2009 Red Bull Motocross of Nations 3

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Click the following link for a 51-photo gallery of motocross race action from the 2009 Red Bull Motocross of Nations.	You can also click the following link for a 40-photo gallery from Saturday's practice and qualifying.
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With the 63rd Motocross of Nations in the books, you can now chalk up the 20th win for Team USA since 1981, and fifth win in a row. But the win was far from a runaway win, and crashes and DNFs for other strong teams like Italy, Australia, and France definitely played a part in the final results.

Consistency was the name of the game for a Team USA that featured two rookies (Ryan Dungey and Jake Weimer), and a returning MXoN vet (Ivan Tedesco). While some questioned the team selection, it did nothing but add to the pre-race hype. Some had this year’s Team USA pegged as a B team, and there were undoubtedly had some teams licking their chops at the prospect of snatching away the Chamberlain Trophy from Team USA.

The format for the race was the same as always. Riders in each class (MX1, MX2, and Open) rode twice, with a team’s best five of six moto scores counting toward the overall.

In the first moto, it was Italy’s Antonio Cairoli that gave the home turf fans plenty to cheer about. He went nearly wire-to-wire in the moto, with Chad Reed taking over briefly. But those two were in close contact throughout.

Chad Reed and Antonio Cairoli duke it out during the combined MX1/MX2 moto. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

Team USA was represented in this one by Ryan Dungey, who moved from right around fifth early on to by Spain’s Jonathan Barragan. Meanwhile, Jake Weimer moved from 11th at the start to eighth at the finish, where he was third among the MX2 riders behind MX2 World Champ, Marvin Musquin (France), and Tommy Searle (Great Britain).

Jake Weimer on his way to his best moto finish of the day. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

With a third and an eighth, Team USA held the lead with 11 points after the first moto, ahead of Italy (Guarneri and Cairoli), who had 17 courtesy of Antonio’s win and Davide’s 16th.

Race 1 (MX1&MX2)
1. Antonio Cairoli (Italy/Yamaha)

2. Chad Reed (Australia/Suzuki)

3. Ryan Dungey (USA/Suzuki)

4. Clement Desalle (Belgium/Honda)

5. Marvin Musquin (France/KTM)

6. Josh Coppins (New Zealand/Yamaha)

7. Tommy Searle (Great Britain/KTM)

8. Jake Weimer (USA/Kawasaki)

9. Gareth Swanepoel (South Africa/Kawasaki)

10. Ken Roczen (Germany/Suzuki)

11. Billy Mackenzie (Great Britain/Honda)

12. Jonathan Barragan (Spain/KTM)

13. Tyla Rattray (South Africa/Kawasaki)

14. Steven Frossard (France/Kawasaki)

15. Joel Roelants (The Netherlands/KTM)

16. Davide Guarneri (Italy/Yamaha)

17. Brett Metcalfe (Australia/Honda)

18. Antti Pyrhonen (Finland/Honda)

19. Rui Goncalves (Portugal/KTM)

20. Andreas Hultman (Sweden/Honda)

With the MX1 class on the sidelines until the final moto of the day, moto two featured the MX2 riders, along with the first moto for the Open class racers.

Gautier Paulin moved up a class for France, and apparently he likes the horsepower, as he grabbed the holeshot and went wire-to-wire, taking a solid win for the French team. Ivan Tedesco was running in second spot, with his U.S. teammate, Jake Weimer in tenth spot. Unfortunately he went down at least once, and dropped to 25th at the end. Unless something truly bad happened to the team, this would clearly be their throwaway race.

Gautier Paulin was one of two 450 rookies on the day who scored moto wins. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

Something bad did happen to Australia and Italy’s chances, as Davide Guarneri crossed lines with Michael Byrne over a jump. Byrne landed on the Italian, which caused him to go down hard. While Guarneri stayed upright (maybe due to dragging Byrne’s bike along with him), he couldn’t continue. That meant each team had a DNF on their roster with three motos to go.

Tedesco looked destined for a second-place finish, but Italian David Phillipaerts had other ideas, and reeled in the Honda rider just before the finish.

Ivan Tedesco getting it done in his first moto, with a third-place finish. Check out the depth of that crowd. The Motocross of Nations is one of our favorite events of the year. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

If you factored in the throwaways before the final moto, Team USA’s 14 points was sandwiched between France, who had 11, and Italy, with 19.

