Germany hopes make it two wins in a row in this weekend’s Motocross of Nations in Latvia, but it will be tough without AMA 450 Motocross National Champion Ken Roczen. Photography by Steve Cox
The teams and riders are already in Europe preparing for the 2014 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations—an event that Team USA hasn’t won since 2011. The last time Team USA came out of the MXoN victorious, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey and 2011 250cc National Champ Blake Baggett made up the team.
Actually, the last time Team USA lost two times in a row—at least when Team USA has shown up to compete—was between 1997 and 1999, when Team USA lost three times in a row.
Regardless, Team USA is never the underdog at the Motocross of Nations. With the largest motorcycle market in the world, a population of over 300 million people, and the largest off-road motorcycle-racing series in the world (the Monster Energy/AMA Supercross Series), it’s always assumed that whoever Team USA sends, they will be a favorite to win, if for no other reason than the “country vs. country” aspect of the event leading invariably to many teams that have one or two really great riders, but not three.
Team USA has won the event a record 22 times, including one streak of 13 in a row, and another of seven in a row—which puts Team USA in first and second place on the list of the longest MXoN win streaks in the history of the event. Great Britain is second on the all-time win list at 16, with Belgium nipping at their heels at 15 MXoN wins, including the 2013 event in Teutschenthal, Germany.
Also note that, as of 2014, the premier class in the GPs is now referred to as “MXGP” instead of “MX1” as it was previously, following at long last the successful marketing of MotoGP on the road-racing side of things. As such, the three classes at the 2014 Motocross of Nations are: MXGP (350-450cc machines), MX2 (250cc machines) and Open (whatever size you want to race).
THE TRACK
Latvia is often considered to be “Eastern Europe” because it borders Russia—which was a bit of a concern for Ryan Dungey prior to him committing to race for the USA this year, considering the international issues right now with Russia—but geographically, it’s more accurately Northern Europe. The track is located in a central-Latvian town called Kegums, and the dirt?
Let’s just say that when “the sandman” Marc de Reuver was asked about the Latvian MXoN during last year’s event in Germany, he was excited. From what we understand, the track isn’t sandy in the same way that Lommel is, but it’s pretty loose terrain with a hard base underneath. Think just slightly less sandy than Southwick.
And that’s good, too, as there’s a decent chance of rain in the forecast for this weekend’s festivities. Friday, there’s a 35% chance of rain into at least the early hours on Saturday, and then Sunday—race day—there’s a 25% chance of showers as well.
Looser dirt typically does a better job of absorbing water.
It should also be noted that temperatures should be very mild, as is typical this time of year in Northern Europe, topping out at just over 60 degrees.
THE LINEUP
BELGIUM
Under team manager Joel Smets, the defending MXoN champs are bringing a pretty strong team, but not the strongest they could have brought. Jeremy Van Horebeek is leading the squad into Latvia with the number-one plate on his YZ450F. The last time there was a GP at this track, Van Horebeek finished a solid fifth overall, which matched his best overall placing in the championship that year. This year, he ended up second overall in the MX1 World Championship, so he’s going to be a contender. Belgium had a couple other very strong riders at the 2013 Latvia MXGP, with Ken de Dycker finishing second in the MX1 class, Clement Desalle finishing third, and Kevin Strijbos finishing seventh, so it seems to be a track that the Belgians get along with. However, de Dycker had to have surgery to remove a plate in his wrist in August, so he’s not able to race in Latvia, and Desalle is similarly injured, with a scaphoid fracture sidelining him for the MXoN. Still, Belgium is always a contender, and with veteran Kevin Strijbos riding the Open class, and Julien Lieber (who was fourth in the final MX2 event of the season) in MX2, that trend should continue.
