Blow by blow recaps from each race at MXoN 2023 with images

MXoN 2023

Images by Alex Kelly

The 2023 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations saw a hundred of thousand fans converge upon the historic track of Ernée to be treated to an awesome spectacle of top level racing.

Race 1 (MXGP + MX2)

Romain Febvre and Jorge Prado went at it hammer and tong right from the off when racing got underway in the opening race of the event, the combined MXGP and MX2 contest.

Prado tried to break away but Febvre hounded him. The Spaniard looked graceful and technically almost perfect, in contrast the Frenchman was full of wild aggression on the Kawasaki and it was a sight to behold.

Behind that dynamic duo, Team Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer clung on to 3rd place until on Lap 8, when Team Germany’s Ken Roczen attacked him in a corner and snatched the last step of the podium from his grasp.  The German, who made a mistake a few moments later, lost this position, but then in a new battle with Seewer, he finally got it back.

Fortunes ebbed and flowed up front between Febvre and Prado. The Spaniard was in front with three laps to go and just when it looked like the race was his, the Frenchman was back all guns blazing.

Febvre getting the upper had and taking the first victory for the day.

Jett Lawrence made a mistake early on that saw him go down before rejoining at the back of the field.

The young Aussie scythed his way through the field on what was in many places quite a narrow track, making pass after pass to work his way up to sixth place by the chequered flag.

His brother Hunter, on a CRF250R, came home tenth, the second MX2 class machine home.

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Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) – Classification

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Febvre, Romain	Kawasaki	35m22.325
2	Prado, Jorge	GASGAS	0m02.320
3	Roczen, Ken	Suzuki	0m26.166
4	Seewer, Jeremy	Yamaha	0m28.846
5	Plessinger, Aaron	KTM	0m30.267
6	Lawrence, Jett	Honda	0m33.837
7	Gajser, Tim	Honda	0m33.940
8	Vialle, Tom	KTM	0m41.304
9	Geerts, Jago	Yamaha	0m43.080
10	Lawrence, Hunter	Honda	0m43.887
11	de Wolf, Kay	Husqvarna	0m54.864
12	Forato, Alberto	KTM	0m56.145
13	Jonass, Pauls	Honda	1m01.039
14	Laengenfelder, Simon	GASGAS	1m02.144
15	Vlaanderen, Calvin	Yamaha	1m09.490
16	Hampshire, RJ	Husqvarna	1m22.933
17	Watson, Ben	Beta	1m24.816
18	Adamo, Andrea	KTM	1m25.465
19	Coenen, Lucas	Husqvarna	1m29.947
20	Talviku, Jorgen-Matthias	Husqvarna	1m55.591
21	Gilbert, Josh	Honda	1 lap
22	Mc Lellan, Camden	Honda	1 lap
23	Östlund, Alvin	Honda	1 lap
24	Oliver, Oriol	KTM	1 lap
25	Pancar, Jan	KTM	1 lap
26	Cooper, Cody	GASGAS	1 lap
27	Tonus, Arnaud	Yamaha	1 lap
28	Weckman, Emil	Honda	1 lap
29	Leok, Tanel	Husqvarna	1 lap
30	Mikula, Julius	Yamaha	1 lap
31	Durow, Cameron Anthony	KTM	1 lap
32	Lima, Eduardo	Husqvarna	1 lap
33	Bengtsson, Filip	KTM	1 lap
34	Scott, James	Yamaha	1 lap
35	Bresolin, Guilherme	Yamaha	1 lap
36	Sihvonen, Miro	Husqvarna	1 lap
37	Kovar, Vaclav	KTM	2 laps
38	Toendel, Cornelius	Honda	4 laps
39	Reisulis, Janis Martins	Yamaha	14 laps
40	Horgmo, Kevin	Kawasaki	18 laps

Race 2 (MX2 + Open)

The second bout saw MX2 competitors line up again but this time against ‘Open’ category riders.

Team Switzerland’s Valentin Guillod took the lead through the first corner and avoided a huge pile-up that left a dozen unfortunate riders behind.

Guillod barely had time to savour his start, as in the second corner, Team Spain’s Ruben Fernandez took the smile away from him by getting in front. That destabilised Seewer and Arnaud Tonus’s team-mate, who ended up on the ground a few metres later.

Behind, Team France’s Maxime Renaux took advantage of the Swiss rider’s rout to close on Fernandez. The French public’s favourite kept a close distance from the Spaniard and waited until Lap 10 to make a move on his rival. A first attempt was denied by Fernandez, but the next attempt was the winning one and Fernandez then crashed while trying to regain the advantage, slipping to seventh by the time the chequered flag came out.

Tom Vialle made it a Team France 1-2 that set up the hosts up for almost certain victory.

Meanwhile, the battle for the last step of the podium had been raging between Team Belgium’s Liam Everts and Team Italy’s Andrea Adamo. Usually KTM team-mates, the two young riders did not do each other any favours.

