Friday Kickstart – Monster Energy Motocross of Nations

As is the case every year, the Team USA press conference was the most popular and well attended of all the teams.

This is team captain Ryan Dungey’s fourth MXoN and he is bringing a lot of knowledge to the table. When asked if winning on the difficult sands of Lommel would out weigh his other wins, Ryan said that his team’s victory at the 2009 MXoN in Italy will probably always be the sweetest.

This is Blake Baggett’s second Motocross of Nations, and he is exuding a calm, cool, and collected attitude.

With two riders that have already been to the MXoN on the team roster, it’s easy to look at Team USA’s MX3 rider Justin Barcia as the wild card. But keep in mind that when he rode a 450 during select rounds of last year’s outdoor national tour, he contended for wins and podium finishes. “I enjoy riding the 450,” Barcia said of his new bike. “It suits my style better than the 250 does.”

Home team Belgium is a favorite this weekend, and for good reason. All three riders are very strong in the deep Lommel sand. “I remember coming to this race at Lommel when I was 12 years old and our team lost,” Team Manager Joel Smets said of the race. “I was devastated. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen this weekend.”

Last year’s third place overall team was Team Australia, and this year they had to pull together three relatively unknown riders to represent the country. With Chad Reed, Michael Byrne, and Brett Metcalfe all sidelined with injuries, Lawson Bopping, Luke Styke, and Todd Waters will be holding it down for the Aussis.