Team Manager: Joel Smets
1 Jeremy Van Horebeek (Yam, MXGP)
2 Julien Lieber (KTM, MX2)
3 Kevin Strijbos (Suz, Open)
Ryan Dungey hopes to rebound after last year’s disappointing performance in Germany. He will. Photography by Steve Cox
USA
Red Bull KTM’s Ryan Dungey has been a staple for the USA at the MXoN since 2009, which was actually his first professional outdoor motocross event on a 450, after racing a 250 all year long in the USA. Dungey is always a contender in the USA, and is usually a contender at the Motocross of Nations, and he has raced the MX1 (now MXGP) class every time he’s gone to the event. Last year, in Germany, there’s no nice way to say it: He looked absolutely terrible on Sunday. He went incredibly far in the wrong direction on his settings and looked completely out of sorts on his way to some pretty terrible finishes (for him), in sixth and seventh in his two motos. If he could’ve finished just fifth in both of his motos, Team USA would have tied on points with Belgium for the event win. The following week, however, at a Red Bull race in Europe, Dungey went out and beat everyone, including Italy’s Antonio Cairoli, who won both of their motos in Germany. Dungey will definitely feel like he has something to prove in Latvia. The other guy on Team USA who has something to prove is GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac. Tomac only knows one speed, and during the MX1/MX2 opening moto in Germany, he and Ken Roczen were having at it for second overall (behind Cairoli, but first in MX2) when Tomac made a massive error and went down huge. Luckily, he was okay, but the massive crash, late in the race, landed him 16th in the moto. It turned out to be Team USA’s throwaway score for the event. Tomac finished second in the MX2/Open moto, behind Roczen, to give the USA its best score for the event. He’s going to be eager to show what he’s capable of on a 450 in the Open class for Team USA. And finally, there’s Yamaha’s 250cc National Champion Jeremy Martin. Martin was dominant throughout most of the 250cc National Championship here stateside, and the dirt in Latvia seems like it will be quite similar to what he’s used to from his home track in Millville, Minnesota. Also, Martin trains with Dungey, so it’s a safe bet that he’s heard a lot about what to expect at the Motocross of Nations, good and bad. It’s tempting to say that he might be a shoe-in for the overall MX2 victory, especially with Jeffrey Herlings out of the event with a broken femur, but Italy has other ideas about that.
Team Manager: Roger DeCoster
4 Ryan Dungey (KTM, MXGP)
5 Jeremy Martin (Yam, MX2)
6 Eli Tomac (Hon, Open)
MXGP World Champion Antonio Cairoli will compete in the MX2 class for Team Italy. Photography by Steve Cox
ITALY
In one of the more interesting strategic twists in recent MXoN memory, Italy has decided to put defending (now six times in a row) MXGP/MX1 World MX Champ Antonio Cairoli in the MX2 class for the MXoN. Cairoli’s also a two-time MX2 World champ (but hasn’t raced in MX2 since 2008), and he normally races a KTM 350 SX/F in the MXGP Championship. One would have to assume that it’s not nearly as tough to transition from a 350 down to a 250 as it would be to transition from a 450 down to a 250. If Jeremy Martin can beat Cairoli heads-up, he’s really done something extraordinary. If Cairoli can score results on a 250 the same way he usually does at the MXoN on his 350, this could be the strategy to land Italy its second-ever MXoN victory (the first came in 2002, when Team USA wasn’t in attendance). TM-mounted Davide Guarneri is racing MXGP for Italy, and veteran David Philippaerts is in the Open class. Outside of Team USA, this may be the favorite team to win in 2014.
Team Manager: Thomas Traversini
7 Davide Guarneri (TM, MXGP)
8 Antonio Cairoli (KTM, MX2)
9 David Philippaerts (Yam, Open)
AUSTRALIA
A quick glance at the lineup of Team Australia and it’s easy to wonder why Brett Metcalfe isn’t on the list. As a fill-in rider at the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, where he finished a very solid fifth overall in the 2014 450cc National MX Championship, he apparently couldn’t gather the significant financial support to take everything over to Latvia for the event. As such, Australia will have its perennial Captain Australia in Chad Reed, but Dean Ferris, who was slated to be the team’s MX2 racer, suffered a broken femur at the MX2 event in Brazil, and will be replaced by Australian National MX2 champ Luke Clout. Matt Moss will race the Open class.
