Words by Micheal Antonovich
Photos by Brendan Lutes
The 2011 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations took place for the first time in over ten years at St. Jean D’Angely, France, an Eastern town that lays inland of the Atlantic Ocean. A previous hosting venue, were the American team of Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Hughes, and Travis Pastrana were victorious, the rocky and hard pack soil has been likened to Pennsylvania’s Steel City. With multiple lines carved into the hills and rain showers taking place in each of the three motos, all the skills the top racers in the world possess were tested. After winning all three of Saturday’s qualifying motos, the American team of Blake Baggett (MX2), Ryan Dungey (MX1), and Ryan Villopoto (MX3), were heavily favored to win yet again, but a thrilling day filled with triumph and disappointment made it look like it was anyone’s day to shine.
MOTO ONE MX1/MX2
Australian team captain Chad Reed led the mix of 450cc and 250cc bikes into the first turn, claiming the holeshot and early lead. In the early portions of the race, Russian rider Evgeny Bobryshev and American Ryan Dungey battled for the runner-up spot, with German Ken Roczen just behind the two. Both eventually got around Bobryshev, whose team manager said that he did not expect the recently injured rider to keep the rapid pace for the entire day. Dungey would trail Reed as they picked their way through lapped riders and a midrace rainstorm, both ditching their goggles near the halfway mark. As Reed began to pull away from Dungey, Roczen began to reel in the second place rider and ultimately made a pass, a finish that made him the highest placing MX2 rider of the weekend.
For a moment, the British duo of Tommy Searle and Dean Wilson held the overall lead, as Searle’s fourth place finish and Wilson’s ninth made them the only two riders of the same team in the top ten. Matt Moss’ nineteenth would offset Reed’s win, Daniel Sigel’s 28th would affect Roczen’s runner up finish, and Baggett’s seventeenth would be the dropped score for the US.
Italy’s Antonio Cairoli would have issues from the very beginning, crashing on the inside berm of the first turn and again just a few laps later, tearing the handlebars from the top of the triple clamp assembly and ending his first moto of the day. Italy’s bad luck would not end there, as MX2/Lites rider Alessandro Lupino would also DNF, effectively knocking the Italian team out of contention.
| RESULTS 1. Chad Reed 2. Ken Roczen 3. Ryan Dungey 4. Tommy Searle 5. Tyla Rattray 6. Tanel Leok 7. Jonathon Barragan 8. Marvin Musquin 9. Dean Wilson 10. Joel Roelants 11. Christophe Pourcel 12. Rui Goncalves 13. Yoshitaka Atsuta 14. Annti Pyrhonen 15. Filip Neugebauer 16. Marvin Van Daele 17. Blake Baggett 18. Priit Ratsep 19. Matt Moss 20. Jeremy Seewer |
TAGS: blake baggett, dirt bikes, france, Monster energy, motocross des nations, Motocross of Nations, mxdn, MXon, ryan dungey, ryan villopoto
