MXoN 2024
Images by Alex Kelly
History was made over the weekend, with the first ever victory for Team Australia at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, the 77th edition taking place at Matterley Basin, where the Aussie trio of Jett and Hunter Lawrence, plus Kyle Webster put in a stellar performance to fend off Team USA and the Netherlands for the overall.
The MXstore-backed Team Australia finished on 26 points, ahead of America (29), The Netherlands (36), Spain (45) and 2023 champion France (50).
In the individual standings, Tim Gasjer was the overall winner after two brilliant victories, ahead of Jett (1-2) and American Eli Tomac (Yamaha, 2-3). Jett’s final moto scrap with his fellow Honda factory rider Gasjer was brilliant, with the Slovenian pipping the Aussie by just 0.4 seconds. The winning margins in the other two motos were much more comfortable, with Jett winning the second by nearly eight seconds.
Jett Lawrence – Team Australia (Champions)
“The first one was nice and cruisy, the second one I didn’t get as good a start, made it exciting I had to get a really good flow going, reel the first boys in, but I got around Tim. But then he got payback from last year on the last lap, I got him on the last lap last year, he got me this time for a better position. But no, it was good, I’m more excited and happy for Australia man, as a first timer and I’m pumped we’re able to do that with these other guys. It’s just unreal.”
Kyle Webster – Team Australia (Champions)
“Well these two boys did something else in that second moto, that was something unreal, 100% big shout out to everyone at home, everyone who made it possible, the fundraisers, those who made it over here to show support, and to be part of it for the first time for Australia, that’s something else, I’m stoked.”
Hunter Lawrence – Team Australia (Champions)
“Good weekend, I couldn’t care less about my weekend right now, I can’t help but think of all the Australians back home, all the people following us, supporting us, staying up late, I think it’s late there, thank you to everyone who fundraised and got us here, we appreciate it, and we’re just so frigging pumped to get a gold plate for Australia for the first time ever.”
Eli Tomac – Team USA (P2)
“Of course we want the win, we did what we could, I’m proud of both these guys and we put in the fight, just a little bit short, overall a good weekend.”
Glenn Coldenhoff – Team Netherlands (P3)
“We were all quite on the ground, especially me the first lap in the second moto, made it very hard, but in the end we finished on the podium, I think that’s really positive for us.”
Jeffrey Herlings – Team Netherlands (P3)
“The end of the year and we won a lot this season and took a podium finish at the Nations. The goal was the world championship but that was not possible although I am pleased that I raced twenty GPs and I finished 59 motos. I want to thank the entire team for their hard work and their contribution to all of it.”
Kay de Wolf – Team Netherlands (P3)
“It was a tough but super fun weekend, and it all came down to the final race to get Team Netherlands onto the podium. We really gave it our all, and I’m super happy with the result. The atmosphere standing on the podium in front of the huge Motocross of Nations crowds was amazing. Wrapping up the season with another gold plate as the highest MX2 finisher is something very special. I’m very happy! A huge thank you to everyone in the team, my family, and friends for all their support… 2024 has truly been one for the record books!”
See the rest of the rider quotes below the overall results.
Race One – MXGP & MX2
It was a familiar picture for MXGP fans at the start of race one, as the machine of Team Spain’s Jorge Prado powered across the Fox Holeshot Award line to lead from Team Slovenia rider Tim Gajser, with Jeffrey Herlings in third for Team Netherlands.
Through the tricky downhill third corner and into a short but difficult double jump, Team USA’s Eli Tomac stuck his into fourth ahead of his old rival Team Germany’s Ken Roczen.
With his customary early-race intensity, the German megastar blitzed past the American, and then Herlings briefly, before the Dutchman took the place back. Before the end of the first full circuit, Gajser forced his machine around the outside of his season-long rival Prado to take the lead, and immediately started to pull away at the front.
With Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre closing in on the battle for third, Tomac moved Roczen aside, allowing the Frenchman up to fifth as they started lap two. He drew alongside Tomac as they dropped onto the start straight, but suddenly found a prone KTM in his path as Herlings spun to the floor, briefly holding up Febvre.
Among the riders suffering from poor starts were Team Australia Hunter Lawrence, the duo Max Anstie from Team GB and Team USA’s Cooper Webb. Sadly for the host nation, Anstie crashed in the waves and had to crawl off the track, and his day was over, as were the hopes of the British team for a repeat of their 2017 podium here.
