After much anticipation, months of preparation, a fair amount of drama and more press releases than anyone can keep track of, the 2010 Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations finally took place at Colorado’s notorious Thunder Valley. The track was long and rough, and the high altitude provided yet another obstacle for the international competitors. After a day of timed practice that revealed a deep talent pool, the event’s main day of racing got underway.The format for MXoN is simple: Each country fields three racers: An MX1 rider, an MX2 rider and an open class rider. Each racer competes in two motos each, with each of the three classes getting a chance to integrate on the track. There is a fair amount of team tactics involved, but when you get down to it the racers are there to do one thing and one thing only: Take a trophy home, wherever that may be. Here’s how it all went down at this year’s running of the MXoN…MX1 + MX2
The first moto of the day featured the MX1 and MX2 classes, both of which consisted of some serious international heavy-hitters such as Americans Ryan Dungey and Trey Canard, Italian Antonio Cairoli, New Zealand’s Josh Coppins, Spaniard Jonathan Barragan, France’s Gautier Paulin, Austalia’s Brett Metcalfe and German young gun Ken Roczen. The drop of the gate saw Barragan with a massive holeshot, followed closely by Dungey, Belgium’s Steve Ramon, Cairoli and Metcalfe. A first turn tangle left Canard on the ground, remounting in last place and finding his way to 30th within the second lap. Up front, Dungey made a calculated pass for the lead on lap five, but Cairoli was charging through the pack and was hot on the American’s heels, followed not far behind by a hard-charging Metcalfe. Cairoli looked strong and fairly aggressive, showing Dungey a wheel on more than one occasion over the period of several laps.Further back in the pack, Canard had moved up to 17th place, putting Team USA in a runner-up overall position behind Australia. Out front, Dungey began to gap Cairoli by a few seconds, aided by a mistake on the Italian’s part over the massive quad jump before the finish line that cost Cairoli a second or two. This was all the cushion that Dungey needed to solidify his lead and the moto win. Canard had a great battle with Belgium’s Jeremy van Horebeek, pulling away for 12th place behind the Aprilia-mounted Coppins. The final finishing order of Dungey, Cairoli and Metcalfe (with Barragan close in tow) gave the USA the overall points lead, followed by Australia, Germany and Belgium.MX2 + Open
As was his habit in the AMA outdoor nationals this year, Team USA’s Andrew Short busted a massive holeshot in the second moto. Roczen, riding back-to-back motos along with the rest of the MX2 racers, was the first 250F. Fortunately, Canard stayed up and came around in roughly 15th. Not long into the race, an epic battle broke out between Roczen and New Zealander Ben Townley, which appeared to push Roczen forward and straight past leader Short. Then, in an aggressive move in the turn after the finish line, Townley and Short made contact and Shorty went down. He appeared banged up and slowly remounted, only to discover that he had no clutch lever. Still, the tough-as-nails racer was able get his bike going and get back into the race.Roczen and Townley continued to battle for the lead, while Shorty fought to regain his composure-clutchless, I might add-in the middle of the pack. Canard sat not far ahead and looked strong and solid around 9th place, battling with Australian Jay Marmont. Townley and Roczen continued to dice before the New Zealander found an advantage and checked out. When the checkered flag finally dropped, Townley took a commanding win with Puerto Rican-for-the-day Kyle Regal in second and Roczen in third. Shorty salvaged a decent position while Canard had a solid result aboard his 250F, although this left the USA in second place overall behind Germany. Coming into the final moto, it was all or nothing for the boys in red, white and blue.MX1 + Open
The final moto of the day went off to perfect weather, a rough track and an estimated 30,000 fans all screaming their sunburned heads off. In a predictable but no less exciting start to the race, Andrew Short executed another flawless holeshot with Dungey and Townley in tow. The three racers followed each other for several laps before Dungey made a clean, decisive pass around his American teammate. Dungey has a smooth, consistent riding style, and the way he moves the bike around is both deliberate and effortless, not to mention a real joy to watch. Not long after being passed for the lead, Shorty dropped back to third when Townley made a move to take the #2 position. However, it was not to be and Townley soon lost control and went down hard in the big rail corner in the back gully of the track. Short had to check up to not hit his rival and former Honda teammate, but like a true gentleman he went around the New Zealander rather than just run him over. Townley pulled off later that lap.With a clear track ahead of him, Dungey simply checked out. Short remained in second place, while Cairoli struggled to crack the top five. He eventually settled into third place behind Clement Desalle, but the Italian just didn’t have it in him to land on the box. The Americans kept it together to take an emotional win in front of the ecstatic crowd, thus solidifying their place as the top country at this year’s MXoN. The strong team of Belgian riders finished second, while Germany rounded out the top three. Overall, it was an epic weekend of racing with a few close calls and a picture perfect finish. Stay tuned to the January issue of Dirt Rider for more international action from the Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations!Final Results:
1. USA: Ryan Dungey, Andrew Short, Trey Canard
2. Belgium: Clement Desalle, Steve Ramon, Jeremy van Horebeek
3. Germany: Ken Roczen, Max Nagl, Marcus Schiffer
4. Great Britain: Dean Wilson, Brad Anderson, Jake Nichols
5. Italy: Antonio Cairoli, Manuel Monni, Alessandro Lupino
6. Australia: Brett Metcalfe, Jay Marmont, Dean Ferris
7. France: Gautier Paulin, Xavier Boog, Marvin Musquin
8. Canada: Kyle Keast, Jeremy Medaglia, Kaven Benoit
9. New Zealand: Ben Townley, Josh Coppins, Brad Groombridge
10. Portugal: Rui Goncalves, Luis Correia, Hugo Basaula
