Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1172754
MOTOCROSS FIM/MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS / SEPTEMBER 28-29, 2019 TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, HOLL AND P74 moto of the day. But they also had three DNFs. Team Belgium (47 points, 6-6-7-11-17) Belgium is always a threat for a podium at the Motocross of Nations, and it landed a podium this year despite their share of troubles. In what may have been the last race of his long career, Kevin Strijbos put in a great ride in Saturday's Open-class qualifier. He finished second, but he had to fight hard for an 11-17 in his two motos on Sunday. Strijbos' team- mates made the podium possible this year, with MXGP racer Jeremy van Horebeek finishing sixth in both of his motos and Jago Geerts seventh in his second moto of the day. Team Germany (72 points, 9-11-15-18-19) Germany was definitely missing their best racer, Ken Roczen, at Assen, but the team, led by Den- nis Ullrich, still managed seventh overall, just behind Team USA. All five motos that counted were in- side the top 20, with the highlight coming from Ullrich in moto two, where he finished a solid ninth. CN las was the top racer on the day with a 4-12 score, and longtime GP veteran Tanel Leok went 13-14 in his two motos. Priit Ratsep, their MX2 teammate, went 21-25 in his two motos. Kullas led for a while in the third and final moto. Team Italy (113 points, 7-20-21-32-33) Italy was definitely missing their star at Assen, as Antonio Cairoli is still healing up from the injuries that put him out of this year's MXGP championship. The MXoN is usually a bit of an individual event for Cairoli, as he rarely has two very solid teammates. But this year, Ivo Monticelli scored a seventh place in the opening was the team's throwaway score). Anderson got up and fought his way back up to 17th in that moto. Things didn't improve immensely from there, with the USA's Open- class racer, Zach Osborne, doing the best on the team with a 5-13 set of scores. Team Great Britain (58 points, 3-9-10-12-24) Great Britain was sitting behind Team USA after the first moto, with 60 points, after their rac- ers, Adam Sterry and Nathan Watson were credited with 24th and 36th, respectively. But the 36 score turned out to be their throwaway, and they put together a very solid 3-9-10-12 score over the next two motos, which landed them third overall on the day. Shaun Simpson was the team's highlight with a third in race two. Team Estonia (64 points, 4-12-13-14-21) Estonia is a tiny country of just 1.3 million people and almost grabbed a podium at this year's Motocross of Nations. Harri Kul- After the race, Herlings, Coldenhoff and Vlaanderen got the chance to visit with the King of The Netherlands who was in attendance all weekend. TEAM CLASSIFICATION 1. The Netherlands (Glen Coldenhoff, Jeffrey Herlings, Calvin Vlaanderen) ........ 18 2. Belgium (Jeremy Van Horebeek, Jago Geerts, Kevin Strijbos) ......................... 47 3. Great Britain (Shaun Simpson, Nathan Watson, Adam Sterry) ..........................58 4. Estonia (Harri Kullas, Tanel Leok, Priit Ratsep) ................................................. 64 5. France (Gautier Paulin, Jordi Tixier, Maxime Renaux) ......................................68 6. USA (Zach Osborne, Jason Anderson, Justin Cooper) ......................................68