MXoN Highlights

The 40 Year Wait - Aussies

Reprint from MXlarge.com

Just over 40 years ago, Team Australia made their first appearance at what was then called the Motocross des Nations. Well in fact, the men from down under didn't race the MXdN, but just the Trophée des Nations, as it seemed a slightly easier route to their first ever major international venture. All racers on 250 machines was more to the liking of the Aussies than running the 500cc class against the World's best.

The journey to Matterley Basin this weekend has been a long one, tattered in highs and lows, podiums and moto wins, but never have Team Australian lifted the Chamberlain Trophy in victory.

Of course, I mentioned it last week, Australia started their Motocross des Nations challenge way back in 1984 and I remember them heading to Europe and wondering what the hell the MXdN was.

Australians number one rider, Stephen Gall was joined by Trevor Williams, Vaughan Style and David Armstrong. Held on the weekend of 15-16 September 1984 in Varberg, Sweden.

The Aussies were competitive, but due to a series of mechanical failures, including a rare stator coil failure on Williams Kawasaki in the qualifying heats, the Australian team was relegated to the B final, but more importantly, they were now involved and knew what to expect in the following years. Stephen Gall and Trevor Williams finished in third and fourth places, respectively, Australia finished in third last position as Armstrong and Style dropped out due to mechanical issues.

Just two years later, at the Maggiora circuit in Italy, Craig Dack finished fourth in a moto and fourth overall in the 250 class and Australia finished fourth overall. A year later in USA, at a very muddy Unadilla event, it was a different story, as they struggled big time and never showed anything of their 1986 form, but in recent years, Australia has shown signs of brilliance.

Back in the 1980s and early 90s it was Jeff Leisk leading motos, and battling the Americans, then came Chad Reed in the late 90s and 2000s who brought Australia some joy at this event, being the first Australian to win a moto at the MXdN, when he won the opening race in 2001 at Namur, before Jett and Hunter Lawrence arrived and started putting Australia back on the map.

Many Aussies have shown signs of their true class, be it Craig Dack at Maggiora in 1986, Leisk in France in 1988 and Sweden in 1990, Chad Reed, first at Namur in 2001 and on so many other occasions, be it 2009 in Italy, or 2011 in France and also Dean Ferris in Germany in 2013. Hunter Lawrence winning his class at Matterley in 2017, where he won the MX2 overall, or his three second places in the MX2 class in 2018, 2022 and 2023.

Along came maybe the biggest sensation to come out of Australia, Jett Lawrence winning his class in 2022 at RedBud, then finishing third in his class at Ernee last year and picking up his second MXoN moto win.

Only Reed and Lawrence have won motos at this event for Australia, Reed in 2001 and 2011 and Lawrence in 2022 and 2023. Can the current AMA Supercross champion, become the greatest MXoN performer ever for Australia and claim another moto win, but more importantly, take the Aussies to their first Nations victory? I guess as I write this, emotions take over a little and I dream of an Aussie victory. Damn, there would be some beers spilt early in the morning in Australia if that happens and what a perfect introduction to their MXGP round in 2025.

Having followed their progress since 1984, I have covered some of those early Nations for the Aussie magazines, and felt for their losses, it is hard not to be a little excited that they could finally pull off a victory and with Jeff Leisk, Stephen Gall, Craig Dack and many of their former team-members being at Matterley Basin this year, what a celebration it would be.

Please none of that, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie BS, just the Australian National anthem and some beers would do it for the old school men, who paved the way for the Lawrence brothers and this years Australian team.

Still, if The Netherlands win, I will be more than happy to listen to their national anthem, "Het Wilhelmus", which, will also bring a tear to my eye. Whatever happens, no USA or French win please, those guys have won enough for now.

As an Aussie, who has lived in The Netherlands now for 33 years, which is more than half my life, I have the great situation, where I really have two teams in the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations. For years, it was easy to root for the Dutch, as Jeffrey Herlings led the way, often with support from Glenn Coldenhoff. Their victory in 2019 at the Assen circuit was one of the highlights of working in the sport. But the Aussies haven’t ever won it, and what an amazing day that would be for the men from down under.

