Belgium always produced some of the world’s best motocross racers but it’s been a long 13 years since they’ve scored an overall win at the FIM Motocross of Nations. The 79th running of this historic event returned to Enree, France (last held here in 2023) where a roaring hillside saw Team Belgium reclaim the coveted Chamberlain Trophy. Lucas and Sacha Coenen, along with Liam Everts, made history as the youngest team to ever win the Nations and put Team Belgium back on the box for the first time in seven years.
The Belgians were never the fastest riders on Sunday’s race day but they were the most consistent. Lucas Coenen was the Team’s biggest question mark as he returned to action after a leg injury kept him from competing during the final rounds of this year’s MXGP championship. He served as the MXGP entry for this year’s team and logged a hard-earned pair of top fives during both motos. Coenen started the day just behind Romain Febvre and Jorge Prado as he claimed third in the opening race. A fifth in the final moto of the weekend proved enough to help Team Belgium take the team category by just three points.
Lucas’ twin brother Sacha raced the MX2 division and despite multiple crashes on Saturday’s qualifying races, the hotshot 250 rider held it together on Sunday. A 12th in the first moto against the MXGP riders would eventually be the team’s drop score as Coenen put his Red Bull KTM into seventh during the second moto, making him the second-best 250 rider in the field. Sacha Coenen also earned the Ricky Carmichael Award for best young rider with a third place overall finish in the MX2 category overall.
“It feels unreal to be up here with my brother and the whole team rode amazing today,” Sacha said. “I didn’t have the best first moto but the second was really good. I was quite happy enough. I really want to thank the whole team. It’s an incredible day.”
The event proved even more significant for the Coenen brothers as it marked their final race in the FIM MXGP series. They’ve both previously announced their move to the United States for the 2027 season and beyond.
Liam Everts jumped up to the 450 as he competed in the Open division. The 22-year old showed speed from the very beginning as he finished second to the MXGP World Champion Jeffrey Herlings in Saturday’s Open qualifying race which helped Belgium take the third gate pick for Sunday. A pair of fourth place results during Sunday’s main races saw Everts use consistency to his advantage and later earned second overall in the Open division.
“I knew I was fast when I jumped on the 450 straight away,” Everts said. “It was a technical track which suits me and I just rode really well. The boys put their faith in me to go inside in race three, I paid it back to them, took a good start and just rode with the guys up front. At the end I was pretty done the last three laps. I had no idea we were in the position to win, actually….To win this with Belgium after 13 years is something else, and with the history my dad and grandad have with this event, it makes it even more special.”
Everts’ name is synonymous with the MXoN event as this win made it the eighth time an Everts has been part of a winning Belgian team out of their 16 total victories. It also marks exactly 50 years since Liam’s grandfather Harry Everts claimed his first Motocross of Nations victory for Belgium in 1976. Liam now joins both Harry and his father Stefan as a Nations winner. Harry won the event twice, in 1976 and 1979, while Stefan was part of five Belgian victories between 1995 and 2004. The country’s 16th Motocross of Nations victory puts them even with Great Britain for second on the all-time winners list.
The Spanish riders made history as they put Team Spain on the overall podium for the first time ever. Jorge Prado led both of his motos in the MXGP division but eventually finished second each time. The current SMX World Champion showed more of his new-found speed and faced off against former rivals like Febvre and Herlings. Prado managed to win the MXGP overall category with 2-2 results and helped put Spain on the overall podium for the first time.
“With the whole team, we put Spain in the history books,” Prado said. “We had never achieved a podium, and to put Team Spain in second place is amazing. There are a lot of people behind us who have been waiting and waiting to see Spain on the podium. With these two guys, with Guillem, recently crowned MX2 World Champion, and with Fran, the European Champion, we could put Spain on the box, and they did an amazing performance today.”
Guillem Farres was another pillar on the Spanish team as the new MX2 World Champion also won the MX2 overall category at the Nations. The 250 rider finished inside the top five during both motos, going 4-5 against a mixed field of 450cc veterans. He’ll make the step up to the MXGP division in 2027 but showed promise for years to come as another top product on Team Spain.
