MXoN

MATTERLEY BASIN (Great Britain), 30 September 2017 - The 71st edition of the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations presented by Fiat Professional is off and running today in spectacular fashion. The action packed Qualifying races initiated the biggest and best motocross race of the year held on the picturesque hillsides of Matterley Basin, Winchester. Tens of thousand of fans filled the background creating an amazing atmosphere for a Saturday as it will surely increase tomorrow.

Qualifying in the top spot was the three time defending champions, Team France scoring 4pts with Gautier Paulin, Christophe Charlier, and Romain Febvre, then just as last year’s final result Team Netherlands, Glenn Coldenhoff, Brian Bogers, and Jeffrey Herlings followed scoring 4 points as well but the true surprise was Team Australia as Dean Ferris, Hunter Lawrence, and Kirk Gibbs qualified 3rd with a total of 6 points.

The first Qualifying Race of the day was that of the MXGP class with the vibrant crowd roaring in the background. When the gate dropped Team Germany’s Max Nagl took the holeshot but it wasn’t long before he was passed by Team Slovenia’s Tim Gajser.

Following the moves of Gajser and making their way past Nagl was Team France’s Gautier Paulin, Team Italy’s Antonio Cairoli, Great Britain’s Max Anstie, along with a handful of other riders. For Nagl the race didn’t get any better as he would continue to drop positions then fall and pull out of the race.

Back at the front Gajser was in a race of his own leading by a substantial margin. In second was the Frenchman Gautier Paulin but behind Paulin was an epic battle between Max Anstie and Antonio Cairoli. The pair of Anstie and Cairoli duked it out for the majority of the race with Cairoli leading the way more often than not. Anstie on lap 8 of 10 took the spot from Cairoli with an amazing move around the outside coming into a turn. However Cairoli responded shortly after taking the spot back and while Anstie remounted a charge he collided with a lapped rider over a jump.

At the finish it was Slovenia’s Tim Gajser ahead of France’s Paulin, Italy’s Cairoli, Great Britain’s Max Anstie (who recovered quickly from his fall), Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek, and Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev. Team USA’s Cole Seely finished 9th in his first Motocross of Nations race of any type.

Tim Gajser in the press conference said: “The track is really good, I’m enjoying it. I had a really good start, I was second and made a quick pass to get into the lead, made it happen and controlled the race. I’m really happy that tomorrow we will be in the final.”

MXGP Qualifying Heat top ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 27:02.312; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:05.416; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:06.841; 4. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:21.486; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:31.752; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:35.494; 7. Dean Ferris (AUS, Yamaha), +0:38.418; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:39.206; 9. Cole Seely (USA, Honda), +0:42.268; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:42.872.

Following the MXGP Qualifying Race was the ultra competitive MX2 version. Team Australia’s Hunter Lawerence started the race perfectly as he took the early lead and holeshot after his 2nd gate choice. Just behind Lawrence was Team Netherland’s Brian Bogers and Team Spain’s Jorge Prado Garcia.

From the 37th gate pick team USA’s Zach Osborne would come out of the first corner around 16th but by the end of the first official lap he made his way to 6th. Meanwhile Team France’s Christophe Charlier registered 5th on the first lap and did well to maintain his position only loses three spots by the finish including on to Osborne.

Osborne wasn’t in 5th for long though as he passed Great Britain’s Tommy Searle on the same lap as Charlier. Osborne continued his charge and caught up to the #35 of Jorge Prado who he cooly passed on his way through the uphill roller section. One lap later Osborne made it by Bogers for second but was still 11 seconds behind Lawrence who led.

For the next 5 laps Osborne chipped away at the lead eventually catching Lawrence but when he tried to pass the Australian responded and held the position, not letting off the throttle. The pace of Osborne proved to be too much for Lawrence in the end however as the American took the lead for the race win on the last lap.

Osborne in the press conference said: “It was tough, we had 37th gate pick and I didn’t make the very best start with that pick. I think I was maybe like 25th or 23rd when we came out of the first corner and I made some passes on the first lap. Even when I got into second I didn’t think it was possible to catch him but I just started to put my head down and he started to make some mistakes and I won."

