complement Paulin’s pair of podiums. France became just the third country to amass a five-year winning streak in the history of the MXoN, joining the U.S. and Great Britain. TheNetherlands (41 points) earned its third straight podium result in third. Fittingly, the top three teams on Sunday also earned the top three spots in Saturday’s qualifications, emphasizing the importance of gate selection at a unique event like the MXoN.
Another stellar showing at the MXoN by Lawrence carried Australia to an impressive fourth-place finish, followed by Great Britain in fifth. Team USA finished sixth, posting just three top-10 finishes and one top-five result. While it was no doubt a tough pill to swallow, the host nation’s inability to generate good starts ultimately prevented them from getting into the mix.
Monster Energy was represented by half of the top 10 finishing countries. Tomac led the way for the Monster Army in MXGP by finishing fourth in the individual classification, while Lawrence was tops in MX2 with a runner-up performance, just ahead of Ferrandis in third and Watson in fourth. Van Horebeek led the way in the Open division in third.
The 2019 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations will take place at the Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands, September 28-29.
Motocross of Nations Overall Results
1. France – 35 points
MXGP – Gautier Paulin (2nd place – 2 points)
MXGP – Gautier Paulin (3rd place – 3 points)
MX2 – Dylan Ferrandis (7th place – 7 points)
MX2 – Dylan Ferrandis (8th place – 8 points)
Open – Jordi Tixier (15th place – 15 points)
Open – Jordi Tixier (32nd place – 32 points)
2. Italy – 37 points
MXGP – Antonio Cairoli (4th place – 4 points)
Open – Alessandro Lupino (5th place – 5 points)
MXGP – Antonio Cairoli (6th place – 6 points)
MX2 – Michele Cervellin (10th place – 10 points)
Open – Alessandro Lupino (12th place – 12 points)
MX2 – Michele Cervellin (14th place – 14 points)
3. Netherlands – 41 points
Open – Glenn Coldenhoff (1st place – 1 point)
Open – Glenn Coldenhoff (1st place – 1 point)
MXGP – Jeffrey Herlings (1st place – 1 point)
MXGP – Jeffrey Herlings (2nd place – 2 points)
MX2 – Calvin Vlaanderen (36th place – 36 points)
MX2 – Calvin Vlaanderen (DNS – No points)
4. Australia – 48 points
MX2 – Hunter Lawrence (2nd place – 2 points)
MX2 – Hunter Lawrence (8th place – 8 points)
Open – Mitchell Evans (10th place – 10 points)
Open – Mitchell Evans (14th place – 14 points)
MXGP – Kirk Gibbs (14th place – 14 points)
MXGP – Kirk Gibbs (33rd place – 33 points)
5. Great Britain – 48 points
MX2 – Ben Watson (4th place – 4 points)
Open – Max Anstie (6th place – 6 points)
MXGP – Tommy Searle (10th place – 10 points)
Open – Max Anstie (13th place – 13 points)
MX2 – Ben Watson (15th place – 15 points)
MXGP – Tommy Searle (34th place – 34 points)
6. USA – 49 points
MXGP – Eli Tomac (4th place – 4 points)
MXGP – Eli Tomac (7th place – 7 points)
Open – Justin Barcia (9th place – 9 points)
Open – Justin Barcia (13th place – 13 points)
MX2 – Aaron Plessinger (16th place – 16 points)
MX2 – Aaron Plessinger (18th place – 18 points)
7. Belgium – 53 points
MXGP – Clement Desalle (5th place – 5 points)
Open – Jeremy Van Horebeek (6th place – 6 points)
Open – Jeremy Van Horebeek (11th place – 11 points)
MX2 – Jago Geerts (13th place – 13 points)
MX2 – Jago Geerts (18th place – 18 points)
MXGP – Clement Desalle (27th place – 27 points)
8. Spain – 63 points
MX2 – Jorge Prado (3rd place – 3 points)
MX2 – Jorge Prado (3rd place – 3 points)
MXGP – Jose Butron (17th place – 17 points)
MXGP – Jose Butron (18th place – 18 points)
Open – Carlos Campano (22nd place – 22 points)
Open – Carlos Campano (22nd place – 22 points)
9. Estonia – 71 points
Open – Harri Kullas (7th place – 7 points)
Open – Harri Kullas (12th place – 12 points)
MXGP – Tanel Leok (12th place – 12 points)
MXGP – Tanel Leok (19th place – 19 points)
MX2 – Hardi Roosiorg (21st place – 21 points)
MX2 – Hardi Roosiorg (24th place – 24 points)
10. Germany – 78 points
Open – Max Nagl (8th place – 8 points)
MXGP – Ken Roczen (9th place – 9 points)
Open – Max Nagl (11th place – 11 points)
MX2 – Henry Jacobi (25th place – 25 points)
MXGP – Ken Roczen (25th place – 25 points)
MX2 – Henry Jacobi (37th place – 37 points)