Cycle News

MOTOCROSS FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS SEPTEMBER 24-25, 2016 MAGGIORA PARK / MAGGIORA, ITALY P62 Going into the event there were sev- en teams that could have landed on the podium and that was evident as we saw the highest winning score in recent history. Last year was a straight up dogfight between France and the USA, with very few other fast riders from other nations, a fact that was reflected in their winning score of just 14 points. This year, very few of the top guys were missing with Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain and The Netherlands joining the power- house trio of Belgium, France and America. That meant it was a lot harder for riders to come through the pack and make up for bad starts and that actually contributed to the grandstand finish, as riders involved in the points battle were getting over- taken as well as making passes. The best stat to illustrate this change from 2015 to 2016 is that last year, the gap from winners France, to sixth-placed Netherlands was 58 points. This year it was only 15 points back from France to Switzerland. The Curse of RV: While it's not quite on the level of Bambino's curse, the fact that team USA hasn't won a Mo- tocross of Nations since Ryan Villo- poto hung up his boots is cause for concern. Losing in the deep sand of Lommel wasn't really too much of a surprise, but since then they've been on the receiving end of some pretty bad luck that has seen them just fail to reach the top step of the podium on the last five occasions. The week- end was just one long streak of bad luck, and the fact that Team USA still came so close to winning is testa- ment to just how good these riders are. After a disastrous qualifying day, all three put in awesome performanc- es that saw them finish within four points of eventual winners, France. And this was done despite finishing the event with two riders, after Ja- son Anderson was carted off to the hospital after getting landed on as he crossed the finish line, in what was meant to be a moment of celebration as he won the MX2/Open race. This actually ended America's winless moto streak, which had stretched back to—you guessed it, Ryan Villo- poto at St Jean D'Angely in 2011. Of course, next year, Team USA will be heavy favorites for the Chamberlain Trophy as the race is taking place at Glen Helen. However, were another shock result to happen and they fail, once again, perhaps the curse of RV will be taken a lot more seriously. One of the big themes from the weekend was the celebration of the 1986 Motocross des Nations "Dream Team" comprising of Da- vid Bailey (500cc), Ricky Johnson (250cc) and Johnny O'Mara (125cc). All three riders were in attendance at the opening press conference and spoke glowingly of what hap- pened 30 years ago as they swept all three races, 1-2, in what is thought of as the greatest ever MXdN (back when it was called the "des" Nations) performance. They spoke at great lengths about just what it meant to be back here, smelling the dirt and see- ing the "elevator shaft" once again, which, for Johnson and Bailey, was the first time they'd seen it since that historic weekend. Great credit must go the new owners of Maggiora Park who only recently turned this whole area from a deso- late hillside into a motocross track once again. 2013 was the first year of the revamped circuit and since then it's grown bigger and better each year, culminating in this amazing ven- ue, hosting the most important race of the year. The 1986 MXdN was also the first event as a promoter for Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo and he gave a speech about how much things have changed and improved in those 30 years. All riders, both past and present, have praised just how good everything looks, from the track to the paddock and when you see events like this, you can't help but agree. Many viewers may have thought that this was Alex Martin's first Moto- cross of Nations, but while it was his first for America, he's actually ridden twice before under the Puerto Rican flag. His first venture was in 2013 at Teutschenthal in Germany where Puerto Rico failed to make the A fi- nal. A year later he returned and was an integral part of the team, scoring a seventh-place in the MX2 qualifier, which, combined with Ben Lamay's 19th, sent PR through to the A final in 18th place (out of 19). In the main mo- tos, he wasn't able to replicate that form, struggling in both races for 32- 22 results. He didn't ride in 2015, but his MX2 pick for team USA just goes to show how much the Minnesota native has improved in 2016. Runner- up in the 250 class to Cooper Webb made him the obvious pick and he didn't let the team down, scoring a pair of ninth-place results, making him the second-best MX2 rider in It- aly behind veteran 450 rider Jeremy van Horebeek who dropped down to the smaller bikes for team Belgium. Briefly...

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