“My races were pretty solid,” said Farres. “I had a great time out there in my last race on a 250. It’s been a beautiful year for me and it’s so nice to close it by finishing second with Spain and making history. Like I said, I’m just really proud of my teammates and everyone working behind the scenes to make this happen.”
Francisco García was the team’s Open class rider as he replaced the injured Ruben Fernandez. García is this year’s EMX champ and jumped up to the larger 450 for this event. Two tough motos saw him take the day’s drop score before a late-race crash in the final moto knocked them down a rung in the overall standings. The team was technically in position to win during the final race (MXGP/Open) but were forced to settle for a podium this time around.
“It wasn’t the best conditions for me, for the bike and for everything,” Garcia said. “In the last race I tried to push at the end because I saw the pit board: ‘If you pass, we win.’ So I tried, I crashed, but I’m happy with that, because if I don’t try, maybe I go home a little bit angry.”
The Netherlands returned to the overall podium in third, matching their result from two years ago in the United Kingdom. Jeffrey Herlings asserted his dominance over the rest of the world with commanding victories in his two motos. Not even a fall in race three could deter the World Champ as he charged through the field and overtook Prado in the closing laps.
“In the second one [race three] I wanted it so badly that I even crashed,” Herlings said. “Normally I’ve got it under control, but this time I wanted to pass Liam too quickly, went down and dropped all the way back to around eighth or tenth. I was like, ‘Oof, this is going to be difficult’, but I kept my head down, kept charging and worked my way back to the lead with five to 10 minutes to go. I’m super happy with my weekend, I topped all my sessions, and also with the team. We weren’t in an easy position with Kay [de Wolf] getting hurt. At the end of the day a lot of people talk about me, but we did it as a team, because of the other two riders we’re on the podium as well.”
Herlings’ teammates Glenn Coldenhoff and Roan van de Moosdijk held it down for the Dutch riders. Coldenhoff dropped down to the MX2 class for the first time since 2014 and finished fourth in class. Van de Moosdijk took a ninth but later used the team’s drop score as they finished eight points out of second overall.
“It has been a real team effort today,” Coldenhoff said. “We decided together about the gate pick. Jeffrey was supposed to go to the gate twice, but I went to him after the sighting lap and said, ‘Hey, you need to do me a favour, because we are here as a team.’ We didn’t expect another medal, we really had to have a good day, especially with Jeffrey doing his thing as always. I’m proud of Roan as well. We did great as a team and I’m very proud we made it to the podium.”
Team USA finished off the podium in fifth overall. Cooper Webb raced for the first time aboard his new Team Tedder Husqvarna while Julien Beaumer jumped up to the MXGP division for his first race on a 450. Levi Kitchen was the only American rider on familiar machinery as he raced the MX2 class. A crash from Kitchen in race one made it an uphill battle from the get go. Webb strung together a strong pair of sixths which helped propel the team to finish just one point off of fourth overall.
The French had the homefield advantage this year but crashes in the first two motos killed their championship hopes before they even started. Romain Febvre won moto one to a roaring crowd but MX2 rider Mathis Valin crashed out on the steep downhill. Valin returned for race two but it was Tom Vialle who caught a footpeg while leading on lap one and ejected off the motorcycle. He did not finish the race nor line up for the final moto. Febvre, in his final race aboard a Kawasaki, actually tied Prado for the overall win in the MXGP class with 1-3 finishes but lost the tie due to Prado’s better finish in the final moto. Team France later finished 10th in the team standings.
“Won first moto, that was just a crazy moment,” Febvre said. “Second one, I was in a good position to battle for the win but made a mistake, crashed, and came back third. Tom and Mathis had a difficult one yesterday, but glad they are ok from the crashes and this is motocross. Till next time. Fans I love you, this will be forever with me.”
TEAM OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
- Belgium 23
- Spain 26
- The Netherlands 34
- Latvia 52
- USA 53
- Italy 69
- Great Britain 82
- Switzerland 82
- Australia 87
- France 90
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