Team USA pulled out all the stops in the final race of the three-race series to finish 1-2 and steal the Chamberlain Trophy in their seventh consecutive win in the Motocross of Nations and deprive host country France of the victory. Team Australia finished in third place. But while the big guns from the US, managed by the legendary Roger DeCoster, the team boss of Red Bull KTM in the USA, may have been victorious, KTM riders Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings certainly raised eyebrows with spectacular rides in their respective races. Roczen, KTM’s recently crowned youngest ever MX2 World Champion had two spectacular rides on the KTM 250 SX-F finishing second in race one, even beating US rider Ryan Dungey to the checkered flag – and Dungey was on a 450 machine. Just 40 minutes later Roczen returned to the track to finish fourth, again against the Open class. In the absence of his Red Bull Teka KTM factory teammate Max Nagl, who couldn’t compete because of injury, Ken was successful in vaulting Team Germany into seventh place overall.
Ken Roczen was fantastic in Race 1
Although it was a top day for the two young stars of the Red Bull Teka KTM Factory Team, luck did not ride with KTM’s Tony Cairoli of Italy, the newly crowned 2011 MX1 World champion. He went down hard in the opening race, broke handlebars with the impact and had to retire. After injuring his hand he was also unable to finish the second race.
After narrowly missing the cut on making a direct transfer into Sunday’s main races, Team Ireland trio of Martin Barr, Stuart Edmonds and Richard Bird were faced with the dreaded B-Final Sunday morning. Only the winning team of the B-Final would make it into the main event and Ireland became that team. Barr would win the race quickly followed by Edmonds in fourth. Ireland went on to finish 19th overall in the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations.
Ryan Dungey drives home another USA victory
Ryan Dungey (USA): “I think each and every win is amazing and it was cool to pull it off. There was a little bit of rain and the track was tough but I’m really excited to get this one. The first race was tough. I felt good at the beginning and was closing in on the lead but when the rain came down it was really slippery. Chad Reed was riding well and got away. I made a mistake but kept it up. When it starts getting muddy and slippery then the bike gets heavy and it was tough-going.”
Ken Roczen (Germany): “For sure it was a good weekend for me especially in the firs race. I got a good start and was around seventh and from there I was able to finish second. I even got close to Chad Reed (eventual winner). I also had a good start in the second race but then I twisted my knee and I broke my goggles and that brought me down a bit but I did have a good battle with Villopoto .”
Brett Metcalfe (Australia): “We came here Friday for the press conference and it almost felt like we were the laughing stock, like ‘here comes Team Australia again, a great team but they’ll probably take seventh again like every year’. To finally get that out of the way and get on the podium is awesome for Australian motocross.”
Jeffrey Herlings (Netherlands): “The first moto went really well and I led for a long time and finished second which was a great result. I didn’t get a good start in the second moto but I came back from about 20th to finish second. The riding was good and I felt good and I really think I cold have finished in the top five. I’m looking forward to next year already!”
Tony Cairoli (Italy): “Yesterday we were very happy with second in qualifying then today I had a good start in the first race but there was some soft mud in the first corner and I went down. I got back in the race and I was in 16th place and riding well and really pushing, maybe a bit too much and I crashed again and damaged the bike and hurt my hand.”
Kevin Strijbos (Belgium): “The first race was pretty good. I had a good start and was riding well. Sometimes I felt I was a little bit faster in places but passing was so hard but overall it was OK. For the second moto I went to the inside but it just didn’t happen. I blew it there. I was 15th or 16th and it was difficult to overtake the others. The crowd was going insane and it was fun to race here. I think we cannot be disappointed with fifth; it is pretty much what we expected even if we did have a chance of the podium before the final race – if I made a good start! The bike really suits me and I’ve enjoyed these last few meetings. I want to thank the team for all their help and I hope I can find something good for next year soon. I know I can make top five in the World with the Suzuki.”
MXoN RACE 1 (MXI + MX2) Results
1, Chad Reed, Australia, Honda 2, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM 3, Ryan Dungey, USA, Suzuki 4, Tommy Searle, UK, Kawasaki 5, Tyla Rattray, Republic of South Africa, Kawasaki MXoN Race 2 (MX2 + Open) Results 1, Gautier Paulin, France, Yamaha 2, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM 3, Ryan Villopoto, USA, Kawasaki 4, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM 5, Kevin Strijbos, Belgium, Suzuki MXoN Race 3 (MX1 + Open) Results 1, Ryan Villopoto, USA, Kawasaki 2, Ryan Dungey, USA, Suzuki 3, Tyla Rattray, Republic of South Africa, Kawasaki 4, Tommy Searle, UK, Kawasaki 5, Davide Guarneri, Italy, Kawasaki MXoN Final Results 1, USA 26 points: Ryan Villopoto, Kawasaki, Open; Ryan Dungey, Suzuki, MX1; Blake Baggett, Kawasaki, MX2 2, France 39 points: Gautier Paulin, Yamaha, Open; Marvin Musquin, KTM, MX2; Christophe Pourcel, Kawasaki, MX 3, Australia, 44 points: Chad Reed, Honda, MX1; Brett Metcalfe, Suzuki, Open; Matt Moss, KTM, MX2 4, Britain, 46 points: Tommy Searle, Kawasaki, MX1; Dean Wilson, Kawasaki, MX2; Brad Anderson, Honda, Open 5, Belgium 54 points: Kevin Strijbos, Suzuki, Open; Joel Roelants, KTM, MX2; Marvin van Daele, Honda, MX1 Suzuki Press KTM Newletter