Aus Tops Qualifying; NZ 13th
MX of Nations 2013
www.racexonline.com By Steve Matthes
Well that’s a wrap on Saturday here at the Motocross des Nations in Germany and this column is called Rapid Reaction so let’s do just that. Without diving into the results too much and off the top of my head, this is a rapid reaction as the riders are still pulling off the track after the MX3 qualifier.
It was a day of some surprises here as Team Australia went 1-2-4 in the three qualifiers to take the top spot going into the finals tomorrow. USA was second and Belgium was third. USA got second with Ryan Dungey in MX1 (behind Brett Metcalfe) and second in MX3 with Justin Barcia (behind Clement Desalle) and the USA dropped Eli Tomac’s 4th in the MX2 class (each time drops its worst score. This is only qualifying, though).
My reaction is that this is a going to be a much tighter race than I thought it would be. Coming in I thought that USA would be the winner with Belgium and Germany right there. I also named Australia as a dark horse team. Well, I obviously don’t know who is going to win tomorrow but I believe that it will be very, very close. Team USA is not going to be as terrific as I thought. This thing is going to be a dogfight between what looks like four countries- Australia, USA, Germany and the always-strong Belgians.
The track is tough to pass on according to, well, just about every rider I spoke to so a start is going to be important. In talking to John Tomac he wishes it would get a bit rougher as in his opinion it’s fast and smooth and that makes it hard to make up time.
Team USA didn’t win a race today and that’s something that not many saw happening. The mates from Down Under were very strong, the hometown Germans didn’t miss a step with their replacement from last year and if USA wants to get the Chamberlain trophy back, it’s not going to be easy. Stay tuned here tomorrow for the full report.
Oh and I don’t want to talk about Canada. It wasn’t good.
Jason Thomas: Saturday has come and gone and oh what a Saturday it was. The Motocross of Nations, is in my opinion, the greatest motorsports event of the year. Nowhere else are there so many different countries represented in one weekend of competition. Coming in, USA was considered by most to be the favorite and while the Americans didn't qualify first, they certainly were much better than 2012. Australia was the big surprise, qualifying on top with three strong rides. Belgium tied the USA on points and ended up third on the day but are certainly a strong team and capable of winning tomorrow. Honestly, after watching today, it's anyone's guess as to who will win this year.
Everyone was very similar in speed out there today and I have a feeling that when it is all said and done, starts will be the key component. Take Eli Tomac for example, who started in 16th, or at least that's what the transponder told me. He was able to quickly get into 8th position as he is much better than most of the riders and everyone was on 250cc machines. Tomorrow, if he gets a poor start again, it will be much more difficult to navigate around the bigger bikes on the hard-to-pass Teutschenthal circuit. Due to that, the poor start could play even more of a role tomorrow than it was today in his 4th place finish. It will be difficult for all of the smaller bikes on the start but 10 spots on that first lap could mean the difference between going home champions and another year of disappointment. He will have 10 more minutes to pass riders tomorrow also but let's just hope he can grab two good starts and make life a little easier.
Dungey was solid today and in typical Dungey fashion, started to pour it on late in the qualifier. Had it been a full 35 minute moto, I have no doubt that Dungey would have found his way to the front. That's not to say Brett Metcalfe didn't ride incredibly well because he truly deserved that win. Cairoli and Paulin were the victims of poor starts so we really didn't get the full picture of what they are capable of, besides their strong practice rides. I have a feeling Cairoli will come out swinging tomorrow after a disappointing Saturday. He didn't win seven world titles by accident. For Dungey, though, he had the type of day I felt that he needed. He didn't have a good practice session but he was able to gap the pack with Metty and gain some confidence for tomorrow. He is the anchor for the USA team so it was encouraging to see him riding well.
Justin Barcia had a solid if uneventful race. He started second and while DeSalle was there for a minute, he really didn't have the Belgian's pace today. He was able to stretch it out over the rest of the pack and come home a solid second place. He is a great starter and that is key for this event as I said above. I don't think the Honda is the best suited bike for this hard packed, choppy track but he will be fine. Staying near the front and out of trouble is the name of the game.
All in all, it was a successful Saturday for the USA team. Sure, we didn't qualify first but I am sure the riders learned the track in race conditions and will be better tomorrow for it. Keep in mind that these GP riders have all seen this track plenty of times so they had quite an advantage there. The motos will be longer tomorrow and I think that plays into the USA's hands. Dungey and Tomac are incredibly good at the end of the races and Barcia is no slouch either. It is going to be a long, hard day at the office but if I had to pick a winner at the end of tomorrow, I still like Team USA's chances.
