MXoN Qualifying

Chris

October 03 2009
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With thousands of people lining the outer rim of the Autodromo di Franciacorta track, 36 countries lined up at gates for qualifying this afternoon. With the hometown fans as their support, the Italian squad definitely had the advantage. It also helped they have a healthy Antonio Cairoli and David Philippaerts. On the other side of the spectrum, the young U.S. squad (other than veteran Ivan Tedesco), lined up with the typical pressure the U.S. seems to hold at all Motocross of Nations on recent history. With a 31st gate pick, the U.S. had their work cut out for them from the get-go. It would take excellent starts from all three riders to be contenders against the strong Italian, French, Australian, and Belgian teams. The format goes a bit like this: all three classes race one 20-minute-plus-two-laps qualifier and then the team takes the top two finishes. In the US’ case, they went 5-8-5, so they dropped the 8 for a 5-5 finish. Before the motos, gates are picked at random out of a spinning cage full of balls… yes, just like Powerball in the 80s. Team USA lucked out with a 31st gate pick where all three racers would have to start throughout the day–not a great way to kick things off.
When all was said and done, the local Italian boys took the top qualifying spot (1-1) followed by France (1-2) and Belgium (2-3). Great Britain (2-4) and Australia (3-4) also snuck into the top five, leaving the U.S. to work with a sixth-place qualifying spot. Here’s how it went down:

Open Class MX1
As the gate dropped for the first time at the 2009 Motocross of Nations, Great Britain’s Billy MacKenzie inched out the holeshot with Australia’s Chad Reed, Belgium’s Clement DeSalle, and hometown hero Antonio Cairoli close behind. Reed immediately went to work clawing at MacKenzie’s rear tire, while DeSalle paced Reed. Before Reed could put the move on MacKenzie, however, DeSalle made his own way around Reed. Meanwhile, USA’s Ryan Dungey was mired way back in the pack after getting a bad start out of the 31st gate. Nearly 14th, Dungey had his work cut out for him after the first lap. With Dungey nowhere in sight, Cairoli started to move in on DeSalle. The crowd roared as Cairoli zipped by the Belgian. From there the Italian Stallion was in striking distance of the Brit, Billy MacKenzie. Before long, the crowd ignited once again as Cairoli took over the lead from MacKenzie. With the wind out of his sails, MacKenzie began to fade, leaving the door open for DeSalle and Reed to take over second and third; MacKenzie would eventually end up 13th. Dungey, on the other hand, went to opposite direction as the Brit. Nearly every lap, Dungey made up a position. When the checkers flew, Dungey made his way all the way back to fifth. Not bad for his first few laps outside of America. The longtime GP veteran, Josh Coppins, also put in an impressive performance running up front all moto and scoring a top-five finish of his own.

RESULTS (Top 20)

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA)
2. Clement DeSalle (BEL)
3. Chad Reed (AUS)
4. Josh Coppins (NZL)
5. Ryan Dungey (USA)
6. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA)
7. Steve Frossard (FRA)
8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP)
9. Julien Bill (SUI)
10. Evgeny Bobrysehev (RUS)
11. Aigar Leok (EST)
12. Antti Pyrhonen (FIN)
13. Billy MacKenzie (GBR)
14. Luis Correia (POR)
15. Andreas Hultman (SWE)
16. Nicolai Hansen (DEN)
17. Martin Kohut (SVK)
18. Mike Kras (NED)
19. Ivo Steinbergs (LAT)
20. Gordon Crockcard (IRL)