Into the spotlight stepped a couple of other very fast Americans. First among them was Josh Grant, the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider who is a local hero at Glen Helen. He was entered in the MXGP class, going up against the likes of reigning FIM World Champion Antonio Cairoli, who was just coming back from an elbow injury, as well as newly-crowned 2015 MXGP Champion Romain Febvre, French hero Gautier Paulin, Russia’s Evgeny Bobryshev, and more.

And then there was the late addition of Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb, who had raced the 250 Class all season long, but raised his hand to ride the Open Class for Team USA at the upcoming Motocross of Nations in France. Webb, who had only raced a 450 professionally at the previous year’s Monster Energy Cup, would be the wildcard in the pack.

When the first moto went off Grant was slowed by a twisted ankle, which meant it would be up to Webb to carry the Stars and Stripes against the Europeans. He was game for it too, leading Febvre and everyone else for much of the race. Finally, in the closing stages, Febvre pushed his own Yamaha past Webb’s on the descent of Mt. St. Helens.

“I was a long time behind Cooper and he was really good,” Febvre explained to Racer X contributor Adam Wheeler afterwards. “I could not find one line to pass him. I was really close on the uphill and I managed to close the door, but he took the inside and blocked me. I was again really close on the downhill and he tried again for the inside, but I came a little bit faster on the outside and it worked … although I was not sure about it at the time.” 

Febvre was again in the thick of a battle in the second moto, but it wasn’t with Webb. This time Grant, third in the first moto, was able to push through the ankle injury enough to take on Febvre, and like Webb he led into the closing stages. But this time Febvre made a mistake and tipped over atop Mt. St. Helens and gave Grant a straight shot at a very emotional win—he was more or less going to be a free agent after the race as TwoTwo Motorsports, the team he was riding for, closed up shop. Still, with 1-2 moto scores, Febvre took the overall win with Grant’s 3-1 good for second overall and Webb’s 2-3 rounding out the podium.

The MX2 class went even better for U.S-based riders as California’s own Jessy Nelson and his Troy Lee Designs KTM teammate Shane McElrath went first and second in the MX2 overall, and in the first moto Yanks swept the podium as Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge finished second between Nelson and McElrath. Sweeping both motos was a perfect way for Nelson to end his 2015 season, which had started with his first-ever AMA 250 Supercross win at the Anaheim opener. The top Europeans were Swiss rider Valentin Guillod (third), newly-crowned MX2 World Champion Tim Gajser of Slovenia (fourth), and British rider Max Anstie (fifth).

Here’s a look at the Racer X Remastered film of the 2015 Glen Helen MXGP:

And here are the official highlights:

Previous Entries