Nations Qualification
1 Australia 4
1 28 METCALFE, Brett AMA Kawasaki MX1
2 29 FERRIS, Dean MA Yamaha MX2
3 (4) 30 WATERS, Todd MA KTM Open
2 USA 4
2 9 BARCIA, Justin AMA Honda Open
2 7 DUNGEY, Ryan AMA KTM MX1
(4) 8 TOMAC, Eli AMA Honda MX2
3 Belgium 4
1 6 DESALLE, Clement FMB Suzuki Open
3 5 VAN HOREBEEK, Jeremy FMB Kawasaki MX2
(5) 4 DE DYCKER, Ken FMB KTM MX1
4 Germany 7
1 2 ROCZEN, Ken DMSB KTM MX1
6 3 ULLRICH, Dennis DMSB KTM Open
(6) 1 NAGL, Maximilian DMSB Honda MX1
5 Great Britain 8
3 22 SEARLE, Tommy ACU Kawasaki MX1
5 24 SIMPSON, Shaun ACU Yamaha Open
(5) 23 NICHOLLS, Jake ACU KTM MX2
6 Italy 12
4 13 CAIROLI, Antonio FMI KTM MX1
8 14 LUPINO, Alessandro FMI Kawasaki MX2
(14) 15 PHILIPPAERTS, David FMI Honda Open
7 France 13
6 17 TIXIER, Jordi FFM KTM MX2
7 18 CHARLIER, Christophe FFM Yamaha Open
(7) 16 PAULIN, Gautier MCM Kawasaki MX1
8 Russia 17
8 33 MIKHAYLOV, Evgeny MFR KTM Open
9 32 TONKOV, Aleksandr MFR Honda MX2
(40) 31 BOBRYSHEV, Evgeny MFR Honda MX1
9 Estonia 18
3 21 LEOK, Tanel EMF TM Open
15 19 KRESTINOV, Gert EMF Kawasaki MX1
(18) 20 KAHRO, Erki EMF KTM MX2
10 Spain 20
7 74 BUTRON, Jose RFME KTM MX2
13 73 BARRAGAN, Jonathan RFME KTM MX1
(16) 75 LOZANO, Alvaro RFME Yamaha Open
11 The Netherlands 20
10 10 DE REUVER, Marc KNMV KTM MX1
10 11 COLDENHOFF, Glenn KNMV KTM MX2
(19) 12 BRAKKE, Herjan KNMV Yamaha Open
12 Austria 20
9 72 WALKNER, Matthias OeAMTC KTM Open
11 71 RAUCHENECKER, Pascal OeAMTC KTM MX2
(19) 70 SCHMIDINGER, Günter OeAMTC Honda MX1
13 New Zealand 22
10 45 COOPER, Cody MNZ Suzuki Open
12 43 CARTER, Rhys MNZ Suzuki MX1
(19) 44 LAMONT, Kayne MNZ KTM MX2
14 Switzerland 22
9 55 GUILLOD, Valentin FMS KTM MX1
13 56 SEEWER, Jeremy FMS Suzuki MX2
(28) 57 AUBERSON, Killian FMS KTM Open
15 Portugal 23
8 25 GONCALVES, Rui FMP KTM MX1
15 26 ALBERTO, Paulo FMP Honda MX2
(24) 27 SANTOS, Hugo FMP KTM Open
16 Denmark 25
11 52 LYNGGAARD, Kasper DMU Yamaha MX1
14 53 OLSEN, Stefan Kjer DMU Honda MX2
(38) 54 LARSEN, Nikolaj DMU Honda Open
17 Finland 29
12 59 KULLAS, Harri SML KTM MX2
17 58 TIAINEN, Santtu SML Honda MX1
(23) 60 SÖDERBERG, Ludvig SML KTM Open
18 Czech Republic 31
13 63 MICHEK, Martin ACCR KTM Open
18 61 SMOLA, Frantisek ACCR KTM MX1
(20) 62 NEUGEBAUER, Filip DMSB Kawasaki MX2
19 Norway 32
16 49 HEIBYE, Even NMF KTM MX1
16 50 KLINGSHEIM, Magne NMF Yamaha MX2
(17) 51 GUNDERSEN, Kenneth NMF Kawasaki Open
Qualifying Heat MX1
1. Brett Metcalfe AUS
2. Ryan Dungey USA
3. Tommy Searle GBR
4. Antonio Cairoli ITA
5. Ken dy Dycker BEL
6. Max Nagl GER
7. Gautier Paulin FRA
8. Rui Concalves POR
9. Valentin Guillod SUI
10. Marc de Reuver NED
11. Kasper Lyngaard DEN
12. Rhys Carter NZL
13. Jonathan Barragan ESP
14. Cole Thompson CAN
15. Gert Krestinov EST
16. Even Heibye NOR
17. Santtu Tiainen FIN
18. Frantisek Smola CZE
19. Gunter Schmidinger AUT
20. Hector Assuncao BRA
Qualifying Heat MX2
1. Ken Roczen GER
2. Dean Ferris AUS
3. Jeremy van Horebeek BEL
4. Eli Tomac USA
5. Jake Nicholls GBR
6. Jordi Tixier FRA
7. Jose Butron ESP
8. Alessandro Lupino ITA
9. Alexandr Tonkov RUS
10. Glenn Coldenhoff NED
11. Pascal Rauchenecker AUT
12. Harri Kullas FIN
13. Jeremy Seewer SUI
14. Stefan Kjer Olsen DEN
15. Paulo Alberto POR
16. Magne Klingsheim NOR
17. Davis Ivanovs LAT
18. Erki Kahro EST
19. Kayne Lamont NZL
20. Filip Neugebauer CZE
Qualifying Heat Open
1. Clement Desalle BEL
2. Justin Barcia USA
3. Tanel Leok EST
4. Todd Waters AUS
5. Shaun Simpson GBR
6. Dennis Ullrich GER
7. Christophe Charlier FRA
8. Evgeny Mikhaylov RUS
9. Matthias Walkner AUT
10. Cody Cooper NZL
11. Phil Nicoletti PUR
12. Graeme Irwin IRL
13. Martin Michek CZE
14. David Philippaerts ITA
15. Bence Svoboda HUN
16. Alvaro Lozano ESP
17. Kenneth Gundersen NOR
18. Matiss Karro LAT
19. Herjan Brakke NED
20. Rafael Faria BRA
