Sunday, in the far away land of Latvia, America placed third in the annual Motocross of Nations. That is well known by now. Less well-known, however, is how we arrived at that result. It was not one singular event or decision that got Team USA there, but many individual actions and events.
The first of these began on Saturday. Jeremy Martin, USA's MX2 entry, was moving up through the pack in his qualifying heat, trailing Italy's Antonio Cairoli but slowly moving forward. That is, until disaster struck. Just past the mechanics' area, in a particularly nasty set of rolling whoops, Martin hit a rock that catapulted him over the bars. The ensuing crash would leave Martin with three broken toes and the weight of a nation riding on his shoulders. While he was able to continue, he was certainly not the same rider that I had seen that morning in practice. His aggression was gone and it was pure survival mode. He was able to soldier on to respectable finishes, but a late pass in moto one by France's Dylan Ferrandis was a sign to me that he was far from good form. A heroic ride, to be sure, but to win at the Motocross of Nations, you have to be at full force. The other riders are just too strong to be at half-mast. This crash and injury was a tough blow and a bad way to start the weekend.
It was strike one for the Americans.
The second strike came in the second moto of the day. Eli Tomac had been a man possessed thus far on the weekend. His lap times were superb and he looked to be a favorite to win his MX3/Open class and perhaps the motos outright. In this moto, however, nothing went to plan. On the start, he was mid-pack and ended up crashing on the poorly planned right-hand first turn. This crash would put him in dead last position and in a crisis for overall points. He was making a great charge but seemed to be struggling with the bike in a way I hadn't seen until that moto. His forward momentum stalled behind the tandem of Tanel Leok and Fredrik Noren, an unlikely roadblock for the likes of Tomac. He was visibly frustrated with the setup, making more mistakes than normal and just looking out of sorts in the second half of the moto. Later, we would learn that they had made changes to the motorcycle that didn't pan out, causing the discomfort and struggles. His mid-pack start and resulting crash, in addition to the miscalculation on the first moto bike setting, was a big hurdle to overcome.
The sixth place in the moto was not terrible, of course, but America really needed a great finish by Tomac to offset Gautier Paulin and Steven Frossard's great motos.
Tomac’s crash and bike setup struggle was strike two.
The final strike and knockout punch for America's chances was two-fold with a twist. It started with an interesting decision that I happened to disagree with. With one nice inside gate position and one poor outside position to choose from, the Americans had a decision to make. Who would go inside and who would go outside? Whoever was on the outside was almost certain to gate poorly, but the inside was a great opportunity to win. After all, for any chance of an American victory, they absolutely needed to win and beat the French team convincingly. The decision was made to put Tomac, who had not gotten a decent start thus far during the weekend, on the inside and put Dungey, who had started inside the top five on two previous chances, on the outside.
To me, this was a mistake.
“Actually, my starts sucked this weekend, but going back to the nationals in America, my starts were fine. So going back to the Euro gates, there’s more room behind the gate there and it was sandy and guys were building these huge ramps. I haven’t had experience with that,” Tomac told Racer X following the race.
Dungey had proven capable of getting a good start and, with a second place in moto one, capable of a possible win. Tomac had struggled with his starts and was very likely to once again get a poor jump out of the gate. If Tomac didn't make good on this great gate, it would really doom America's chances of victory, because Dungey was likely to be buried as well due to the outside gate.
That is precisely what happened.
Tomac was closed off out of the gate, relegating him to a mid-pack entrance to the treacherous right-hand first turn. Once again, Tomac found himself on the ground in the first turn. He tangled with Italian David Philippaerts and put himself, once again, in last position. Ryan Dungey was also in an early incident after a rough start from the aforementioned outside, making a mistake and colliding with Canadian hero Colton Facciotti. Both riders would go down in a heap, putting both Americans at the back of the field. Having both riders in last position on the first lap is simply not a realistic MXoN winning recipe. This is racing, of course, and things happen, but to win an event as competitive as this everything has to go smoothly.
As our American heroes were fighting through the pack, eventual winner France was once again leading the race. Paulin grabbed another good start, and Frossard was inside the top ten as well. Tomac would blow by Frenchman Frossard and even give him a little bump on his way to an incredible third-place finish. In fact, had Tomac not stalled the bike in the waning laps, he may have won the moto. He was that fast
Dungey, to his credit, fought hard to pass each and every world-class rider he encountered. Neither of the Americans panicked nor relented; yet the circumstances were undoubtedly their undoing nonetheless. Strike three was both in the strategy and execution of the start of this third moto. I truly believe that Dungey should have been on the inside for that final moto, leaving Tomac to fight for a start from the outside. Our only chance to win was for Dungey and Tomac to sweep that moto, and I don't think America was in the best position to do that when sitting on the starting line. Strategy is key in a team event, and I think we miscalculated that one.
In the end, France simply won this year. They out-rode everyone and performed flawlessly. Their execution was ideal from the start of the weekend all the way to the checkered flag. No one should discount the French team’s performance in Latvia. They earned it, period.
I do, however, think that America had the best team at the event. With the crashes, injuries, and bike struggles, the American team really didn't deserve to win this time. If we started the weekend over, knowing what we know now, I do think it would turn out differently. That is not the world we live in, though, and racing is a continuous learning process. We will get another chance next year in France, home of the 2014 winners, and I hope we show up ready to reclaim this trophy.
