2019 Motocross Of Nations | Saturday Race Report & Highlights

2019 MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The stage is set for the 2019 Motocross of Nations. On Saturday afternoon, riders filed into the starting gates at TT Circuit Assen for the qualifying motos that determine the gate picks for Sunday’s championship races. It was an eventful day in every way, as rain fell for short period of times in all three motos and different countries held the top honors at various points in the day.

MXGP QUALIFYING MOTO REPORT & RESULTS

Jeremy Seewer showed his speed the moment the gate hit the ground. The Team Switzerland rider snagged the holeshot, but was bested by Jorge Prado at the exit of the first turn. The opening three laps were led by the young rider from Team Spain, a remarkable feat for his first pro race on the 450cc bike. Unfortunately for Prado and the Spanish team, a mistake on lap three put him on the ground and dropped him down the running order; he quickly remounted and finished the race in a fourth place,

With Prado down, the race was left to Seewer. For ten laps, the Swiss racer kept a sizable distance between himself and Team Slovenia’s Tim Gajser, then took the Qualifying Moto win by over seven-seconds. Seewer’s win wasn’t just luck; a look at the lap times show he was the second-fastest rider on the track (Prado was the only person with a better time).

Gajser’s finish was critical for Team Slovenia’s advancement into Sunday’s A Finals, but Gajser has a better chance of taking an individual overall win than the small country does of hoisting the Chamberlain Trophy.

Team Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek was quick and in control of his spot through the full duration of the race. His third-place finish wound up being massive to the team later in the day.

Widely considered the rider to beat ahead of the event, Jeffrey Herlings did not have the race he or Team The Netherlands expected. A poor start put him deep in the field and it took a lot of time for the sand specialist to make passes. Once Herlings found his tempo, he tore through the pack and reached the fifth place at the checkered flag. Herlings’ best lap, by the way, happened on lap 10 of the 13 lap race; most other rider’s happened within the first two or three laps, when the track was smoother.

Jason Anderson made massive changes to his motorcycle between practice and the race (triple clamp, shock setting, tires, gearing, etc), all of which paid off for Team USA. Anderson worked his way into the top-ten in the early laps and diced with a handful of MXGP riders over the course of the race. He was passed by Prado and Herlings in the closing laps but still claimed sixth place.

Gautier Paulin was never a major factor in the qualifying race, which was a surprise for Team France. Yes, he stayed out of trouble and didn’t seem to have any major issues, but it wasn’t the wins we’ve come to expect from the French team captain. He ended the race in eighth place.

Sweden’s Filip Bengtsson, Great Britain’s Nathan Watson, Italy’s Ivo Monticelli, and Australia’s Dean Ferris all finished in top-10 spots.

Akira Narita went down in the race and was unable due to a knee injury. It’s uncertain if he will take part on Sunday.

MX2 QUALIFYING MOTO REPORT & RESULTS

When Justin Cooper logged the fastest lap in the morning free practice, it became clear that the MX2 category was going to be a tough one to predict. Many had assumed that the MXON rookie would need time to adjust to the event and the sand, but he claimed the holeshot from an outside gate due to Team USA’s thirty-first pick and led every lap to a dominant win. This was key for Team USA in the Saturday’s overall results and established Cooper as a contender for an individual overall win.

Calvin Vlaanderen made a few runs at Cooper over the course of the race, but was never able to close the gap enough for a pass attempt. The second-place finish by Vlaanderen was still very important to Team The Netherlands’ overall score on Saturday, as it was the best result by any of the Dutch trio. 

The biggest surprise of the MX2 race was Kyle Webster. A virtual unknown to anyone not from Down Under, the Team Australia rider hustled on the sand and snagged a third-place finish. 

Jago Geerts was fourth to the finish line, which is a solid result on its own in any race. But it was the “worst” score on the day Team Belgium and was dropped from the final tally, which shows how much room the Belgians have to work with on Sunday.

Alberto Forato was another surprise in the MX2 race, as few expected the Team Italy rider from being a fifth-place finisher. Forato kept clear of the issues that others experienced, which made up for the fact that his best lap time was a few seconds slower than those around him.

OPEN QUALIFYING MOTO REPORT & RESULTS

Pauls Jonass is known for having solid sand skills and his performance in the Open Qualifying Moto might be one of his best rides years. Jonass locked on the rear fender of Kevin Strijbos in the early laps and pounced with a pass for the lead when the opportunity was there. Jonass worked hard to keep Strijbos behind for the rest of the race and took the Moto win, which was huge for Team Latvia. With the combined scores of all three riders, Latvia was sixth overall on the day, a best in the country’s history at the event.

As for Kevin Strijbos, this race will certainly be one he and Team Belgium remember for years to come. This weekend could be the final race of Strijbos’ long career and he went out with a fight for the top spot in a competitive race. With this second-place finish paired to Van Horebeek’s third-place and Geert’s dropped fourth-place, Team Belgium was the overall winner of Saturday’s portion of the weekend and will have first and twenty-first gate pick in Sunday’s championship motos.

Glenn Coldenhoff was far from the front duo in the day’s last race, but his third-place score was more than enough Team The Netherlands. With Herlings’ score dropped, the host nation technically tied on points with Belgium, but Belgium’s 3-4-2 were better than The Netherlands’ 5-2-3, and that was the decider.

Zach Osborne was caught up in the pack at the start of the race and this set the tempo for the Team USA rider through the moto. Although he eventually got into the top-ten, eighth to be exact, his score was the worst of the Americans and was dropped from the final results. With this, Team USA has gate picks three and twenty-three on Sunday.