MX2 Qualifying Heat top ten: 1. Zachary Osborne (USA, Husqvarna), 27:26.409; 2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki), +0:01.129; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:24.169; 4. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), +0:25.359; 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:27.304; 6. Darian Sanayei (PUR, Kawasaki), +0:30.267; 7. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:43.731; 8. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:46.334; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:12.973; 10. Harri Kullas (EST, Husqvarna), +1:13.996

The open class was last chance that the teams would have to qualify directly into the final tomorrow. Taking an impressive holeshot was the rider new to a 450, Team Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer.

Seewer lost the lead quickly though when Team Netherland’s Jeffrey Herlings went flying by and Team France’s Romain Febvre shortly followed suit. Behind Seewer was a motivated Team Australia’s Kirk Gibbs, Team USA’s Thomas Covington, and Team Great Britain’s Dean Wilson.

While Herlings pulled away with the lead Romain Febvre kept him honest and showed he wasn’t far off the pace. As Seewer and the rest of the field lost touch with the top two, Dean Wilson was applying pressure to another 450 rookie, Thomas Covington.

Team Belgium’s Kevin Strijbos started the race around 10th but was making his way forward to catch the battle of Covington and Wilson. Wilson looked to have made the move on Covington on lap 5 but Covington held his own a rallied back. Later however Wilson made his way through and so too did Strijbos.

At the finish Jeffrey Herlings, who took the win nearly 29 seconds ahead of second place, Romain Febvre stated: “Obviously we did a pretty good job with qualifying second, it’s a shame we didn’t win qualifying but still it is all about tomorrow. I think my teammates did a good job, I think Glenn was a bit off today but you know tomorrow if he gets a good start he can regroup himself and Brian did a really good job and rode to the maximum. There is a lot of good guys in all three of the classes so it is going to be tough and I was happy about my riding today.”

OPEN Qualifying Heat top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 26:40.776; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.669; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:35.853; 4. Kirk Gibbs (AUS, KTM), +0:43.400; 5. Dean Wilson (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:45.274; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:59.581; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +1:05.754; 8. Graeme Irwin (IRL, Suzuki), +1:09.555; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +1:12.723; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Honda), +1:27.188

Click here for the complete results.

All the photos from the 2017 Edition of the Monster Energy FIM MXoN Presented by Fiat Professional will be available HERE

Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by Fiat Professional – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1950

Type of ground: Hard pack

Temperature: 16° C

Weather conditions: changeable

The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by Fiat Professional will be available across the board in high definition and is also globally available to view live and in HD on MXGP-TV.com. Click here for the complete list of countries and cooperating MXGP broadcasting networks.

TIMETABLE

Sunday: Warm-up B-Final 8:30; Race 2 YZ125 bLU cRU 09:20; Warm-up MXoN Group 1 9:50; Warm-up MXoN Group 2 10:20; B-Final 11:00; MXoN Race 1 (MXGP+MX2) 13:10; MXoN Race 2 (MX2+Open) 14:40; MXoN Race 3 (Open+MXGP) 16:08.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

Monster Energy FIM MXoN Presented by FIAT Professional

The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by Fiat Professional had its first result come this morning in the way of Balloting. Balloting is the randomized process used to determine gate choice for today’s qualifying races.

The Balloting was hosted by the charismatic FIM/CMS Director Tony Skillington and was assisted by Monster Energy Girls. While one drew a team the other drew a starting position. Of the 38 teams the biggest upset was probably that of team USA who will go to the gate with the 37th choice. Team France was again fortunate with 3rd gate choice while the host nation, Great Britain, will have a choice of 24th.

