The Motocross des Nations is an event with a long and storied history. Each year many nations sent their best three person team to qualify and race against the best in the world. Each rider competes on a specific size of machine. In the old days of two strokes it was the 125, 250 and 500 classes. In today's four stroke world it is MX1 (450F), MX2 (250F) and MX3 (Open) classes.

The first official Motocross des Nations was held in 1947. Over the years the format has gone through some changes with additions of different classes. But the MXdN has remained relatively unchanged since 1996 with the exception of the change from two stroke to four stroke classifications.

	Photo: Michael Mansfield

In the last few years this event had begun to fall out of favor with riders and teams in America due to the costs and difficulties of traveling to distant parts of the world and the inconvenience of losing valuable testing time ahead of the US Open and the next year's Supercross season.

A few riders have always been vocal in their support of the MXdN and are always willing to go, but putting a winning team together and making all of the necessary arrangements doesn't always work out. Last year (2004) was a great example as the US failed to send a team to the MXdN. The previous year (2003) the US failed to win due to mechanical problems on Ryan Hughes' bike. In 2002 the MXdN itself was cancelled due to the fiasco with Competition Park in Southern California. The race was replaced by a hastily organized World Cup at Glen Helen, which was truly an epic event, but wasn't the MXdN. In 2001 Team USA couldn't travel because of the events of 9/11. And 2000 marked the last US Victory in the MXdN, with courageous rides by Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana and Ryan Hughes.

The reason that the US was able to put together a team this year is, in large part, due to the perseverance of Ricky Carmichael. RC has always been a big supporter of Team USA competing in the MXdN. His only stipulation is that the US needs to make an effort to send their best team. RC's goal is to win, and he wants to put together the best possible team. RC is always the first guy to step up to the plate and volunteer for the MXdN

The Broadband MXdN Experience Photo: Karl Ockert If you consider yourself a true motocross fan and you have a broadband connection, stop reading the main article now and go directly to the sidebar. If you don't already know what happened on 9/25 in Ernee, I don't want to ruin it for you. If you are stuck with a dial-up connection, then please continue with the main article, the sidebar will only lead to a case of broadband envy.

There was plenty of drama surrounding the formation of Team USA this year, but in the end a team was fielded that truly represented the best that America had to offer. With the issues of the past being put behind them, Team USA headed for Ernee, France with something to prove, and prove it they did.

The MXdN consists of a three Moto format. On Saturday everyone races to qualify their team for the event. Once the qualifying teams are determined, each qualified rider gets ready for two Motos on Sunday. The Motos are run with mixed classes. In Moto 1 the MX1 (250/450F) riders race with the MX2 (125/250F) riders. In Moto 2 the MX2 and MX3 (Open) riders race together. Then in Moto 3 the MX1 and MX3 riders take to the track en masse.

Scoring is based on finishing position, so each rider adds one point to the team's total for every position back that they finish. So, first place gets one point, second gets 2 points, and so on. The team with the lowest score at the end of the event is the winner of the Trophy des Nations.

Moto 1 - MX1/MX2

Everyone in Ernee was there to see Ricky Carmichael. Carmichael has won all of his Motos in his last two trips to Europe. While the debate about whether Stephan Everts or RC is better has been tempered somewhat by those past victories, there are still the European hopeful that want to see the two run head to head. Despite any hard feelings that the fans may have about RC's past dominance, they are fans of motocross first and foremost. Based on the crowd's reaction, RC is as well loved in Europe as he is in America.

Antti Pyrhonen, FIN - Marc de Reuver, NED - Ricky Carmichael, USA - David Vuillemin, FRA - Kevin Strijbos, BEL Photo: R. Archer

As Moto 1 came off the line it was once again Ricky Carmichael out in front with the holeshot. By the third lap RC had a ten second lead and would continue to stretch it out throughout the Moto. Tedesco, on the other hand, came out of the first turn in around 9th position and would work his way up to 6th by the finish.

The battle that everyone was hoping to see between Everts and Carmichael never materialized as Everts suffered from a very poor start and was only able to make his way up to 5th by the finish. The real battle was for 2nd as Mickael Pichon and Josh Coppins put on a show throughout most of the Moto.

Towards the end of the race Sebastian Tortelli, on his new European KTM ride, was able to put pressure on Tedesco, but Tedesco managed to hold him off. In the end it was Ricky Carmichael, Josh Coppins, Mickael Pichon, Tanel Leok, Stefan Everts, Ivan Tedesco, Sebastian Tortelli, Marc deReuver, Steve Ramon and Billy Mackenzie for the top ten.

