2016 Motocross of Nations preview: Maggiora, Italy, September 24-25

Gates are about to drop at the iconic venue of Maggiora in Italy for the most prestigious event of the year, the FIM Motocross of Nations on September 24-25.

Maggiora is an adrenalin paradise and, if you’re a fan of the golden era, you will definitely have heard of Maggiora since it hosted one of the most memorable editions of the Motocross of Nations back in 1986 where America’s ‘Dream Team’ of David Bailey, Johnny O’Mara and Ricky Johnson nailed a perfect score with both riders finishing inside the top two in every race.

Thirty years on, the entire Dream Team will be on location at Maggiora, 60km north of Milan, to celebrate in what will be the 70th edition  of the Motocross of Nations.

2016 MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS ENTRY LIST

The twice defending champion is France, which takes Romain Febvre, Gautier Paulin and Benoit Paturel into the event. Paulin has represented France at the MoN seven times and has topped the box on two occasions. Febvre made his debut last year and won, while Paturel, who has been called in to replace Dylan Ferrandis after he snapped his arm in Switzerland, will be the rookie but is sure to be spurred on and given the best guidance and advice from his fellow countrymen.

Febvre and Paulin took home the gold and silver medals in the premier class in the 2015 Motocross World Championship, but both didn’t make the top three this year. It has been an incredibly frustrating season for both, so it may just ease the frustration if they end their seasons on a high note as the winners of the coveted Chamberlain Trophy.

A quick glance at the history book would indicate that it is difficult to bet against America, which has the most wins to its name. America has topped the box a whopping 22 times, with its last win being on home soil back in 2010. None of its three riders this year, Cooper Webb, Jason Anderson or Alex Martin, has ever won a MoN – in fact two thirds of the team hasn't represented the stars and stripes before.

Until two weeks ago, Belgium looked as though it would be the most potent team this year after announcing its line-up of Clement Desalle, Kevin Strijbos and Jeremy Van Horebeek. But then it happened: Desalle, the most successful rider on the team with 20 grand prix wins to his name and one MoN title, tweaked his knee and has withdrawn. Belgium has turned to Brent Van Doninck as its wildcard replacement.

Another team which is more than capable of making the box is Great Britain, and for the nation that sits second place on the all-time wins list it's long overdue. Since 1994, Great Britain has not laid a finger on the Chamberlain Cup, and also since then it has only made the podium once, and that was 10 years ago, in 1997. This year’s team will be Tommy Searle, Shaun Simpson and Max Anstie.

While those four teams – France, America, Belgium and Great Britain – are the easy bets for the podium, don’t hold your breath because there are two more teams which are coming in all guns blazing: Netherlands (Jeffrey Herlings, Glenn Coldenhoff and Brian Bogers) and Switzerland (Valentin Guillod, Jeremy Seewer and Arnaud Tonus).

Not forgetting Australia and its line-up of Dean Ferris, Todd Waters and Mitch Evans, the latter a late replacement for the injured Jed Beaton and Waters called upon as a replacement for Kirk Gibbs, who broke his femur a few weeks ago.

Ferris, the 2016 Australian MX1 motocross champion, and Waters were once familiar faces on the grand prix scene. In fact, Waters landed on the podium at a round of MXGP at Maggiora.

Last but not least, it would be silly to do a preview without mentioning the host nation Italy, especially since its hero Antonio Cairoli will be lining up. Cairoli will be carrying the torch for the Italians as he hooks up with much younger teammates Samuele Bernardini and Michele Cervellin.

In all, 38 teams will be in attendance, including New Zealand (Cody Cooper, Hamish Harwood and Josiah Natzke) and minnows like Israel and Iceland. There's also a team from the Italian-surrounded microstate of San Marino.