Cairoli Takes MXoN Moto 1, Germany Leads
Moto 1 of the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations has set the stage for what should be an anyone-can-win-this battle. Several teams saw hot and cold performances from their two riders in this one, so it's up for grabs.
Team Italy, for example, got a moto win from Tony Cairoli, who lived up to his billing by charging from outside the top ten to take the moto win. That's three-straight MXoN moto wins for Cairoli. His teammate Alessandro Lupino was 13th, which is actually his best peformance at this race in awhile--so Italy might have a shot.
Germany leads it thanks to Ken Roczen's second and Max Nagl's 11th. Kenny led the moto early but got arm pump, Cairoli got him, and then....
...well, there's Team USA. Eli Tomac gated about 20th but then caught fire with an insane charge, putting in the fastest laps of the race on his 250F. He was even a little faster than Cairoli! Somehow he came all the way up to third and was challenging Roczen for second when he went flying off the face of a jump without his bike! In a crash similar (although not as spectacular) to Chad Reed's famous Millville Chadapult, Eli smacked the ground without his Honda. Luckily, he was okay, but it took awhile to get back to his bike. Tomac ended up a dissapointing 16th. Ryan Dungey was only so-so with a 6th. Team USA has to hope Tomac's 16th becomes the drop score, it can't afford another problem.
Australia is also in this, Dean Ferris holeshot the moto on his 250F and ran up front the whole time. Brett Metcalfe, like Dungey, had the bad gate pick on his 450 but came through for a top ten.
Right now Germany has 13 points, Italy and Australia 14, and Belgium has 15. Watch for Belgium, though, because its best rider, Clement Desalle, is racing the Open class and hasn't even raced yet. Team USA has 22 points but is hoping Tomac's 16th won't have to count in the final results.
