Team USA Wins 59th Annual Motocross of Nations, Carmichael Goes Undefeated

It was the first win by the stars and stripes team since 2000, where it now joins Great Britain with 16 MXdN victories. All of the American victories have come since 1981, while 15 of the British trophies came in the first 21 years of MX of Nations competition, which started in 1947.

Factory Suzuki rider and American legend Ricky Carmichael had a flawless race, leading from start to finish and was never challenged. He won his two motos and the Saturday qualifier. Ricky received good support from teammates Kevin Windham (Honda, 3-5 finishes) and Ivan Tedesco (Kawasaki, 6-17).

The French home team, drawing the largest cheer from the crowd, earned second place. On his last ride for the Team Martin Honda, Mickael Pichon rode fast and determined, and as usual, showed a lot of heart, finishing third in the opening moto behind Carmichael and Joshua Coppins. Mickael engaged in a great battle with Windham in the last moto when he crashed heavily in the last lap. With a fifth place finish, he secured France's second place finish. Fellow French rider David Vuillemin put in two strong races (2nd and 7th) and Sebastien Tortelli, who has returned to racing in Europe and was riding his Factory KTM for the first time, was seventh. Tortelli was the second-best MX2 rider in the first moto but crashed three times in the next race, ultimately crossing the finish line a lap down in a lowly twenty-ninth.

Third overall went to the Belgian team, headed up by recently crowned 2005 MXGP Champion, Stefan Everts. Everts struggled with bad starts and arm pump but claimed a thirteenth overall podium with his national team. Steve Ramon had a strong performance on the factory KTM SX 250F in the MX2 class, the best individual result for the team with an 8-3, while Kevin Strijbos scored two top-ten finishes.

The New Zealand team missed the podium by only one point. Ben Townley who rode very strong, won the second of three motos and ended his European racing career (he will be racing AMA Supercross with Pro Circuit Kawasaki next year) and his four year relationship with KTM by finishing a strong second behind Ricky Carmichael in the last moto. Joshua Coppins finished twice in the top four, but Cody Cooper, who was racing his first MXoN, couldn't do better than 23rd in each moto.

Ricky Carmichael: "I wanted my two team-mates to have the same sensation that I had in France in 2000 when I won the Nations for the first time. It was a good day. Everyone was talking about me but there were two other guys on this team that rose to the occasion. We race so much at home and it is almost overkill but the factories invest a lot of money and they don't care about this race, they just want success in 250 Supercross. We come here for pride and because we want to and that is why it is so sweet to win. The fans were great. I have been on the upside and the downside of fans in my career and it was nice to feel wanted."

Ben Townley: "In the first race I didn't get a very good start but I came through pretty quickly and I was desperate to not let the leaders get away. I went down when my front wheel washed out. Vuillemin and Ramon went through but soon I passed them again. I was pushing hard but then Windham crashed and that gave me the lead. In the second moto my goggles broke on the line and I completely flubbed the start. Again I wanted to get up front as soon as possible and I got close to Ricky, trying as hard as I could, but could not get close enough. I just did my best for the Europeans. All this 'they are better than us, we are better than them' stuff has to stop now. Ricky is the best rider in the world and after him it is a lot less obvious."

Stefan Everts: "I knew it would be difficult to win today; for me, the American team was the absolute hands-on favorite for the event. And of course, circumstances did not help us. I had two crashes off the start today, but the most disappointing was that I couldn't run with the top guys. However, I'm happy for the Belgian team that we made the podium. It is my 13th podium out of 13 MX of Nations. And that's already quite special by itself."

Race 1: MX1 + MX2

1. Ricky Carmichael (USA - Suzuki)
2. Joshua Coppins (NZL - Honda)
3. Mickael Pichon (FRA - Honda)
4. Tanel Leok (EST - Kawasaki)
5. Stefan Everts (BEL - Yamaha)
6. Ivan Tedesco (USA - Kawasaki)
7. Sbastien Tortelli (FRA - KTM)
8. Marc De Reuver (NED - KTM)
9. Steve Ramon (BEL - KTM)
10. Billy Mackenzie (GBR - Yamaha)
11. Carl Nunn (GBR- KTM)
12. Joaquim Rodrigues (POR - Honda)
13. Aigar Leok (EST - KTM)
14. Julien Bill (SWI - KTM)
15. Garreth Swanepoel (RSA - Kawasaki)
16. Kazumasa Masuda (JAP - Honda)
17. Andrew McFarlane (AUS - Yamaha)
18. Tyla Rattray (RSA - KTM)
19. Davide Guarneri (ITA - Yamaha)
20. Maximilian Nagl (GER - KTM)

Race 2: MX2 + Open

1. Ben Townley (NZL - KTM)
2. David Vuillemin (FRA - Yamaha)
3. Steve Ramon (BEL - KTM)
4. David Philippaerts (ITA - KTM)
5. Kevin Windham (USA - Honda)
6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL -Suzuki)
7. Javier Garcia Vico (SPA - Honda)
8. Marc Ristori (SWI - Honda)
9. Yoshitaka Atsuta (JAP - Suzuki)
10. Matti Seistola (FIN - Honda)
11. Carl Nunn (GBR- KTM)
12. James Noble (GBR - Honda)
13. Juss Laansoo (EST - Honda)
14. Andrew McFarlane (AUS - Yamaha)
15. Joaquim Rodrigues (POR - Honda)
16. Tyla Rattray (RSA - KTM)
17. Ivan Tedesco (USA - Kawasaki)
18. Carlos Campano (SPA - KTM)
19. Rui Goncalves (POR - Yamaha)
20. Bas Verhoeven (NED - Honda)

Race 3: MX1 + Open

1. Ricky Carmichael (USA - Suzuki)
2. Ben Townley (NZL - KTM)
3. Kevin Windham (USA - Honda)
4. Joshua Coppins (NZL - Honda)
5. Mickael Pichon (FRA - Honda)
6. Marc De Reuver (NED - KTM)
7. David Vuillemin (FRA - Yamaha)
8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL - Suzuki)
9. Stefan Everts (BEL - Yamaha)
10. Tanel Leok (EST - Kawasaki)
11. Javier Garcia Vico (SPA - Honda)
12. Billy Mackenzie (GBR - Yamaha)
13. James Noble (GBR - Honda)
14. David Philippaerts (ITA - KTM)
15. Rui Goncalves (POR - Yamaha)
16. Neville Bradshaw (RSA - Suzuki)
17. Kazumasa Masuda (JAP - Honda)
18. Maximilian Nagl (GER - KTM)
19. Juss Lanssoo (EST - Honda)
20. Bas Verhoeven (NED - Honda)

Final Team Results

1. United States (Carmichael, Windham, Tedesco) - 16
2. France (Pichon, Tortelli, Vuillemin) - 24
3. Belgium (Everts, Ramon, Strijbos) - 31 points
4. New Zealand (Coppins, Townley, Cooper) - 32
5. Great Britain (Mackenzie, Nunn, Noble) - 56
6. Estonia (Tanel Leok, Aigar Leok, Laansoo) - 59
7. Netherlands (De Reuver, Verhoeven, Van Hastenberg) - 82
8. Portugal (Rui Gonalves, Paolo Gonalves, Rodriguez) - 83
9. South Africa: (Rattray, Swanepoel, Bradshaw) - 86
10. Spain (Garcia Vico, Barragan, Gonzalez) - 99