MXON Open and Overall Qualifying Results

Belgium is back in their traditional powerhouse role, with Kevin Strijbos being "the boss" of this Open qualifier. Dean Wilson holeshot the race, and Strijbos quickly made the pass and rode away from the field. Belgium also had a runner-up finish from Jeremy Van Horebeek in MX1, and those 2-1 scores make them the top qualifier for the day. Julien Lieber had a DNF for Belgium in MX2, but that result gets thrown away. With Strijbos and Van Horebeek looking to be in good form, Belgium's hopes may hang on getting one good result from Lieber, and MXoN rookie, tomorrow in MX2.

After Team USA experienced disaster in the MX2 class due to a huge crash from Jeremy Martin--we now hear J Mart is suffering from an injured toe--they needed a strong ride from Eli Tomac in this race. And then Tomac was down in turn one! Took forever for him to get the bike started, but once he got rolling he clawed through the pack and finished eighth. Good save there from Eli. If you're counting at home, Team USA carried a third from Dungey and an eighth from Tomac today. Could have been worse, could have been better. The Americans will take the eighth gate picks tomorrow. Belgium, France, Great Britain, Holland and Italy were today's top five.