Race 2 (MX2 & Open)
1. Gautier Paulin (France/Kawasaki)

2. David Phillipaerts (Italy/Yamaha)

3. Ivan Tedesco (USA/Honda)

4. Tanel Leok (Estonia/Yamaha)

5. Marvin Musquin (France/KTM)

6. Max Nagl (Germany/KTM)

7. Steve Ramon (Belgium/Suzuki)

8. Ken Roczen (Germany/Suzuki)

9. Brett Metcalfe (Australia/Honda)

10. Tyla Rattray (South Africa/Kawasaki)

11. Joel Roelants (The Netherlands/KTM)

12. Scott Columb (New Zealand/Suzuki)

13. Shaun Simpson (Great Britain/KTM)

14. Tonus Arnaud (Switzerland/KTM)

15. Carlos Campano (Spain/KTM)

16. Antonio Balbi (Brazil/Honda)

17. Tommy Searle (Great Britain/KTM)

18. Harri Kullas (Finland/KTM)

19. Matiss Karro (Latvia/Suzuki)

20. Jeffrey Herlings (The Netherlands/KTM)

Moto three is where things really got drama-filled, and it didn’t take long. Two-thirds of the way down the start straight, the hopes of the Italian team and fans were crushed when Antonio Cairoli tangled with another rider and went down hard. Unfortunately his Yamaha cartwheeled hard, seriously tweaking the subframe and exhaust to the point that he couldn’t continue. But things got crazier in the first turn, as Billy Mackenzie went down, taking Chad Reed and Clement Desalle with him. You want more drama? Within the next turn, you had Gautier Paulin down hard. That meant you had crushing blows to the Italian, British, Belgian and French teams within the first two corners.

The start straight and first couple corners torpedoed a few team's hopes. Jonathan Barragan is already gone out of the frame, but check out Ryan Dungey (1) and Steven Frossard (4) rocketing out of the first turn. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

Meanwhile, up front, it was Jonathan Barragan with the lead, and Dungey working his way from fourth into second, passing Steve Ramon, and Steven Frossard. As they reached the mid-point of the moto, it was clear that Ryan was closing on Jonathan Barragan, and he moved into the lead and then quickly dropped the Spaniard.

Ryan Dungey works his way past Jonathan Barragan. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

Deeper in the pack, two riders who’d shared a gentlemanly handshake after moto two were going at it. Ivan Tedesco had moved from 13th spot into 7th before being drilled by David Phillipaerts. Fortunately, Ivan was able to quickly remount, and he eventually finished in seventh, while Phillipaerts moved to third behind Dungey and Ramon.

In the end it was Team USA with 22 points, and an eight-point margin over France. Team Belgium was another nine points back in third.

Team USA will get a chance to defend the title on home turf next year, as the Motocross of Nations returns to the U.S. for the first time since Budds Creek in 2007. We’re already looking forward to the annual spectacle, and we know no matter what team shows up, A, B, C, or otherwise, they’ll definitely be bringing their A game...just like every year.

For much more of Sunday's action (or Saturday's qualifiers) be sure to check out the links to the photo galleries above.

Race 3 (MX1 & Open)
1. Ryan Dungey (USA/Suzuki)

2. Steve Ramon (Belgium/Suzuki)

3. David Phillipaerts (Italy/Yamaha)

4. Jonathan Barragan (Spain/KTM)

5. Steven Frossard (France/Kawasaki)

6. Josh Coppins (New Zealand/Yamaha)

7. Ivan Tedesco (USA/Honda)

8. Max Nagl (Germany/KTM)

9. Chad Reed (Australia/Suzuki)

10. Shaun Simpson (Great Britain/KTM)

11. Tanel Leok (Estonia/Yamaha)

12. Julien Bill (Switzerland/Aprilia)

13. Aigar Leok (Estonia/TM)

14. Billy Mackenzie (Great Britain/Honda)

15. Luis Correira (Portugal/Yamaha)

16. Harri Kullas (Finland/KTM)

17. Andreas Hultman (Sweden/Honda)

18. Gregory Wicht (Switzerland/Honda)

19. Antonio Balbi (Brazil/Honda)

20. Mike Kras (The Netherlands/KTM)

Team USA on the podium. Photo: Jeffrey Beerdsen.

Final Standings
1. USA 22

2. France 30

3. Belgium 39

4. Germany 55

5. Great Britain 55

6. Italy 59

7. Australia 73

8. Estonia 78

9. South Africa 84

10. Switzerland 88

11. New Zealand 89

12. Spain 92

13. Portugal 112

14. Brazil 122

15. Denmark 123

16. Ireland 126

17. Latvia 130

18. The Netherlands 133

19. Sweden 143

20. Finland 92