Team Manager: Gary Benn
10 Chad Reed (Kaw, MXGP)
11 Luke Clout (Yam, MX2)
12 Matt Moss (Suz, Open)
FRANCE
Much like Belgium, Team France is almost always a front-runner at the MXoN, but you can’t help but wonder if they’re hurting their chances this year with their MX2 choice. There’s no doubt that Gautier Paulin is going to be tough in Latvia, and Steven Frossard is solid as well, but instead of a third Kawasaki rider in Dylan Ferrandis, France could have had this year’s MX2 World champ, Jordi Tixier, or even Marvin Musquin, both of whom race for Red Bull KTM (Tixier in Europe, Musquin in the USA). Ferrandis is a fast racer, and scored a moto win this year (the opening moto of the year, in Qatar), but Tixier is the World Champ! We’ll have to see how this plays out…
Team Manager: Olivier Robert
13 Gautier Paulin (Kaw, MXGP)
14 Dylan Ferrandis (Kaw, MX2)
15 Steven Frossard (Kaw, Open)
Jeremy Martin started testing for the MXoN just days after winning the AMA 250 National MX title in August. Photography by Kit Palmer
GREAT BRITAIN
Luckily for Team Great Britain, Scotland voted not to secede from Great Britain this past week, because both Shaun Simpson (Great Britain’s MXGP racer) and Dean Wilson (Great Britain’s Open racer) are Scottish. Scotland was already 2/3 of the way to a truly great MXoN race team, but it wasn’t to be. The interesting thing about Great Britain this year, though, is that it seems they’re taking a page out of Team Italy’s playbook, with MXGP racer Tommy Searle stepping down to race the MX2 class, and Dean Wilson, who raced a 250cc (MX2) machine in the USA all year stepping up to race a 450 in the Open class. They must believe that Searle can make something happen on a KX250F in Latvia.
Team Manager: Neil Prince
16 Shaun Simpson (KTM, MXGP)
17 Tommy Searle (Kaw, MX2)
18 Dean Wilson (Kaw, Open)
GERMANY
One look at the lineup for Germany reveals something huge that’s missing: Ken Roczen. The top scorer for Germany for the past two years—including on the way to Germany’s first-ever MXoN victory in Lommel two years ago—Roczen is coming off his first-ever 450cc title, and he’s not on Team Germany. Why? With his team switch to the RCH Suzuki team, and his debut set for the beginning of October, Roczen simply didn’t feel he had the time to give the MXoN a fair shake this year, so he leaves it up to his countrymen Max Nagl (MXGP) and Marcus Schiffer (MX2), his teammates from the 2012 MXoN win, and then Dennis Ullrich in the Open class. This is a strong team, but not nearly as strong as it would be with Roczen.
Team Manager: Hubert Nagl
19 Maximillia Nagl (Hon, MXGP)
20 Marcus Schiffer (Suz, MX2)
21 Dennis Ullrich (KTM, Open)
Citing visa issues and dealing with his transition from the Red Bull KTM Team to the RCH Suzuki Team, Germany’s Ken Roczen chose not to compete in this year’s race.
RUSSIA
And finally, there’s Russia. Russia borders Latvia to the east, and no matter where the race is, it seems like “Russian Bob,” Evgeny Bobryshev, is always game. He steps it up every year at the Motocross of Nations. Last year, he finished a solid third in the final MX1/Open moto, behind Cairoli and de Dycker, and four spots in front of Dungey. However, Alexander Tonkov is basically a game-time decision for Russia. He went down with Tixier at the final GP of the season, in Mexico, and suffered massive burns to his shoulder and arm that he said will require two weeks to heal in order to avoid infection. Saturday’s qualifying event at the Motocross of Nations will mark 13 days after the injury. If the team loses Tonkov, they may not qualify for the final on Sunday.