I know many years ago, I attended a football match with my kids, The Netherlands vs Australia in Eindhoven, and my kids wanted us to all get dressed up in the national colours of The Netherlands (orange). So, I arrive to the PSV stadium and see some Australian flags and decide I cannot follow The Netherlands. Australia scores first and I jump up on my chair and celebrate, with all those other Dutchies in orange looking at me like I am crazy. I wonder how it will be at Matterley Basin this weekend, because I am really stuck who I want to win more.

Preview and predictions: 2024 Matterley Basin MXoN

 

Images: MXGP/Infront Moto Racing + Full Spectrum Media (KdW)

Jonathan McCready: It is a very open MXoN field this year in what should be an all-time MXoN with an all-star cast of legendary champions lining up to face-off for individual and country honours on one of the best tracks in the world.

France, Australia, Netherlands, USA, even Germany have a shot at winning with Spain, Belgium, Italy and even GB a shot at a podium.

The MX2 class will be fascinating with De Wolf and Lucas Coenen back on track together again with no world title pressure for either. Simon Laengenfelder can always produce and then there are the AMA boys, can Tom Vialle run the pace of Coenen and De Wolf and the big wildcard is Cooper Webb, what can he do with two weeks on probably the best 250 in the world – can he top five or better in his class and top ten in moto? That would really help put USA amongst it. Don’t forget the likes of Mikkel Haarup and home favourite Max Anstie, both very capable on their day as Anstie proved the last time a MXoN was held at this very track and he has that Star Yamaha to power him around the circuit. And how will Kyle Webster do for Australia? His result could be key in helping the Lawrence brothers to get to the top step as a team.

For me Lucas Coenen might win the overall with other two most likely, De Wolf and Vialle, maybe having to play the team role in a certain moto with France and Netherlands up there as favourites, Coenen will be free to go all out as Belgium aren’t expected to win – but a podium isn’t out of reach if Coenen rides like he can, gets a start and puts that 250 up with the 450s.

MXGP is nuts! Jett,….er not anymore, its Hunter Lawrence, Jorge Prado, Jeffrey Herlings, Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen (he won the overall last year), Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser will all face-off. All champions and all legends of the sport they will all head to head three times against each other this weekend, and that’s before you add in the likes of Jeremy Seewer, Brent Van Doninck, Alberto Forato, Dylan Wright, Kevin Horgmo and Tommy Searle! Stacked is an understatement!

Who wins? Very difficult to say! The first seven names could all win a moto and three won a moto last year with Febvre, Prado and Jett while Roczen won the class! If Jeffrey Herlings gets a start, maybe the Dutchman comes put on top. Tomac can’t be counted out if beast mode is engaged, but with Prado, you have one of the two best executers of a race from start to finish in the game (along with Jett Lawrence), and with the speed of everyone else to match.

The Open class in intriguing and maybe deeper than prevous years! Jett is now in and the overwhelming favourite but when you add Ruben Fernandez, Maxime Renaux, Glenn Coldenhoff, Andrea Bonacorsi, Max Nagl, Valentin Guillod, Aaron Plessinger, a flying Jan Pancar, Jago Geerts and Britain’s flyer, Conrad Mewse. It is a strong field with eleven rapid riders before you even get to Harri Kullas and Canada’s Jess Pettis. But will Australia’s tactic to put Jett in Open, and not against Herlings, Prado, Tomac, Gajser, Febvre and Roczen, work? Hunter now gets the break between races but a tough class to race in.

The biggest wildcards for me are Conrad Mewse and Jago Geerts, Conrad can run up front in this class and be top three overall, the speed is there, we saw that all year in the British championship. Jago Geerts really should be a two-time world MX2 champ but crashes and injury ruined his last couple of seasons and he hasn’t got to show his potential ona 450 this year, will he be back on his game this weekend? Both riders could really put the cat amongst the pigeons if it clicks! For the class win it’s hard to look past Lawrence and Renaux as well as Plessinger and Glenn Coldenhoff, the Dutch rider usually rides very well at Matterley. Right now, Lawrence would be the big favourite given his form – but you can’t count out the rest mentioned, especially Renaux who has the elite talent when fully healthy.

For the team overall it’s also difficult, it’s very hard to count the USA out, they have three champions on their team and I expect them all to rise to the occassion, but to beat the French? That’s tough with Febvre, Renaux and Vialle, on paper they are the strongest trio but Netherlands with Herlings back,de Wolf the MX2 world champ and a fast Coldenhoff who is good at Matterley, they could take it to the French IF all three get the starts they need – that’s the biggest question mark.

