There are years when the Motocross of Nations is captured by a team that can do no wrong—this 2016 event in Maggiora, Italy, celebrated such a performance from Team USA in 1986. And just last year, Team France logged a nearly flawless day on home soil to capture the Chamberlain Trophy. This year’s event was much different, with several teams dealing with injured riders coming in, and adversity throughout. France won again, this time scoring 29 total points, a stark comparison to last year’s winning total of 14.
The ebbs and flows of a dramatic afternoon were felt most by Team USA, which lost Jason Anderson to injury moments after winning the second moto, and also struggled mightily in Saturday’s qualifying races, but it was a tough one on France, too. In fact, Romain Febvre didn’t even realize his last-lap pass on Tommy Searle had swung the victory to his team.
“No!” he explained when asked if he knew the team had won as he crossed the line. “I took a bad start, I was worse than 10th, I worked my way back but I took so much time to pass the guys. It was not easy. I finally passed to fourth place on the last lap when I passed Searle, but even down the pit lane [on the last lap], the pit board said second place. I was like ‘Damn.’ Then I crossed the finish line and everyone was like, “Yeah, you won! You won!” And I was like, ‘No, no, I don’t think so.’ Then finally we did win. I was really happy.”
A year ago, it was like Febvre was floating on air and walking on water, taking the MXGP World Championship and then going 1-1 at the Motocross of Nations to lead France to victory on home soil. This season has been tougher, losing his GP crown against Tim Gajser, and missing several races at mid-season due to a concussion. Even when he returned, Febvre was not the same rider late in the season. He kept grinding and improved before the ‘Nations, saying after the first moto, which he won handily: “The last few GPs were not so good but we went back to work on the bike and you can see I am riding so free. Riding like I did at the beginning of the year.”
“I took a good start, found my rhythm, and passed all the guys,” he explained further in the post-race press conference. “It’s actually been a long time since I’ve led a race so it was a good feeling. But yeah, second moto, I could not come back.
“Last year was my first time so it was very special. But now we’re growing up. Gautier [Paulin] has been around the globe a long time so he knows the feeling, but Benoit [Paturel] this is his first time. He did a really good season this year, he won the ‘Nations and finished third in his championship. It’s very good, you know? Very good to keep our place.”
Paulin knows the feeling of stepping up at this race, his famous 1-1 in 2014 is what started this three-year French win streak. This time he was clutch in the second moto, making critical late passes to net a third. The second moto wasn’t as good, with an 11th, and that’s what opened the door for the Anderson-less Team USA to nearly pull it out, as well as the Dutch squad.
“Yes, first of all I’m really happy with my team, Romain, [team manager] Pascal Finot, the French Federation, Benoit in MX2, we are a team and without them we couldn’t make it,” he said. “We are a team and we made it happen, it was really great. I’m always happy with the crowd, you know? You could not believe the French fans, they are always traveling the world for us and it’s just crazy. Individually the first moto was good, I made two mistakes but made the passes and finished third. The second moto I was struggling with the start and I couldn’t make the passes—I was struggling hard. Anyway, now we just need to taste this and have a good flavor for the win. It’s great to make it three wins in a row.”
France’s pressure point came in MX2, which was supposed to be manned by perennial GP contender Dylan Ferrandis until he broke his arm prior to the event. In stepped Paturel for his first MXoN. He went 14-10 for fourth overall in his class.
“I’m happy because this is my first race and there’s a lot of pressure,” he said. “I take a bad start in the first race but I came back strong, my riding was a little bit better. To finish first, it’s a great moment for all of the staff and team, Romain and Gautier did a really good job. I will work really hard to come back and race here again next season.”
Pascal Finot, the French team manager summed it up with some translation help from Paulin.
“Yes, I have a good feeling because it was my second year as team manager. I think the French people are very happy and we enjoy the support from the Federation, which is very good for the team. I think it’s tough to make a team within such an individual sport. Next year the biggest challenge will be the Motocross of Nations in the U.S., so I want to put in some special training to be better. I also want to think about Dylan Ferrandis who was injured at the Switzerland GP and for Jason Anderson for his injury in the second moto which is really bad, hopefully he keeps strong.”
Coming into the race Holland had a strong team, but star rider, Jeffrey Herlings, spoke pre-race only of a podium, not of actually winning the event (which Holland has never done). But coming within one lap and one point of the team victory makes the second-place overall finish both good and bad.
“I think we can look back to a very good Motocross of Nations as both an individual and a team,” Herlings said. “Second moto holeshot and controlled the whole moto, the rest of the team did super, super good, actually when we came here we were thinking a podium would be a dream but now we’re disappointed because we came up only one point short. And in the end I think we did very well, and for me only having three days on the 450 bike and really only racing with a base setting, I think it shows it will be good for next year. Once again, super proud of my team and also my riding was good.”
Glenn Coldenhoff grabbed two great starts and appeared to do his job with 6-7 scores and fourth overall in the MXGP class, but he felt he could have done more.
“To be honest, I rode not so well this weekend, I struggled pretty bad yesterday all day long,” he explained. “I took the holeshot in the first moto and got arm pump and was struggling pretty bad, and even in the second moto I made so many mistakes, but in the end the second moto was a little bit better. Had a few battles with a few guys, and it was an amazing weekend for the team. We all felt good lately and had great results, and I think Holland can be proud of us to put it on the box for the first time since 2004. It was an amazing weekend and I think we all feel really good right now.”
“Yeah, we know before this race we had a strong team,” said MX2 rider Brian Bogers, who was seventh overall in MX2. “But for me it’s hard to race against the 450s, I was pushing really hard behind the 450s and that’s why I crashed [in moto one]. Second moto I felt actually pretty good, but I got a stone on my nose from a 450. It took a few laps to get my eyes right again, and on the last corner I made one pass more so it was actually one point, but we needed two more.”