The full results can be found below:

Portugal

1

Australia

2

France

3

Russia

4

Canada

5

Poland

6

Latvia

7

Brazil

8

Estonia

9

Croatia

10

Switzerland

11

Hungary

12

New Zealand

13

Slovakia

14

Israel

15

Germany

16

Netherlands

17

Ukraine

18

Finland

19

Ireland

20

Thailand

21

Slovenia

22

Spain

23

Great Britain

24

Puerto Rico

25

Greece

26

Argentina

27

Sweden

28

Iceland

29

Luxemburg

30

South Africa

31

Italy

32

Czech Republic

33

Belgium

34

Norway

35

USA

37

Lithuania

38

MATTERLEY BASIN (Great Britain), 27 September 2017 - The biggest event of 2017, the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by FIAT Professional, is upon us at the amazing and historic Matterley Basin circuit in the UK. The 71st running of the event will bring 39 nations together from countries as far as Brazil and exotic as Thailand or Iran.

The venue is known as one of the best in the world with its grassy hills and natural terrain. The track this year has been updated with new additions and a longer track length sure to give the tens of thousands of fans expected epic racing. Last time the circuit hosted the Motocross of Nations was in 2006 and it provided not only some of the best racing, but also one of the best atmospheres of any Motocross of Nations.

On the topic of atmosphere and supreme racing, last year’s Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations presented by FIAT Professional in Maggiora, Italy, is not one to forget. Scores of fans filled the hillsides and cheered for their countrymen in the patriotic battle. Last year it was team France who edged out the competition by 1 point but with a swarm of new competitors this year may see a new holder of the Chamberlain trophy.

Multi-time and defending champions Team France again posses a strong team led by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Gautier Paulin. The experienced French rider comes off a strong season in the MXGP World Championship where he won the MXGP of Europe in Valkenswaard and took third overall in the championship standings.

Joining Paulin is Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Romain Febvre and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Charlier. Febvre struggled in the early part of the 2017 season but has finished strong reaching the podium in two of the last four rounds while Charlier fills in for the injured Dylan Ferrandis and Benoit Paturel.

Runner-up in 2016 was team The Netherlands as they lost out by a single point. The 2017 team will again pose as a strong threat to the win with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings and Glenn Coldenhoff plus MX2 HSF Motorsports rider Brian Bogers.

Herlings has been the man to beat in the MXGP championship during the second half of the season scoring 6 overall victories in 2017. Herlings finished second in the MXGP championship in his rookie year and will take his much improved 450cc experience into the UK. Glenn Coldenhoff and Brian Bogers are not to be counted out either as both have shown the speed required to fight at the top of the standings throughout their 2017 campaign.

Team USA is always in everybody’s bets when speaking of a potential winner. The last time the Motocross of Nations was celebrated in Matterley Basin in 2006 the Americans won in impressive fashion. This year team USA will be composed by HRC’s Cole Seely along with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne and Thomas Covington.

Osborne is a prior MX2 World Championship racer and will look to use his experience racing abroad to help him this weekend. Thomas Covington may be an American by blood but he has been riding, racing and training for years in Europe and comes off of several strong results in 2017 including various race wins and two overall victories as recent as Villars sous Ecot.

The home country, Team Great Britain, will indeed have the crowd behind them. The team is made up by Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle plus Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie and Dean Wilson. Anstie has momentum on his side as he was on the podium 3 times in his 2017 rookie MXGP campaign and 2 of them came at the last 2 rounds.

Team Belgium is another podium contender with top riders such as Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP’s Jeremy Van Horebeek and Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Brent Van doninck.

Dean Ferris leads Team Australia and pairs up with Kirk Gibbs and Team Suzuki World MX2’s Hunter Lawerence. Lawerence comes of his career first race win and pole position at the MXGP of Pays de Montbéliard only a couple of weeks ago.

Team Switzerland will be a force to reckon with as well with Wilvo Yamaha MXGP’s Arnaud Tonus, Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer, and Honda Redmoto Assomotor’s Valentin Guillod. Tonus while returning from injury has an MXGP race win to his name in 2017 and Seewer steps up to the 450cc after finishing second in the 2017 MX2 World Championship.

Some other strong contenders are Italy’s now 9-time world champion, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli, who clinched his 9th title 3 races short of the full season and had 2 second place race results in the 2016 MXoN, joined by HRC MX2’s Michele Cervellin and Team Honda Redmoto Assomotor’s Alessandro Lupino, Slovenia and Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, who is the 2016 MXGP World Champion, and Danish rider and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen who finished third in his rookie 2017 MX2 season.