There are no question marks over Jett and Hunter Lawrence, who could win their respective classes. Really, it is where does Webster fit in in MX2, that will determine how Austrlia do, if he’s fast and up in a top five overall spot, Australia can be victorious for the first time ever!

But everytime you think about someone else winning, the margins are smaller, it’s just so hard to bet against France with their three world champs, there is no real weakness in the team.

Team overall:

1. France
2. Netherlands
3. USA

Class overall:

MXGP: Jorge Prado
MX2: Lucas Coenen
Open: Jett Lawrence

TF 450-RC Edition

Behind the Gate | Stranger Things | MXGP 2024 Season

Deegan Expects Long Recovery

My recovery will be longer than everyone expected' – Deegan

Taking up to six weeks off the bike following required wrist surgery.

Image: Octopi Media.

Double 250SMX champion Haiden Deegan has moved to detail the wrist injury that affected him in stages throughout the 2024 season, undergoing surgery following the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Final in Las Vegas and now facing an extended six weeks off the bike during this current off-season.

Despite breaking his wrist in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross 250SX East pre-season and having two screws inserted, Deegan managed to race on to second in the standings, before going on to win the Pro Motocross 250MX Championship and again in SMX.

“Three weeks before the first round [of Supercross] I had a crash and ended up breaking my wrist,” Deegan recalled in an interview this week with Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto’s Title 24 podcast. “But, I wanted to race, my pre-season had gone super-good, so we went in for surgery and they gave me the option to put two screws in there so that there was no chance that the bone could move and I could race.

“So they had two screws in there, one was sticking out a little bit – they weren’t able to put it all the way into the bone. That’s been bothering me pretty bad all year, there were days where I was in a lot of pain during training and after races. Like, those outdoor nationals when I was sending it, jumping to flats, I was in a lot of pain after the races… It did hurt pretty bad.

“They went in and removed that screw, there was even a little bit of ligament damage from that screw sticking out, so we got that fixed up. I think my recovery will be a little longer than everyone expected, it’s not just take a screw out and be back on the bike in two weeks. I actually do have to take some time off and recover the wrist, because there was that little bit of damage from having that screw. It’ll be four weeks before I do any training, then back on the bike at around the six-week mark.”

Deegan sitting out this weekend’s Motocross of Nations (MXoN) at Matterley Basin has been a constant talking point over the past month, instead opting to have his surgery completed in order to focus on 2025 and with the target of a first 250SX title, but he has indicated that he intends to represent Team USA next year if the opportunity presents itself again.

“It’d be a dream come true to race Nations,” he added. “You’re racing against all the top guys from different countries. Obviously, you have to race the champs from MXGP as well, that was always the goal too. I feel like if you win MXoN, you kind of solidify yourself as the best 250 guy in the world, so if I’m healed and everything goes to plan, I definitely want to give it a run next year.”

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Pierce Brown Movin Up!

TLD Red Bull GasGas rider on breakthrough career-first victory.

Starting towards the front of the 250SMX field proved key for Pierce Brown as he delivered the win for Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas in their final race together. Following his career-first victory in Las Vegas, Brown shared his Fast Thoughts in this latest feature.

Image: Octopi Media.

Gelling with the track here in Vegas…

I don’t think it was just the track, I think it was also the work I’ve been putting in on the starts. It’s crazy what a start can do, I feel like nothing has really changed with my speed. I’ve been putting in the work, but I haven’t showed it because I’ve been getting bad starts. These guys are fast, so it’s hard to run through them like I want to.

The importance of this race win…

It was like a dream day. This is TLD GasGas’ last race as a team. I’ve been with the team my whole career and haven’t been able to get a win for them, we waited until the last race. So, it feels great, even for myself. I needed that, it’s been a mediocre year for me. I think for next year it’s going to be really good.

Getting a full season under your belt…

I think this is my first full season. I made it every single round and finally got it done at the last race. Feels good. For enxt year, it just elevates my expectations for myself. This is defintiely going to jump start some belief. I can’t wait for next year.

The doubts through the highs and lows…

It’s been a long road. There are times you get down on yourself, but it’s part of the sport. There are ups and downs in everything in life, so you have to pick yourself up and make it happen. That’s what we did today. It feels like a monkey off my back, I’m over the moon right now.