Team Manager: Bader Manneh
22 Evgeny Bobryshev (Hon, MXGP)
23 Alexander Tonkov (Hus, MX2)
24 Evgency Mikhaylov (N/A, Open)
And the rest…
SWITZERLAND
Team Manager: Diego Clement
25 Valentin Guillod (KTM, MXGP)
26 Jeremy Seewer (Suz, MX2)
27 Arnaud Tonus (Kaw, Open)
ESTONIA
Team Manager: Lauri Roosiorg
28 Gert Krestinov (Kaw, MXGP)
29 Harri Kullas (KTM, MX2)
30 Tanel Leok (TM, Open)
NETHERLANDS
Team Manager: Marcel Hartman
31 Ceriel Klein Kromhof (KTM, MXGP)
32 Glenn Coldenhoff (Suz, MX2)
33 Marc de Reuver (Hon, Open)
SPAIN
Team Manager: Josep Alonso
37 Jose Antonio Butron (KTM, MXGP)
38 Jorge Zaragoza (Kaw, MX2)
39 Valentin Ander (Yam, Open)
DENMARK
Team Manager: Mikkel Caprani
40 Nikolaj Larsen (Hon, MXGP)
41 Thomas Kjer Olsen (Yam, MX2)
42 Stefan Kjer Olsen (Kaw, Open)
CZECH REPUBLIC
Team Manager: Lubos Strejcek
43 Frantilsek Smola (KTM, MXGP)
44 Vaclav Kovac (KTM, MX2)
45 Martin Michek (KTM, Open)
LATVIA
Team Manager: Ivo Germanis
46 Mattis Karro (KTM, MXGP)
47 Pauls Jonass (KTM, MX2)
48 Roberts Justs (Hus, Open)
PORTUGAL
Team Manager: Pedro Castro
49 Rui Goncalves (Yam, MXGP)
50 Paulo Alberto (Hon, MX2)
51 Hugo Basaula (Kaw, Open)
FINLAND
Team Manager: Jussi-Pekka Vehvilainen
52 Ludvig Soderberg (Hus, MXGP)
53 Henric Stigell (KTM, MX2)
54 Santtu Tiainen (Hus, Open)
NORWAY
Team Manager: Inger Marie Pauli
55 Dennis Todler (Suz, MXGP)
56 Magne Klingsheim (Yam, MX2)
57 Lasse Christoffersen (Suz, Open)
NEW ZEALAND
Team Manager: Dave Craig
58 Hamish Dobbyn (KTM, MXGP)
59 Hamish Harwood (KTM, MX2)
60 Scott Columb (Yam, Open)
PUERTO RICO (or Team Privateer USA)
Team Manager: Gabriel Catala
61 Ben Lamay (Yam, MXGP)
62 Alex Martin (Yam, MX2)
63 Ulises Velasco (Yam, Open)
IRELAND
Team Manager: Laurence Spence
64 Graeme Irwin (Suz, MXGP)
65 Martin Barr (KTM, MX2)
66 Stuart Edmonds (Suz, Open)
CANADA
Team Manager: Ryan Gauld
67 Colton Facciotti (Hon, MXGP)
68 Kaven Benoit (KTM, MX2)
69 Tyler Medaglia (KTM, Open)
JAPAN
Team Manager: Naoki Serizawa
70 Akira Narita (Hon, MXGP)
71 Takeshi Katsuya (Kaw, MX2)
72 Yoshitaka Atsuta (Suz, Open)
POLAND
Team Manager: Marian Zupa
73 Lukasz Lonka (Hon, MXGP)
74 Adam Tomiczek (KTM, MX2)
75 Karol Kedzierski (Yam, Open)
LITHUANIA
Team Manager: Stankus Saulius
76 Gelazininkas Arunas (KTM, MXGP)
77 Jasikonis Arminas (KTM, MX2)
78 Rukstela Nerijus (KTM, Open)
SLOVENIA
Team Manager: Herman Jakolic
79 Gercar Klemen (Hon, MXGP)
80 Jernej Irt (KTM, MX2)
81 Tim Gajser (Hon, Open)
HUNGARY
Team Manager: Norbert Nagy
82 Nemeth Kornel (KTM, MXGP)
83 Deczi Balazs (KTM, MX2)
84 Szvoboda Bence (KTM, Open)
UKRAINE
Team Manager: Sergiy Parschynskiy
85 Andriy Burenko (Suz, MXGP)
86 Volodymyr Tarasov (KTM, MX2)
87 Mykola Parschynskiy (KTM, Open)
SWEDEN
Team Manager: Jonte Engdahl
88 Filip Bengtsson (KTM, MXGP)
89 Eddie Hjortmarker (KTM, MX2)
90 Fredrik Noren (Hon, Open)
BRAZIL
Team Manager: Manuel Carlos Hermano
91 Roosevelt Assuncao (Yam, MXGP)
92 Rodrigo Selhorst (Yam, MX2)
93 Thales Vilardi (Yam, Open)
SLOVAKIA
Team Manager: Jozef Drozda
103 Martin Kohut (N/A, MXGP)
104 Tomas Simko (N/A, MX2)
105 Stefan Svitko (N/A, Open)
LUXEMBOURG
Team Manager: Marc Kohl
112 Stefan Frank (Hon, MXGP)
113 Yves Frank (Hon, MX2)
114 Bjorn Frank (Hon, Open)
ISRAEL
Team Manager: Razz Heymann
118 Ido Karmon (Suz, MXGP)
119 Oren Kasson (Yam, MX2)
120 Shahar Moshe Balulu (N/A, Open)