All the photos from the 2017 Edition of the Monster Energy FIM MXoN Presented by Fiat Professional will be available HERE

TIMETABLE

Friday: MXGP Awards 14:00; MXoN Teams Presentation 18:00

Saturday: Free Practice YZ125 bLU cRU 08:30; Free Practice MXGP 10:00; Free practice MX2 11:00; Free Practice Open 12:00; Time Practice YZ125 bLU cRU 12:50; Qualifying Heat MXGP 13:30; Qualifying Heat MX2 14:30; Qualifying Heat Open 15:30; Race 1 YZ125 bLU cRU 16:00; C-Final 17:00.

Sunday: Warm-up B-Final 8:30; Race 2 YZ125 bLU cRU 09:20; Warm-up MXoN Group 1 9:50; Warm-up MXoN Group 2 10:20; B-Final 11:00; MXoN Race 1 (MXGP+MX2) 13:10; MXoN Race 2 (MX2+Open) 14:40; MXoN Race 3 (Open+MXGP) 16:08.

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM

Monster Energy FIM MXoN Presented by FIAT Professional

The clock is winding down for the biggest event of the Motocross season, the 2017 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations is rapidly approaching. Only 5 weeks remain until the world’s best riders will descend to Matterley Basin and the number of teams who have entered is growing with several having a shot at the win for what will be an ultra competitive event. Here below is the list teams who have entered so far:

Australia: Dean Ferris (MXGP), Hunter Lawrence (MX2), Kirk Gibbs (Open)

Belgium: Clément Desalle (MXGP), Julien Lieber (MX2), Jeremy Van Horebeek (Open)

Denmark: Thomas Kjer Olsen, Stefan Kjer Olsen and Nikolaj Larsen

France: Gautier Paulin (MXGP), Dylan Ferrandis (MX2), Romain Febvre (Open), Benoit Paturel (Reserve)

Great Britain: Max Anstie (MXGP), Tommy Searle (MX2), Dean Wilson (Open)

Italy: Antonio Cairoli (MXGP), Michele Cervellin (MX2), Alessandro Lupino (Open)

Lithuania: Arminas Jasikonis (MXGP), Dovydas Karka (MX2), Arnas Milevicius (Open)

Netherlands: Glenn Coldenhoff (MXGP). Brian Bogers (MX2), Jeffrey Herlings (Open)

Puerto Rico : Justin Starling (MXGP), Marshal Weltin (MX2), Darian Sanayei (Open)

Switzerland: Arnaud Tonus (MXGP), Valentin Guillod (MX2), Jeremy Seewer (Open)

Spain : Jose Butron (MXGP), Iker Larranaja (MX2), Jorge Prado (Open)

USA: Cole Seely (MXGP), Zach Osborne (MX2), Thomas Covington (Open)

(FRAUENFELD-GACHNANG) Switzerland, 12 August 2017 - Today at the MXGP of Switzerland presented by iXS the Team representing the Swiss country for the 2017 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations was announced.

The group will be led by Wilvo Yamaha MXGP's Arnaud Tonus in MXGP but the real surprise is that Honda RedMoto Assomotor’s Valentin Guillod will ride MX2 as Suzuki World MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer will race the open class aboard a RM-Z450WS for the first time. Valentin Guillod has proven many times how strong he can be aboard a 250cc machine and as he recovers from his injury he shared his excitement to be back for this MXoN.

Pierrick Paget, the Team Switzerland Marketing and Communication Chief introduced the Team to the National and International Media but first he announced the new management structure of the Team which includes 2 Team Managers: former rider Marc Ristori who is taking care of all sport aspects and Diego Clement as the Official Team manager.

Follow Team Switzerland on their Facebook Page by clicking HERE while the official website will be online shortly at the following address: www.MXoN.ch.

The FULL Presentation of 2017 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations Team Switzerland was LIVE on the MXGP Facebook Page. Watch it HERE

LINKS

Youthstream

FIM