One rider making waves was the leading MX2 pilot Lucas Coenen. The Team Belgium’s ider fought past Jeremy Seewer from Team Switzerland before putting an audacious move on Roczen and closing in on Prado.
As he attempted to make up for the lack of power with his smaller engine, the Belgian fell at the bottom of the final big uphill on lap 11 and rolled off the track in pain, holding his shoulder with a suspected broken collarbone. His day was also over.
Gajser controlled the race to win by nearly seven seconds from Tomac, and Febvre took third after passing Prado, who took fourth, on lap five. Herlings recovered to take fifth ahead of his Dutch teammate Kay de Wolf, the rider being the first 250 home and putting Team Netherlands in the lead at the end of race one.
Seewer took seventh ahead of Hunter Lawrence, who put on an impressive charge through the pack for eighth. Team Italy’s Alberto Forato had a great finish to the race by passing Roczen for ninth with three laps to go.
Webb recovered to 17th to put Team USA second in the standings, and Webster also backed up his teammate to put the Aussies in third.
Race One – MXGP & MX2 Results
Pos | Rider | Nat. | Bike | Diff. First |
1 | Gajser, Tim | SLO | Honda | 35:11.182 |
2 | Tomac, Eli | USA | Yamaha | 0:06.810 |
3 | Febvre, Romain | FRA | Kawasaki | 0:08.978 |
4 | Prado, Jorge | ESP | GASGAS | 0:18.038 |
5 | Herlings, Jeffrey | NED | KTM | 0:28.371 |
6 | de Wolf, Kay | NED | Husqvarna | 0:30.159 |
7 | Seewer, Jeremy | SUI | Kawasaki | 0:31.445 |
8 | Lawrence, Hunter | AUS | Honda | 0:42.032 |
9 | Forato, Alberto | ITA | Honda | 0:51.153 |
10 | Roczen, Ken | GER | Suzuki | 0:58.580 |
11 | Webster, Kyle | AUS | Honda | 1:06.146 |
12 | Reisulis, Karlis Alberts | LAT | Yamaha | 1:16.083 |
13 | Haarup, Mikkel | DEN | Triumph | 1:17.726 |
14 | Van doninck, Brent | BEL | Honda | 1:21.562 |
15 | Lopes, Enzo | BRA | Yamaha | 1:28.345 |
16 | Mc Lellan, Camden | RSA | Triumph | 1:36.277 |
17 | Webb, Cooper | USA | Yamaha | 1:36.655 |
18 | Laengenfelder, Simon | GER | GASGAS | 1:41.980 |
19 | Stauffer, Marcel | AUT | KTM | 1:42.465 |
20 | Horgmo, Kevin | NOR | Honda | 1:49.020 |
21 | Adamo, Andrea | ITA | KTM | 1:58.294 |
22 | Vialle, Tom | FRA | KTM | 2:05.056 |
23 | Searle, Tommy | GBR | Kawasaki | 2:10.338 |
24 | Pettis, Jess | CAN | KTM | 2:12.586 |
25 | Mikula, Julius | CZE | KTM | 1 lap |
26 | Oliver, Oriol | ESP | KTM | 1 lap |
27 | Tonus, Arnaud | SUI | Yamaha | 1 lap |
28 | Fredsoe, Mads | DEN | GASGAS | 1 lap |
29 | Polak, Petr | CZE | Yamaha | 1 lap |
30 | Pumpurs, Mairis | LAT | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
31 | Leok, Tanel | EST | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
32 | Eto Tiburcio, Bernardo | BRA | Honda | 1 lap |
33 | Krestinov, Gert | EST | Honda | 1 lap |
34 | Peklaj, Jaka | SLO | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
35 | Agard-Michelsen, Sander | NOR | Yamaha | 1 lap |
36 | Benoit, Kaven | CAN | KTM | 1 lap |
37 | Durow, Cameron Anthony | RSA | KTM | 1 lap |
38 | Sandner, Michael | AUT | KTM | 1 lap |
39 | Coenen, Lucas | BEL | Husqvarna | 5 laps |
40 | Anstie, Max | GBR | Yamaha | 9 laps |
Race Two – MX2 & Open
For the second race in succession it was a Spaniard who took the Fox Holeshot Award, as Ruben Fernandez blasted his Team HRC firebrand into an early lead ahead of the MX2 machines of Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing rider Simon Laengenfelder and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 machine of Karlis Reisulis, who had won the B-Final earlier in the day to help Team Latvia through into the main races.