Adamo put a lot of pressure on the Belgian in the final minutes of the race, but the MX2 World Champion was unable to get the upper hand and Everts scored that third place.

Team Australia’s Hunter Lawrence completed the top five while countryman Dean Ferris carded a 12th place finish.

Race 2 (MX2 + Open) – Classification

Pos	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	Renaux, Maxime	Yamaha	34m00.428
2	Vialle, Tom	KTM	+0m00.882
3	Everts, Liam	KTM	+0m17.342
4	Adamo, Andrea	KTM	+0m20.937
5	Lawrence, Hunter	Honda	+0m30.599
6	Guillod, Valentin	Honda	+0m38.812
7	Fernandez, Ruben	Honda	+0m43.751
8	Bonacorsi, Andrea	Yamaha	+0m46.180
9	de Wolf, Kay	Husqvarna	+0m46.878
10	Hampshire, RJ	Husqvarna	+0m49.211
11	Laengenfelder, Simon	GASGAS	+1m00.484
12	Ferris, Dean	KTM	+1m21.091
13	Mc Lellan, Camden	Honda	+1m33.118
14	Pancar, Jan	KTM	+1m36.573
15	Gilbert, Josh	Honda	+1m39.265
16	Craig, Christian	Husqvarna	+1m41.602
17	Koch, Tom	KTM	1m42.488
18	Talviku, Jorgen-Matthias	Husqvarna	+1m43.806
19	Coenen, Lucas	Husqvarna	+1m44.089
20	Kullas, Harri	Yamaha	+1m45.640
21	Horgmo, Kevin	Kawasaki	+1m54.820
22	Oliver, Oriol	KTM	+1m56.834
23	Harwood, Hamish	KTM	+2m00.733
24	Tonus, Arnaud	Yamaha	+2m12.730
25	Mewse, Conrad	Honda	1 lap
26	Mikula, Julius	Yamaha	1 lap
27	Bresolin, Guilherme	Yamaha	1 lap
28	Reisulis, Janis Martins	Yamaha	1 lap
29	Reisulis, Karlis Alberts	Yamaha	1 lap
30	Scott, James	Yamaha	1 lap
31	Bengtsson, Filip	KTM	1 lap
32	Teresak, Jakub	Husqvarna	1 lap
33	Wright, Jesse	Yamaha	1 lap
34	Fredriksen, Hakon	Yamaha	2 laps
35	Bubnic, Miha	KTM	2 laps
36	Haavisto, Jere	KTM	10 laps
37	Santos, Fabio	Yamaha	10 laps
38	Weckman, Emil	Honda	12 laps

Race 3 (MXGP + Open)

The final round of the day saw the MXGP and Open classes battle it out.

Ken Roczen scored the holeshot ahead of Maxime Renaux and this time around there was no early mistake from Jett Lawrence and the young Australian was quickly on the hunt.

Jett quickly demoted Renaux to third place, the Frenchman already knowing that his team had the upper hand and were on course for victory as long as he did not do anything silly.

From then on it was the Ken and Jett show. Jett eventually taking the lead and then pulling away from the German to cross the line more than seven-seconds ahead, but with more speed up his sleeve should he have needed it.

Just outside the podium, Team Slovenia’s Tim Gajser struggled to get the better of Fernandez and made the pass on lap 3. However, the Slovenian was unable to hold on to 4th place, and had to give it up under pressure from Prado, the Spaniard claiming that fourth place finish.

Tim Gajser was fifth ahead of Jeremy Seewer and race one winner Romain Febvre, who knew he need only a medioce result in order for Team France to clinch the crown, and that they did.

Jett ending MXoN 2023 on a high note, but left with a taste of bitterness too for what might have been. He looked every bit the class of the field and showed Europe the kind of style that saw him dominate in America this season. That early race one mistake costing Jett the individual overall win in the MXGP category.

Dean Ferris crossed the line in 16th place ahead of well known names like Pauls Jonass along with Americans Aaron Plessinger and Christian Craig.

