Check out the comments from many of the leading riders from last weekends MXoN. A big day for France, Italy and Holland. More comments later.

Jeffrey Herlings: “Me and Glenn did a great job. I won my first moto and he went 1-1: we deserved to win and it was a shame we didn’t get the results with our MX2 rider. We were so close but Team France were the best today and we should respect that. I want to thank Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for the whole season; they did an incredible job. I also want to thank the Dutch Federation for being behind us. We had a great weekend and some great days here. I’m happy to finish off the season. Next year it will be at Assen and home soil and if Glenn has the same breakfast and we get another result then we can definitely go for the win. It has been a good day.”

 

Calvin Vlaanderen: “Being disappointed is an understatement, of course, but there is nothing we can do about it. It was a difficult moto until it lasted, but then being ruled out of the second race was a massive blow. Hopefully it’s nothing serious but we’ll see tomorrow what the specialists will say; in the meantime, I’ll try to stay as calm and positive as I can, even though it won’t be an easy task. Hats off and congratulations to Jeffrey and Glenn for their results today, they rode amazing.”

 

Glenn Coldenhoff: “This definitely feels good and going 1-1 at the Motocross of Nations is kinda crazy. I have no words. I think this is a great and beautiful track and the conditions were great. It is just a shame for Calvin; he could have finished in the top fifteen easily in the first moto but there were some issues and then he couldn’t start the second one. It has still been a great day to be up here [on the podium] and congratulations to the other teams. We were the strongest today. I loved being out here.”

 

Gautier Paulin: “It is an incredible feeling to win the MXoN with Team France for a fifth time in a row. I really have no words to describe how happy I am. Conditions were far from ideal during the whole weekend here at Red Bud, but we made things work to our advantage. I gave my best in both motos and kept pushing until the very end. A special thanks to all the members of my Rockstar Energy Husqvarna team. Winning this trophy with Team France is the best way to wrap up a long season.”

 

Dylan Ferrandis:  “I was really happy ride here in the USA and to test my speed against the rest of the world. I knew the track before I came here but it was quite a bit different to what it is like at the AMA Nationals. It was a lot softer and different in some areas. I didn’t feel amazing today, it was difficult to race two back-to-back races, I needed to try to preserve my bike because the track was really rutty and really deep. It is awesome to be on Team France and to represent my country and it is an awesome weekend to end with the win. ”

 

Antonio Cairoli: “We are very happy to be on the podium. It is amazing actually because last week [after the Imola crash] we did not expect to be here. We had a strong race and both days I felt good on the RedBud track. We could have won and we ‘had the cards’ to do it but I threw it away in the first moto with a crash and Alessandro also in his first race. It’s bad when you lose by only a few points but this is the Motocross of Nations – the best race of the year – and we are very happy to be on the podium. It was a good end to an amazing season. Congratulations to France for a strong race and to Holland also, a shame about the bad luck. This [the results] is good for European motocross and we are proud of our series. Thanks to everybody and to Youthstream for organising a great event again.”

 

Alessandro Lupino: I’m really happy with this podium for Italy, event if we have little pain in the stomach because Cairoli and I each made a mistake in our first motos and that cost us probably the win! On the other hand we were also lucky as many things happened with this weather, but missing the victory by two points is difficult to accept! We have to be happy, because seven days ago we were not even sure to come as both Antonio and I were injured and we have ended the weekend on the podium. Last week everyone in the team was crying, and today everyone is laughing! I want to thanks the federation and my team Gebben Van Venrooy Kawasaki, also my coach Christian Ravaglia who helped me a lot. We have had a good season together and we’re confident for next season, but now it’s time for some holidays with my family in Corsica and Sicilia after a long season as I had thirty-two races on my schedule this year.”

 

Jorge Prado: “It was a great weekend. It was nice coming here as the new World Champion in MX2. I enjoyed today even if the track was tough but I had two good starts – which is pretty cool on an MX2 bike. I was leading that first moto for twenty minutes…I’m really happy. This is the second year I win the Ricky Carmichael Award so I want to say thanks to the team and also to Team Spain. We did a good job coming here and we were near the top.”