Jett Lawrence was fourth ahead of Team USA’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Aaron Plessinger, before he suddenly burst through the two MX2 bikes to claim second halfway around the opening lap, and at the start of the first full circuit he blasted past his fellow Team HRC pilot to take a lead that he would never relinquish.
Battling with the 450 machines in dogged fashion was De Wolf, who passed Laengenfelder for third on lap four before falling short on a double jump and losing ground and positions.
He and Plessinger passed each other several times through the race, and while the top three of Lawrence, Fernandez, and Laengenfelder would hold position from lap eight onwards, Maxime Renaux fought forward to claim fourth for Team France and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.
De Wolf would ultimately claim fifth, and second MX2 rider in the race behind Laengenfelder. He had sealed the overall MX2 individual winner’s Gold Plate, ahead of the brilliant Reisulis, who finished in eighth ahead of Webb and the Monster Energy Triumph Racing pilot Mikkel Haarup.
Laengenfelder was third overall in MX2 behind Reisulis, who helped his country win the B-Final and to take tenth overall at the end of the day.
The ride of the race belonged to home hero Conrad Mewse, who got tangled in a first corner crash and was 24th by the start of the first full lap. The Crendon Tru7 Honda rider picked up places at the rate of at least one a lap by half distance to get up to eighth, before passing a tired Reisulis and perhaps his biggest scalp of the day, American star Plessinger, to finish the race in sixth. It was the stand-out moment of the day for the home nation’s fans, even taking into account Jett Lawrence’s near eight-second advantage over Fernandez at the front.
At this stage Team Netherlands still held the lead despite a P18 finish for Fantic Factory Racing veteran Coldenhoff, but Team USA were just a point behind, with Team Australia in third.
France held fourth as Saturday winner Tom Vialle scored a disappointing 12-22 Sunday for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Spain was a little further back in fifth, but had a 26-point finish to drop from WZ Racing KTM rider Oriol Oliver, so were still very much in the hunt.
Race Two – MX2 & Open Results
Pos | Rider | Nat. | Bike | Diff. First |
1 | Lawrence, Jett | AUS | Honda | 36:14.723 |
2 | Fernandez, Ruben | ESP | Honda | 0:07.919 |
3 | Laengenfelder, Simon | GER | GASGAS | 0:10.438 |
4 | Renaux, Maxime | FRA | Yamaha | 0:12.162 |
5 | de Wolf, Kay | NED | Husqvarna | 0:29.029 |
6 | Mewse, Conrad | GBR | KTM | 0:35.536 |
7 | Plessinger, Aaron | USA | KTM | 0:37.007 |
8 | Reisulis, Karlis Alberts | LAT | Yamaha | 0:41.572 |
9 | Webb, Cooper | USA | Yamaha | 0:43.286 |
10 | Haarup, Mikkel | DEN | Triumph | 0:43.325 |
11 | Geerts, Jago | BEL | Yamaha | 0:50.883 |
12 | Vialle, Tom | FRA | KTM | 0:57.772 |
13 | Oliver, Oriol | ESP | KTM | 0:59.648 |
14 | Toendel, Cornelius | NOR | KTM | 1:01.482 |
15 | Pancar, Jan | SLO | KTM | 1:08.892 |
16 | Bonacorsi, Andrea | ITA | Yamaha | 1:11.630 |
17 | Mikula, Julius | CZE | KTM | 1:13.314 |
18 | Coldenhoff, Glenn | NED | Fantic | 1:21.266 |
19 | Webster, Kyle | AUS | Honda | 1:23.654 |
20 | Adamo, Andrea | ITA | KTM | 1:29.473 |
21 | Teresak, Jakub | CZE | Husqvarna | 1:42.813 |
22 | Kullas, Harri | EST | KTM | 1:52.049 |
23 | Wright, Dylan | CAN | Honda | 1:54.639 |
24 | Purdon, Tristan | RSA | Husqvarna | 2:13.027 |
25 | Nagl, Maximilian | GER | Honda | 1 lap |
26 | Aparecido dos Santos, Fabio | BRA | Yamaha | 1 lap |
27 | Kratzer, Michael | AUT | Honda | 1 lap |
28 | Bidzans, Edvards | LAT | Honda | 1 lap |
29 | Tonus, Arnaud | SUI | Yamaha | 1 lap |
30 | Leok, Tanel | EST | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
31 | Agard-Michelsen, Sander | NOR | Yamaha | 1 lap |
32 | Skovbjerg, Nicolai | DEN | Yamaha | 1 lap |
33 | Eto Tiburcio, Bernardo | BRA | Honda | 1 lap |
34 | Sandner, Michael | AUT | KTM | 1 lap |
35 | Benoit, Kaven | CAN | KTM | 1 lap |
36 | Peklaj, Jaka | SLO | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
37 | Mc Lellan, Camden | RSA | Triumph | 9 laps |
Race Three – MXGP & Open
Billed as “the big one” at the end of the day, the third race of the 77th Edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations was a spectacle that few will ever forget.