S?bastien Tortelli, France Photo: R. Archer

Moto 2 - MX2/MX3

With Kevin Windham riding the MX3 class, all eyes were on him for the second Moto. There has been a lot of talk about how much better AMA riders are than FIM riders over the last few years, and now would be the time that everyone would see what the second best rider in the AMA Premier class had for the best of the FIM.

As the pack roared towards the first turn, Windham pulled hard to the inside to claim the holeshot. Within a few turns Windham had put a gap between himself and the rest of the field and it looked like he would run away with it.

Further back in the field New Zealand's Ben Townley was tearing through the pack. Townley went down early in the moto while overtaking David Vuillemin, but bounced back up and continued his charge. Townley is coming to America next season and will be riding a Kawasaki 250F for Mitch Payton's Pro Circuit squad.

New Zealander Ben Townley distancing Canada's Blair Morgan Photo: R. Archer

By the end of the second lap Windham had a six second lead, but Townley was once again closing on Vuillemin again and was looking to take over 2nd.

Tedesco had suffered a midpack start and was running in 14th at the end of the third lap, but a fall in the fifth lap dropped him several positions and he would only be able to get back up to 17th by the end of the Moto.

At the end of the fifth lap Windham was sporting a ten second lead and all signs were pointing to another route by an American. Windham's lead slowly began to shrink over the next couple of laps once Townley was able to get past Vuillemin. Then on the ninth lap Windham went down and ended up dropping the lead to Townley.

Windham looked a little bit shaky at this point and before the ninth lap was over he had bobbled again and nearly gotten stuck in a snow fence lining the track. At this point Vuillemin was able to get by. Windham rode the next few laps like he was either nursing himself or the bike along, but by the end seemed to get back up to full speed. Unfortunately, on the eleventh lap, Windham dropped two more positions to 5th.

At this point the standings seemed to stabilize and the finishing order was Ben Townley, David Vuillemin, Steve Ramon, David Philippaerts, Kevin Windham, Kevin Strijbos, Francisco Garcia Vico, Mark Ristori, Yoshitaka Atsuta and Mattie Seistola. Townley had put in a very impressive ride and was clearly the fastest rider on the track. Vuillemin had also put in a very strong ride, especially considering that he was reportedly running a stock Yamaha engine.

Moto 3 MX1/MX3

	Photo: Michael Mansfield

The third and final Moto was now much anticipated. With Townley's speed in Moto 2 and the chance for Everts to get a good start, the crowd was eager with anticipation. Apparently Kevin Windham had suffered some mechanical damage to his bike in Moto 2, and with a limited amount of time between Motos it was all hands on deck in the American pits as everyone pitched in to try and repair Windham's bike.

As the gate dropped on the final Moto of the day, it was once again RC with a good start and Everts with a poor start. The battle that we would all like to see would once again have to wait. By the end of the first lap RC and Windham were running 1-2, but by the end of the second lap Townley had passed Windham and begun to build his own gap.

As the race progressed, RC was only able to put about a half-second per lap on Townley, which is less than anyone has seen all season for Carmichael. This continued lap after lap, all of the way to the end of the Moto with RC and Townley running 1-2 all of the way to the end.

What was really interesting was that Windham and Pichon were running the fastest laps at the end of the Moto. As the two neared the end of the Moto, Pichon began to catch Windham and Windham turned it up in order to hold off Pichon. At one point Pichon had nearly closed on Windham, but as the two began to lap Juss Laansoo, Laansoo decided that he didn't want to get passed by Pichon and ended up holding him back. Windham was able to put a gap between himself and Pichon.

Then, to add insult to injury, Josh Coppins managed to catch and pass Pichon towards the end of the last lap. At the end of the Moto it was Carmichael, Townley, Windham, Coppins, Pichon, deRerver, Vuillemin, Strijbos, Everts and Tanel Leok for the top ten.

Wrap Up

Team USA took the Trophy des Nations with strong rides by each member of the team. RC was his usual dominant self, Ivan Tedesco rode hard and finished well despite some rough moments in Moto 2, and Kevin Windham overcame crashes and bike problems to pull out two very respectable finishes. With this victory Team USA is now tied with Great Britain for the most MXdN wins (16 each).

	Photo: Michael Mansfield

Unfortunately, the RC/Everts battle that everyone wanted to see didn't materialize, so the debate will continue about who is the fastest rider on the planet. Although the last time I checked, getting a good start is a part of motocross racing, so for most of us I think the question has been answered definitively. RC is the GOAT, no matter where the race is held.

The most impressive show was perhaps the one put on by Ben Townley, who certainly made a great first impression with both of his rides today. This should fuel the anticipation for seeing him race in his AMA debut in the Lites class.

In the end it was another epic event, with an incredible crowd at an incredible facility in Ernee, France. C'est la Vie...