 

Max Anstie: “The MXoN is always a special race and this year was no different. Last year things went great for me, this time it was a little harder. Free practice was good, then GB got 20th gate pick for qualification and I went down in the first turn of my race. My first moto today was tough but to end the event with a solid second moto result of sixth is really pleasing. Congratulations to Gautier and Team France.”

 

Tommy Searle: “It was a consistent day. I felt really comfortable on the track all day, everything went good and the atmosphere in Team Great Britain is very relax. It’s a very good track for me actually; in the race I just lost a bit of vision with steamed-up goggles but I think everyone had this problem and as the bike was getting hot in the mud I managed the bike during the last few laps. The track is great; hopefully we’ll have no rain tomorrow so we can have a good day’s racing. The start remains important and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow! It was great to see so many British fans around the track; I don’t know how many there are but it’s crazy!”

 

Hunter Lawrence” “I’m really happy with how this whole weekend went. I knew that it would be a track that I’d like and that the conditions would really suit my style and that’s exactly how it turned out. To come second in the second moto, on a Honda CRF250 up against the 450 riders was a really pleasing achievement and it was great it helped Australia achieve a fourth place overall. I thought coming into this event that a top five was possible so to one better was really cool. I really had a great time all weekend and it was awesome to show my speed on the biggest stage of them all.”

 

Colton Facciotti: “The weekend was pretty unbelieveable! We had lots of fans come from Canada, which created a completely different atmosphere for us. I’ve done five or six of these races before, but this was by far tops them all. The fans were crazy and that helped out on the track for sure. I got ninth one moto which I think is my best finish ever and then I had some difficulties in race two but all in all I had a great weekend and I couldn’t be happier.”

 

Ken Roczen: “Today was pretty frustrating and I’m definitely disappointed. This is the first time I’ve raced for Germany at the Motocross of Nations in a long time and I didn’t deliver the results I was expecting to. I shouldn’t be out there getting those results The conditions weren’t ideal at all, but I also just struggled all weekend with the bike setup. Either way, I’m happy to be leaving healthy and wrapping up this season. I’m looking forward to refining and building for 2019.”

 

Ben Watson: “I’ve had a really fun weekend. This was my first experience at the Motocross of Nations and it has been incredible. As a team in the first race, we decided to put me in 27th gate-pick so I had a horrible start and got involved in a first turn pile-up. It was nice to start on the inside in the second race. I got a third place start and stayed there for the entire race, following Prado for most of the race. I was over the moon with a fourth place finish in that race and how my riding was this weekend.”

 

Jeremy Van Horebeek: “The ‘Nations is always a really crazy race. I had a good race in the qualifying heat yesterday, but today was just not my day. We had a lot of rain, so the track was really deep and gnarly, and we had quite a bad gate-pick so I didn’t start good in either of the races. I just ate a lot of roost, but it is what it is.”

 

Jeremy Seewer: “We only had two riders on Team Switzerland this weekend, so a total disaster for the team, but I am happy that my teammate is actually okay after such a heavy fall. I had pretty good ride in the first race, I had good speed and I put some good laps together but I couldn’t really find that last bit. I struggled a little bit with my suspension, and finished fifth. In the last race I had a good start and after 3 laps I went half a meter off track and got stuck in the mud and then had a big crash and had to stop the race.”

 

Kevin Windham: “Being apart of team Puerto Rico for this Motocross of Nations was completely different than anything I’ve ever done before. It was amazing to say the least. I’ve been removed from the sport for some time, Travis has been away, Sipes still rides a lot and is pretty active but we didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to ride the Motocross of Nations here in the United States. We are all so glad we did though. It was such an awesome welcome by all the crowd, they were behind all around the track and they appreciated the fact that we were doing our best. And that’s what it was all about really, the other times I’ve been involved we went out to win. I wish I was in better shape and I wish I was a bit younger but that’s just the way it goes. I still had an absolute blast anyway.”

 

Calvin Vlaanderen: Being disappointed is an understatement, of course, but there is nothing we can do about it. It was a difficult moto until it lasted, but then being ruled out of the second race was a massive blow. Hopefully it’s nothing serious but we’ll see tomorrow what the specialists will say; in the meantime, I’ll try to stay as calm and positive as I can, even though it won’t be an easy task. Hats off and congratulations to Jeffrey and Glenn for their results today, they rode amazing.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.