In yesterday’s countdown of the top 20 Team USA moments at the annual Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, Jason Weigandt brought you the story of the two Ryans, Villopoto and Dungey, teaming up for the one and only time in their careers at this event. It was a win in 2011, with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Blake Baggett as the third member. The victory in France marked the last win in a seven-year winning streak for the Americans that began back in 2005, also in France. This was the team of Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, and Ivan Tedesco that got the ball rolling on the second great run for Team USA.
Ricky Carmichael again marched through the 2005 AMA Pro Motocross Championship without losing a single overall, just as he had in 2002 and 2004. In those years he was on a Honda CR250 (’02) and then a Honda CRF450. In ’05 Carmichael switched over to Makita Suzuki, where he teamed up with Roger De Coster and Ian Harrison. This time RC did lose a moto or two, but he was still 12-0 overall, and riding a 27-race overall winning streak in Pro Motocross.
Carmichael was also on a two-race MXoN winning streak, though it stretched over five years. After Team USA got back on top in 2000 with the team of RC, Ryan Hughes, and Travis Pastrana, the Americans skipped the 2001 event after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and then they missed ’02 as well after the Competition Park debacle saw the race canceled here in the U.S., then moved to Spain, but Team USA was over it by then. They returned to the MXoN in ’03 in Belgium with RC once again leading the way and winning outright, but his teammates Hughes and Tim Ferry had problems in the one-race main event format. Finally, in 2004, with Carmichael switching from Honda to Suzuki and James Stewart going from the 125 to the 250 class, team manager Roger De Coster had trouble mustering a solid lineup and the Americans simply passed on the race. (That’s why they would wear #101, #102 and #103 next time, as the numbers assigned are based on how a nation did the previous year.)
![Ricky Carmichael]()
Ricky Carmichael Simon Cudby ![Kevin Windham]()
Kevin Windham Simon Cudby ![Ivan Tedesco]()
Ivan Tedesco Simon Cudby ![Ricky Carmichael]()
Ricky Carmichael Simon Cudby ![Ricky Carmichael]()
Ricky Carmichael Simon Cudby ![Ricky Carmichael]()
Ricky Carmichael Simon Cudby
Which brings us to 2005 race in Ernee, France. Carmichael was ready for another tour of duty with Team USA, and this time he was backed by the veteran Kevin Windham (who would have been his teammate in ’01) and Ivan Tedesco, who had just won the AMA 125 Pro Motocross title after a crazy late-season battle with Mike Alessi. It was a solid team on paper, but in a high-pressure race like the MXoN, things don’t always go according to plan.
Carmichael would easily win the first MX1/MX2 moto over New Zealand’s Josh Coppins and Frenchman Mickael Pichon, with Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tedesco in sixth place, but still the top 125/250 rider. The second moto for MX2/MX3 did not go as well. Windham was leading early, only to crash and bend the front end of his bike up. And Tedesco ended up crashing with France’s Sebastien Tortelli, with Seb’s foot getting stuck in Ivan’s wheel. It would take some time for them to get freed (with the help of Eric Sorby, who just happened to be standing nearby). K-Dub would salvage fifth overall, but Tedesco would end up 17th.
Read More 20 Team USA Moments:
With France’s MX3 rider David Vuillemin finishing second to New Zealand’s Ben Townley, the French would go into the last moto basically tied with the U.S. based on each team’s three best finishes so far: Carmichael’s first, Windham’s fifth, and Tedesco’s sixth vs. the second of Vuillemin, the third of Pichon, and a first-moto seventh for Tortelli.
It was in the third turn of the last moto that Team USA had their moment. After Pichon holeshot the final MX1/MX3 moto in front of the two Americans—Carmichael and an admittedly nervous Windham—Ricky blitzed to the inside of Pichon and pushed him out to the fence, opening the door wide for Windham to go from third to first. That seemed to settle K-Dub down. Carmichael went back past him into the lead while Windham rode steadily, allowing only Ben Townley to pass him. The 1-3 scores for the Americans easily topped the 5-7 of France’s own Pichon and Vuillemin, and Team USA had won the MXoN for the first time in five years.
![Ivan Tedesco]()
Ivan Tedesco Simon Cudby ![]()
Simon Cudby ![]()
Simon Cudby ![]()
Davey Coombs
The ’05 Team USA was the launching point of another fine run for the Americans that would run through 2011 and the team that Jason Weigandt wrote about yesterday. We will post the whole magazine feature, “Deliverance,” from our December ’05 magazine later on today in Racerhead.
Motocross of Nations - Combined
September 25, 2005
| Rider | Points | Race | Class | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | 16 | |||
| Ricky Carmichael | 1 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX1 | Suzuki | |
| Ricky Carmichael | 1 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | MX1 | Suzuki | |
| Kevin Windham | 3 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | Open | Honda | |
| Kevin Windham | 5 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | Honda | |
| Ivan Tedesco | 6 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX2 | Kawasaki | |
| Ivan Tedesco | 17 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | Kawasaki | |
| 2 |  | 24 | |||
| David Vuillemin | 2 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | Open | Yamaha | |
| Mickael Pichon | 3 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX1 | Honda | |
| Mickael Pichon | 5 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | MX1 | Honda | |
| Sebastien Tortelli | 7 | Race 1 (MX1 + MX2) | MX2 | KTM | |
| David Vuillemin | 7 | Race 3 (MX1 + Open) | Open | Yamaha | |
| Sebastien Tortelli | 29 | Race 2 (MX2 + Open) | MX2 | KTM | |
And here are some video highlights from the 2005 MXoN:
And because Valentino Rossi clinched his seventh world title that same weekend, the cover of the following week’s Cycle News feature the two GOATs celebrating their respective wins.
CN cover
