France wins MoN, disaster for Australia

Australia finished a lowly 14th in the 2014 Motocross of Nations in Latvia last weekend (September 29-30), with last race crashes and subsequent non-finishes for Chad Reed and Matt Moss evaporating any chance of a top 10 finish.

The event was won by France, only its second MoN victory, with Gautier Paulin (pictured) winning both of his races and receiving solid support from teammates Dylan Ferrandis and Steven Frossard, the trio all riding Kawasakis.

Belgium was second, while America finished on the same points as Great Britain but was award third outright on a countback. Belgian Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki) won the third MoN race in Latvia.

The only Aussie rider to finish both races was Luke Clout on his Yamaha with 22-21 finishes, while Reed (Kawasaki) and Moss (Suzuki) were 14th and 12th outright in their only point-scoring results.

Riders in the three classes – MXGP, MX2 and Open - all raced against each other, with the three-man teams allowed to drop their worst result.

MoN results
1, France, 17
2, Belgium 27
3, USA 33
4, Great Britain 33
5, Germany 72
6, Italy 73
7, Switzerland 74
8, Russia 75
9, Estonia 77
10, The Netherlands 80
14, Australia 108

Race 1 MXGP + MX2:
1, Gautier Paulin, FRA, Kawasaki, 35:13.245
2, Ryan Dungey, USA, KTM, 35:16.977
3, Max Nagl, GER, Honda, 35:18.059
4, Jeremy van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha, 35:26.709
5, Aleksandr Tonkov, RUS, Husqvarna, 35:28.465
6, Filip Bengtsson, SWE, KTM, 35:45.585
7,Glenn Coldenhoff, NED, Suzuki, 35:49.388
8, Tommy Searle, GBR, Kawasaki, 35:54.111
9, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki, 35:59.482
10, Davide Guarneri, ITA, TM, 36:01.081

Race 2, MX2 + Open
1, Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki, 35:28.584
2, Steven Frossard, FRA, Kawasaki, 35:31.913
3, Dean Wilson, GBR, Kawasaki, 35:50.459
4, Tommy Searle, GBR, Kawasaki, 35:51.961
5, Fredrik Noren, SWE, Honda, 35:54.164
6, Eli Tomac, USA, Honda, 35:54.686
7, Tanel Leok, EST, TM, 35:55.310
8, Glen Coldenhoff, NED, Suzuki, 35:56.297
9, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki, 36:11.827
10, Marc de Reuver, NED, Honda, 36:14.136

Race 3 MXGP + Open
1, Gautier Paulin, FRA, Kawasaki, 34:03.950
2, Jeremy Van Horebeek, BEL, Yamaha, 34:06.096
3, Eli Tomac, USA, Honda, 34:08.386
4, Steven Frossard, FRA, Kawasaki, 34:25.319
5, Dean Wilson, GBR, Kawasaki, 34:28.822
6, Aleksandr Tonkov, RUS, Husqvarna, 34:30.469
7, Tanel Leok, EST, TM, 34:31.607
8, Arnaud Tonus, SUI, Kawasaki, 34:33.033
9, Kevin Strijbos, BEL, Suzuki, 34:35.539
10, Rui Goncalves, POR, Yamaha, 34:51.483