Race 1 (MXGP and MX2)

The first moto of the race featured MXGP (450s) and MX2 (250s) which leads to a strategy game on gate picks. Each time picks a gate based on yesterday’s qualifying results, and after each team has picked, each team then gets a second gate. So, is it best to out the slower 250 bike on the better gate, or just sacrifice the 250 rider and put the 450 on the best gate?

Off the start it was no surprise to see Jorge Prado out front, as Spain put the strong starter on the 450 on the good gate, and away he went. France’s Romain Febvre was right there also on a 450, but the home (French) team’s hopes were immediately dashed when 250 rider Mathis Valin landed on a haybale on a downhill and crashed hard. He was out of the race, and that meant France already would have to use its one drop score, although Team Manager Gautier Paulin said Valin would be able to return and race his second moto later in the day.

Meanwhile, Team USA put 250 rider Levi Kitchen on the better inside gate, and it paid off as he got a good start, near the top five. He settled in around eighth, with his 450 teammate Julien Beaumer around 14^th. Beaumer would work his way to tenth. Spain’s MX2 World Champion Guillem Farres was on fire on his 250, raging to the front despite the bad gate pick. Soon Farres was up to fourth and top 250 on the track, and with Prado winning the moto, Spain was in prime position.

Then Prado crashed while leading, and Febvre took advantage to grab the lead and, eventually, the victory. With Valin’s DNF, though, the French will need a comeback to get back into contention. Prado took second and Farres fourth, a strong showing for Spain to open up a huge early lead. Belgium also had a decent showing, with Lucas Coenen, back from a long layoff with injury, a solid third. Sacha Coenen, no doubt struggling with the bad gate pick, worked his way to 12^th.

Late in the race Kitchen was eighth and in a huge battle with South African 250 rider Camden McLellan. As they battled Italian 450 rider Alberto Forato caught them, and then Forato knocked Kitchen down as they battled. The Kitchen crash was a disaster for Team USA, as Kitchen got up with bent handlebars, basically ending his moto (he stopped in the mechanics’ area to try to straighten his bike). With that, Team USA will probably have to drop Kitchen’s score, and Beaumer’s 10th will have to stand.

Right now it’s Spain looking very good, Belgium in the hunt and France hoping Valin will be good to go for his second moto after crashing out of moto one. 

As for Kitchen, Cooper Webb commented:

"That sucked. Looked like Forato got into the side of Levi and took him out. We thought he crashed on his own but that wasn't the case. We know we're the Americans and we have a target on us. Now it's nothing to lose. Now it's time to perform for all of us. Yeah, no injuries [for Kitchen]. He's just mad, as he should be. His fitness felt good. He was riding great, as was Julien." 

Webb added on Kitchen: "Yeah, no injuries. He's just mad, as he should be. His fitness felt good. He was riding great, as was Julien."

Overall Scoring 

Spain's 2-4 finishes for six points are the top scores after one race, with still a ton of racing to go. Belgium sits second with 3-12 scores (15 points), then the Netherlands (9-14 for 23 points) then Australia with 32 points then Latvia with 33 points. Team USA sits with 35 points in sixth after one race.

Again, there is a lot of racing left. Expect more chaos.

Race 2 (Open and MX2)

More bad news for France, as Tom Vialle holeshot the second moto and then hooked a footpeg while scrubbing on lap one. He crashed badly and just like that his race was over, matching the DNF teammate Mathis Valin took in moto one. That essentially ended any chance of a French win at home.

The Netherlands' Jeffrey Herlings took control from there, and you know how the rest of the moto turned out for him. Bye bye, everyone else. Italy’s Andrea Adamo was second and Latvia’s Pauls Jonass was third. But the battle for the team victory turned absolutely crazy when Spain’s Francisco Garcia retired from the race with a bike issue. Spain looked unbeatable, but they’ll have to throw out that DNF and Garcia will have to perform along with Prado in moto three. If he doesn’t several other teams are now back in this. Belgium had a solid second moto, with Liam Everts moving forward with a solid ride. He was fifth, then caught Spain’s 250 rider Guillem Farres and passed him for fourth, valuable points for Belgium over Spain (and showing the superiority of the 450 versus a 250). Everts caught Jonas for third on the last lap but came up a bike length short. Then Belgium’s 250 rider Sacha Coenen had a solid ride for seventh. Meanwhile the Netherlands has a shot, too, thanks to Herlings and solid rides from Roan Van De Moosdijk in moto one (ninth) and Glen Coldenhoff getting to ninth on a 250 in  moto two.

