It's a national team competition where the three fastest riders of the country compete against the international competition. This means that also the USA sends their best riders, together with the international riders that ride in the USA instead of the World's (the GP circuit). That's what makes the MXdN a race to look forward to, especially when team USA brings over the best rider of the world; Ricky Carmichael.
I got to Ernee on Friday afternoon. A few hundred MX fans beat me there on the campsite. Thousands followed and it took until 3am before everyone had found a place to set up their tent or park their RV. The partying (read: fireworks, booze, drunkards, music, horns....) continued till 6am. An early bird decided to wake up the camp site by blowing his horn at 7am which was followed by more sounds from around the campsite and yelling from some grumpy campers who were actually looking forward to the first day of the MXdN. Practice and qualifications were on the program for Saturday.
In practice is was clear that team USA had sent a strong team. Carmichael was already battling with Everts, who had to give in, and set the fastest time. It was clear which countries were going to battle for the podium spots: USA, Belgium, France and New Zealand.
During the qualification motos it was Carmichael who won the MX1 class. The MX 2 class was won by Frenchman Sebastian Tortelli (who has been racing in the USA for a couple of years but will return to the GP series next year) and the Open Class was won by New Zealander Ben Townley.
Was the crowd big enough? Actually too big! On Saturday already, the cashiers had to be closed because the track couldn't handle a bigger crowd for security reasons. On Saturday there was a party in the beer tent on the campsite but that got out of hand pretty quick. The tables that were on hand were made from some light wood. Soon enough these tables were wrecked, some fights occured by some drunken fans and all while some terrible music was played on the background. BMX parties are better, I think, because the crowds are younger and the choice of music and mentality is better.
I'm not going to bore you with much of the action on Sunday simply because the MXdN received a lot of (TV) attention internationally, something BMX could use. Also there are a few killer websites (TWMX and Racer-X) that can explain everything better. But in short, Carmichael was super, Windham rode good enough and Tedesco did what needed to be done. USA won the MXdN. France got second and had the support of thousands of French fans at the track in Ernee, France. Third place was a close battle. Belgium was unfortunate but had stronger riders in the end and claimed third in front of New Zealand. Holland only had a strong riding De Reuver but he had not enough support from Verhoeven and Van Hastenberg. They finished 7th.
In my eyes the Motocross Des Nations 2005 was how it should be. America proved that
THE MX scene locates in their country, but the GP needs to exist too. Leave it as it is and make sure that there is the MXdN super battle once a year. It kicks ass.
KEMO, for FATBMX
Results:
RACE 1: MX1 AND 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. Sébastien 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)
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 AND 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
First: United States (Carmichael, Windham, Tedesco) - 16
Second: France (Pichon, Tortelli, Vuillemin) - 24
Third: Belgium (Everts, Ramon, Strijbos) - 31 points
Fourth: New-Zealand (Coppins, Townley, Cooper) - 32
Fifth: Great Britain (Mackenzie, Nunn, Noble) - 56
Sixth: Estonia (Tanel Leok, Aigar Leok, Laansoo) - 59
Seventh: Netherlands (De Reuver, Verhoeven, Van Hastenberg) - 82
Eighth: Portugal (Rui GonÇalves, Paolo GonÇalves, Rodriguez) - 83
Ninth: South Africa: (Rattray, Swanepoel, Bradshaw) - 86
Tenth: Spain (Garcia Vico, Barragan, Gonzalez) - 99
It's a national team competition where the three fastest riders of the country compete against the international competition. This means that also the USA sends their best riders, together with the international riders that ride in the USA instead of the World's (the GP circuit). That's what makes the MXdN a race to look forward to, especially when team USA brings over the best rider of the world; Ricky Carmichael.
I got to Ernee on Friday afternoon. A few hundred MX fans beat me there on the campsite. Thousands followed and it took until 3am before everyone had found a place to set up their tent or park their RV. The partying (read: fireworks, booze, drunkards, music, horns....) continued till 6am. An early bird decided to wake up the camp site by blowing his horn at 7am which was followed by more sounds from around the campsite and yelling from some grumpy campers who were actually looking forward to the first day of the MXdN. Practice and qualifications were on the program for Saturday.
In practice is was clear that team USA had sent a strong team. Carmichael was already battling with Everts, who had to give in, and set the fastest time. It was clear which countries were going to battle for the podium spots: USA, Belgium, France and New Zealand.
During the qualification motos it was Carmichael who won the MX1 class. The MX 2 class was won by Frenchman Sebastian Tortelli (who has been racing in the USA for a couple of years but will return to the GP series next year) and the Open Class was won by New Zealander Ben Townley.
Was the crowd big enough? Actually too big! On Saturday already, the cashiers had to be closed because the track couldn't handle a bigger crowd for security reasons. On Saturday there was a party in the beer tent on the campsite but that got out of hand pretty quick. The tables that were on hand were made from some light wood. Soon enough these tables were wrecked, some fights occured by some drunken fans and all while some terrible music was played on the background. BMX parties are better, I think, because the crowds are younger and the choice of music and mentality is better.
I'm not going to bore you with much of the action on Sunday simply because the MXdN received a lot of (TV) attention internationally, something BMX could use. Also there are a few killer websites (TWMX and Racer-X) that can explain everything better. But in short, Carmichael was super, Windham rode good enough and Tedesco did what needed to be done. USA won the MXdN. France got second and had the support of thousands of French fans at the track in Ernee, France. Third place was a close battle. Belgium was unfortunate but had stronger riders in the end and claimed third in front of New Zealand. Holland only had a strong riding De Reuver but he had not enough support from Verhoeven and Van Hastenberg. They finished 7th.
In my eyes the Motocross Des Nations 2005 was how it should be. America proved that THE MX scene locates in their country, but the GP needs to exist too. Leave it as it is and make sure that there is the MXdN super battle once a year. It kicks ass.
KEMO, for FATBMX
Results:
RACE 1: MX1 AND 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. Sébastien 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)
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 AND 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
First: United States (Carmichael, Windham, Tedesco) - 16
Second: France (Pichon, Tortelli, Vuillemin) - 24
Third: Belgium (Everts, Ramon, Strijbos) - 31 points
Fourth: New-Zealand (Coppins, Townley, Cooper) - 32
Fifth: Great Britain (Mackenzie, Nunn, Noble) - 56
Sixth: Estonia (Tanel Leok, Aigar Leok, Laansoo) - 59
Seventh: Netherlands (De Reuver, Verhoeven, Van Hastenberg) - 82
Eighth: Portugal (Rui GonÇalves, Paolo GonÇalves, Rodriguez) - 83
Ninth: South Africa: (Rattray, Swanepoel, Bradshaw) - 86
Tenth: Spain (Garcia Vico, Barragan, Gonzalez) - 99
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.