MOTOCROSS
68
TH
MONSTER ENERGY FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
KEGUMS CIRCUIT/KEGUMS, LATVIA
P52
serve it and all the French fans
also. It is just amazing what I'm
living right now."
Frossard was not as ruthless in
MX Open but almost as effective.
His 2-4 (second behind Strijbos
who was the other race winner
on the day) gave him spoils in
the division and was instrumental
in France's eventual superiority.
Ferrandis—competing two weeks
after his scary dismount in Leon,
Mexico, and the last Grand Prix
of the year—was resilient to a pair
of ninths.
"I knew from the beginning
that the other guys were going
for the win whereas I'd just have
to push hard for the best position
and that's what I did," he said in
reference to the tricky short start
straight into a right 180-degree
first turn. "I didn't rest once, and
gave all that I had. I made some
mistakes, but I am so proud of
what we did."
Belgium Back On The Box
Belgium brought the trophy to
Latvia as deserved victors from
2013 but with just one of the three
vanquishers from Teutschenthal,
Germany, in place—2014 MXGP
FIM Motocross World Champi-
onship runner-up Yamaha's Jer-
emy Van Horebeek. Rockstar
Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos saw the
other checkered flag on the day
and unfancied MX2 pick after
a strange year without results
on the factory Suzuki, Julien Li-
eber, also performed to fifth in
his class. Belgium took their rou-
tine position on the podium. The
country that have succeeded 15
times previously has now trodden
the winner's circle and sampled
champagne on 23 occasions
from the last 25 competitions.
As Team Manager Joel Smets
commented afterwards: "Things
did not go wrong for us…the
strongest team won today. It was
a great performance from Team
France. We had a strong and
good team as well and the boys
did what they could but I think
second place was the maximum
for us. I'm proud of them."
The French were conquerors
Team USA leader Ryan
Dungey (4) rode well but had
to recover from a first-lap
fall that left him "dead last"
early in his second moto.