Team USA? This time Kitchen’s inside gate didn’t work, as he got pinched off. He was around 14^th, went as far back as 16th, and then had a big battle with Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer (on a 250). He ended up 14^th. Cooper Webb was solid. He couldn’t hold off Everts, but he took sixth and held off Sacha Coenen. That sixth is the best result for Team USA thus far.

Overall Scoring After Race 2

The team points are hard to calculate at the moment because each squad gets to drop one of its six scores. If you could all scores so far, it’s Belgium on top, but if you drop a score, it looks like this:
Spain 11, Belgium 14, Netherlands 19.

For Spain, it will be up to young Francisco Garcia to log a good moto three ride on a 450 to preserve the win. Prado would be expected to do well and Farres did his job, easily the top MX2 rider for the weekend. For Netherlands, it needs a win from Herlings and Van De Moosdijk to ride well. Belgium has Lucas Coenen and Liam Everts, which might be the most balanced attack. It could be very close.

The final moto is for MXGP and Open on 450s. 

Race 3 (MXGP and Open)

It was on in this one, as Prado did his best to help his country win the event with his customary holeshot. Febvre was there to battle him again and momentarily took the lead, but then Prado got him back and Febvre got shuffled back to third, behind Belgium’s Liam Everts. That was huge for Everts and his country, Belgium, which had a real shot at the win. Herlings was a few spots further back but then tipped over in some ruts, which appeared to have dashed his hopes at a 1-1 and the Netherlands getting a win. Or did it?

For Spain, the tough spot was Garcia, the EMX 250 rider forced to jump up to a 450. He was 13^th early. Meanwhile Belgium was looking good as Lucas Coenen started moving forward into the top ten, and Everts holding second. The Spanish were in trouble. Coenen kept gaining ground, and soon a massive battle started brewing around the fifth-place spot between Coenen, Webb, Vialle and a resurgent Herlings! Webb was riding well, arguably the best he has in motocross all year, and even ramped up his pace a bit after Herlings caught him. But Herlings was absolutely on fire and appeared to be thinking of only one thing: catching Prado and winning the moto even after crashing.

As for the team win, Garcia for Spain was up to 11^th because Vialle dropped out of the moto up ahead. It wasn’t going to be enough for Spain, though, because Belgium had Everts up front and Coenen kept moving forward. At some points Belgium led Spain by just a point, at others the gap was three.

Herlings was on a mission, ripping through the pack and eventually catching Prado. Prado and Herlings re-engaged with one of their classic battles, with Herlings attacking and Prado riding a wide bike and making life difficult. For a few laps they had an insane battle, but Prado finally decided better of it, sat up, and let Herlings go. He wasn’t going to win the moto anyway, as Herlings was just too fast and too strong. It wasn’t enough for the Netherlands to have a shot at the win, though, because Van de Moosdijk was way back.

This put it down to Spain and Belgium, and Prado losing a point to Herlings hurt Spain. Everts got passed by Febvre and pushed back to fourth, but that was still enough. Everts and Coenen went 4-5 in the final moto, and that powered Belgium to its first Peter Chamberlain Trophy since 2013. Spain was second and the Netherlands third.

As for Team USA, Webb rode valiantly for 6-6 scores in his two motos in his Husqvarna debut. Beumer was 17^th in the third moto, and overall Team USA took fifth overall. Latvia was fourth.

"Just unreal," said Everts, who joined his father Stefan and grandfather Harry with Team Belgium Motocross of Nations victories. "I had no idea where we were on points so I was just trying to push forward and I knew it was going to be close. Winning this is unreal, I couldn’t do it without these two guys and we had a mega day. Been a long road coming and you need to be with three good guys. It’s been 13 years. Feels amazing!"

"I can’t thank these guys enough," said Lucas Coenen, who had not finished a race since late June due to a sciatic nerve injury. "Last Sunday I was crying, I couldn’t even ride for 10 minutes. I didn’t even know what I could do, but somehow I managed to do two 30 minute motos. We ended up on top, and I love it."

"I have no words, it’s incredible what’s happening now," said Sacha Coenen. "Thanks to Liam and my brother for all the hard work they put in and Joel [Team Manager] for believing in us."

Spain was close, but the runner-up still marked the nation's first ever podium.

"First time we got Spain on the box and it was an incredible journey, look at us, making history," said Prado.

Team Netherlands was third overall.

"I think we all didn’t expect it,” said Glenn Coldenhoff, who jumped back onto a 250, and competed in the event for the 14th-straight year.  “Jefferey did what he did for the last couple of months. It was up to us and I was proud of my last moto [ninth]. Very proud we made it to the podium"

“I tried to overtake Liam and went over the bars,” said Herlings. “Went back to P10 and had to work my way again to the lead and pull a comfortable lead. That felt good. Super pumped to have team on the podium and the individual win."