Race 3 (MXGP + Open) – Classification

Pos	Rider	Bike	Diff. First
1	Lawrence, Jett	Honda	35m25.550
2	Roczen, Ken	Suzuki	+0m07.295
3	Renaux, Maxime	Yamaha	+0m11.349
4	Prado, Jorge	GASGAS	+0m12.854
5	Gajser, Tim	Honda	+0m21.737
6	Seewer, Jeremy	Yamaha	+0m23.245
7	Febvre, Romain	Kawasaki	+1m01.929
8	Forato, Alberto	KTM	+1m05.270
9	Vlaanderen, Calvin	Yamaha	+1m13.321
10	Everts, Liam	KTM	+1m19.073
11	Bonacorsi, Andrea	Yamaha	+1m35.141
12	Kullas, Harri	Yamaha	+1m38.632
13	Watson, Ben	Beta	+1m39.967
14	Geerts, Jago	Yamaha	+1m50.556
15	Guillod, Valentin	Honda	+1m56.893
16	Ferris, Dean	KTM	+1m59.967
17	Jonass, Pauls	Honda	1 lap
18	Plessinger, Aaron	KTM	1 lap
19	Östlund, Alvin	Honda	1 lap
20	Craig, Christian	Husqvarna	1 lap
21	Leok, Tanel	Husqvarna	1 lap
22	Reisulis, Karlis Alberts	Yamaha	1 lap
23	Mewse, Conrad	Honda	1 lap
24	Toendel, Cornelius	Honda	1 lap
25	Koch, Tom	KTM	1 lap
26	Harwood, Hamish	KTM	1 lap
27	Kovar, Vaclav	KTM	1 lap
28	Fernandez, Ruben	Honda	1 lap
29	Lima, Eduardo	Husqvarna	1 lap
30	Wright, Jesse	Yamaha	1 lap
31	Durow, Cameron Anthony	KTM	2 laps
32	Cooper, Cody	GASGAS	2 laps
33	Sihvonen, Miro	Husqvarna	2 laps
34	Bubnic, Miha	KTM	3 laps
35	Teresak, Jakub	Husqvarna	15 laps
36	Santos, Fabio	Yamaha	18 laps

MXGP Overall

Pos	Rider	Nat	R1	R2	Total
1	Roczen, Ken	GER	3	2	5
2	Prado, Jorge	ESP	2	4	6
3	Lawrence, Jett	AUS	6	1	7
4	Febvre, Romain	FRA	1	7	8
5	Seewer, Jeremy	SUI	4	6	10
6	Gajser, Tim	SLO	7	5	12
7	Forato, Alberto	ITA	12	8	20
8	Geerts, Jago	BEL	9	14	23
9	Plessinger, Aaron	USA	5	18	23
10	Vlaanderen, Calvin	NED	15	9	24
11	Watson, Ben	GBR	17	13	30
12	Jonass, Pauls	LAT	13	17	30
13	Östlund, Alvin	SWE	23	19	42
14	Leok, Tanel	EST	29	21	50
15	Cooper, Cody	NZL	26	32	58
16	Lima, Eduardo	BRA	32	29	61
17	Toendel, Cornelius	NOR	38	24	62
18	Durow, Cameron Anthony	RSA	31	31	62
19	Kovar, Vaclav	CZE	37	27	64
20	Sihvonen, Miro	FIN	36	33	69

MX2 Overall

Pos	Rider	Nat	R1	R2	Total
1	Vialle, Tom	FRA	8	2	10
2	Lawrence, Hunter	AUS	10	5	15
3	de Wolf, Kay	NED	11	9	20
4	Adamo, Andrea	ITA	18	4	22
5	Laengenfelder, Simon	GER	14	11	25
6	Hampshire, RJ	USA	16	10	26
7	Mc Lellan, Camden	RSA	22	13	35
8	Gilbert, Josh	GBR	21	15	36
9	Talviku, Jorgen-Matthias	EST	20	18	38
10	Coenen, Lucas	BEL	19	19	38
11	Pancar, Jan	SLO	25	14	39
12	Oliver, Oriol	ESP	24	22	46
13	Tonus, Arnaud	SUI	27	24	51
14	Mikula, Julius	CZE	30	26	56
15	Horgmo, Kevin	NOR	40	21	61
16	Bresolin, Guilherme	BRA	35	27	62
17	Scott, James	NZL	34	30	64
18	Bengtsson, Filip	SWE	33	31	64
19	Weckman, Emil	FIN	28	38	66
20	Reisulis, Janis Martins	LAT	39	28	67

Open Overall

Pos	Rider	Nat	R1	R2	Total
1	Renaux, Maxime	FRA	1	3	4
2	Everts, Liam	BEL	3	10	13
3	Bonacorsi, Andrea	ITA	8	11	19
4	Guillod, Valentin	SUI	6	15	21
5	Ferris, Dean	AUS	12	16	28
6	Kullas, Harri	EST	20	12	32
7	Fernandez, Ruben	ESP	7	28	35
8	Craig, Christian	USA	16	20	36
9	Koch, Tom	GER	17	25	42
10	Mewse, Conrad	GBR	25	23	48
11	Harwood, Hamish	NZL	23	26	49
12	Reisulis, Karlis Alberts	LAT	29	22	51
13	Wright, Jesse	RSA	33	30	63
14	Teresak, Jakub	CZE	32	35	67
15	Bubnic, Miha	SLO	35	34	69
16	Santos, Fabio	BRA	37	36	73
17	Fredriksen, Hakon	NOR	34	–	34
18	Haavisto, Jere	FIN	36	–	36

Final Standings MXGP 2023 Motocross of Nations

1. France 14
2. Australia 34
3. Italy 43
4. Germany 47
5. Belgium 55
6. Switzerland 55
7. Spain 59
8. USA 65
9. Slovenia 85
10. Great Britain 89
11. Estonia 91
12. Latvia 109
13. Rep. of South Africa 127
14. New Zealand 137
15. Czech Republic 150
16. Norway 157
17. Brazil 159
18. Finland 171