Sign of the Lap Times: MXoN

There were a number of things that became quite apparent at the 66th running of the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in Lommel, Belgium. The dynamic duo of Tony Cairoli and Jeffery Herlings appear to be the most dominant sand riders in the world. And they proved it on the grandest of stages. Cairoli put to bed his previous troubles at the MXoN with a 1-1 performance at Lommel. Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Dutch rider, Herlings, put in a dazzling performance under immense pressure to capture the MX3 crown—and very nearly pulled off a comeback to defeat Cairoli, the six-time world champion, in the final moto.

It’s also quite apparent that Lommel is a track unlike any the U.S. team had ever seen. A track that shell shocked the Americans. A track that … well … we were unprepared for.

And last but certainly not least, Germany, lead by Ken Roczen and Max Nagl, for the first time in 66 tries, were able to wrap their hands around the Chamberlain Trophy. The pageantry that engulfs the MXoN every year is something truly unique to the sport, and should be embraced. There is nothing like it, and nothing that matches it. Congrats to our boys for a valiant effort under difficult circumstances, and to Team Germany for their first ever overall to the MXoN.

Now, let’s get to the lap charts.

Race 2 (MX2 + Open)

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Rider
1	1	1:55.720	2	Jeffrey Herlings (NED)
2	3	1:56.385	1	Ken de Dycker (BEL)
3	14	1:57.672	2	Justin Barcia (USA)
4	4	1:59.449	3	Ken Roczen (GER)
5	2	1:59.825	1	Tanel Leok (EST)
6	5	2:01.373	2	Davide Guarneri (ITA)
7	6	2:01.918	2	Blake Baggett (USA)
8	9	2:03.022	2	Max Anstie (GBR)
9	8	2:03.632	4	Todd Waters (AUS)
10	11	2:03.682	2	Marvin Musquin (FRA)

Race 3 (MX1 + Open)

Lap Rank	Finish	Best Lap	In Lap	Rider
1	1	1:54.699	1	Antonio Cairoli (ITA)
2	2	1:57.436	3	Jeffrey Herlings (NED)
3	11	1:58.972	3	Max Anstie (GBR)
4	8	2:00.070	4	Gautier Paulin (FRA)
5	9	2:00.442	1	Ryan Dugney (USA)
6	3	2:00.501	1	Justin Barcia (USA)
7	7	2:01.561	2	Clement Desalle (BEL)
8	4	2:01.806	2	Tanel Leok (EST)
9	33	2:02.148	9	Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS)
10	5	2:03.033	4	Ken de Dycker (BEL)

 

Herlings (left) and Cairoli (right) shined at Lommel.
Ray Archer photo

With the MXoN being such a unique event, there’s a ton of information to try to stomach. So instead of hacking through three pages of information, check out some of our interesting stats we found below:

Race 1 (MX1 + MX2)

• Although he grew up in France, and is known as more of a hard pack rider, Gautier Paulin showed off his versatility at Lommel. In the deep sands, Paulin not only outdueled Cairoli for the fastest lap of the first moto, he set his on lap 5, while Cairoli went low early (lap 1) with a 1:55.998

• The first race of the 66th Motocross of Nations featured the underpowered 250Fs against the beastly 450 and 350Fs. And while two riders were able to crack the top-10—Germany’s Ken Roczen and Belgiums’ Jeremy van Horebeek—only Roczen was able to set a fast lap good enough for the top-10. And just to put the cherry on top of a brilliant performance, Roczen set the THIRD fastest lap of the moto on his 250F. Simply an amazing performance from the 2011 World Champion.

• The Irish are known for many things: their prowess in the pubs, shepherds pie and some of the best golf links in the world. But motocross and Ireland have never sparked national media attention. Martin Barr changed a lot of that with his great performance in the first moto—a 13th place finish, and the ninth fastest lap time.

 

Race 2 (MX2 + Open)

• One moto after Paulin set his fastest lap (1:54.800) the young phenom Jeffrey Herlings went out and took the boys to the woodshed in the second moto. But what stood out from the moto was that Herlings’ fastest lap was less than a second off the pace of Paulin, which came on a much deeper, much tougher track.

• An early crash in the second moto with Ken de Dycker would cost Justin Barcia immensely, after his front tire locked up late in the moto. But Barcia was still able to set the third fastest lap of the moto—which would also stand as the fastest lap for any American.

• To put it simplistically, Estonia’s Tanel Leok was the Cinderella story from Lommel. Leok finished second in the first moto and was also able to set the fifth fastest lap in the process.

• Australia entered the Motocross of Nations decimated by injuries, but it may have left with a future star. Todd Waters left his mark in Lommel with an eighth in the second moto, and the ninth fastest time.

• In the last moto that matched 250Fs vs. the 450 and 350s Blake Baggett joined Roczen and Marvin Musquin as the only three MX2 riders to break the top-10 in fastest lap times.

 

Race 3 (MX1 + Open)

• The highly anticipated face-off between Cairoli and Herlings took place in the third and final moto. After a bad start Herlings made up a ton of ground on Cairoli late to close the gap to within two seconds. But Cairoli held on for the monumental victory. He also set the FASTEST lap of the day in that moto, the final after a long weekend, with the track at its worst, with a 1:54.699—inching out Paulin for the honor.

• Great Britain’s Max Anstie had a breakout performance at Lommel, and his fastest lap of the third moto was just over one second off the pace of Herlings’—which gave him third. An impressive feat for the young Brit on a 450.