Few consider Eli Tomac to be a holeshot artist, but the American captain blasted into the lead at the start of race three, determined to deliver the race win that would give his country the best chance of victory.
Seewer, Hunter Lawrence, Prado, and Gajser gave chase, while Roczen, Herlings, Jett Lawrence, Febvre, Forato, Plessinger, and Renaux were all in the mix.
Further back however, there was a multi-rider crash that involved Coldenhoff and Fernandez, putting Dutch and Spanish hopes of a podium in jeopardy.
Prado and Tomac swapped places twice, the first of several back-and-forth battles that made this race special, but the Spaniard led at the end of the first full lap, as Gajser moved up to third past Hunter Lawrence. The Slovenian was in a determined mood on a track that he loves and whipped past Prado for second on lap four.
A lap later, both Lawrence brothers got the better of Prado to run third and fourth, and Australia started to emerge as the clear leaders overall, especially as Plessinger had slipped to eleventh.
Tomac was giving it everything at the front, under pressure from Gajser, before the pair engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest that drew gasps from the crowd, an all-out Transatlantic war that saw both riders taking maximum risks for supremacy.
Gajser finally shook the American off to take a clear lead by lap nine, while Herlings and Febvre relegated Prado further down the order. A crash for Renaux had dropped him to the edge of the top ten, so the pressure was on Febvre to salvage a French podium, but he landed short on a double jump with three laps to go and despite not crashing, pulled off the track in obvious pain from the brutal landing. Team France ended their title defence in fifth spot, with Renaux second in the MX Open class.
On lap ten, Jett was starting to put the track together and use the kind of creative lines that he has become famous for. Skipping past Tomac for second place, he still had a four-second gap to close in on Gajser.
Further back, Prado dropped to an eventual 14th behind Team Canada’s Dylan Wright, with even teammate Fernandez getting past him to claim 12th. Spain finished the day in fourth, with Fernandez third in MX Open.
Enzo Lopes took a fine 11th for Team Brazil behind Roczen, who saw Germany home in 6th. Renaux recovered from his crash to take ninth, Plessinger eighth, and Forato by far Team Italy’s best rider in seventh, and his country in eighth. Seewer finished his Kawasaki career with a decent sixth place to put Team Switzerland in ninth.
The battle at the front for the last five laps was spell-binding, as Jett Lawrence and Gajser both pushed to the maximum and a little bit more, especially the Australian, who saved a near nosedive over a downhill jump and barged a lapped rider out of his path in his efforts to catch the Slovenian.
The inevitable pass, when it came, was one of the finest ever seen in World Motocross. Seasoned observers and veterans of the sport were left aghast as the Australian somehow found a completely new line out of the first corner to blast past the five-time World Champion along the Pit Lane Straight. How he turned so tight with such forward momentum was magical, and it looked as if the race was done and dusted – Jett would win and crown Team Australia’s first ever win.
Clearly, Gajser had not been given the script. Not fighting for a national victory as Slovenia went on to claim seventh, or even the class victory which was already his over Tomac and Herlings, he recovered from the shock of the move and dug in, getting back onto his fellow HRC rider’s rear wheel on the penultimate lap.
A troublesome rut on an off-cambered corner seemed to kill his drive, but on the final lap he built his momentum, but still looked too far back to do anything but chase Jett across the line.
Incredibly, on the final uphill triple jump, Tim changed his flight path and dived to the inside of the penultimate corner, requiring Jett to chop the throttle mid-corner. The crowd truly went wild, and the MXGP Vice-Champion kept the inside line through the final corner to win by under half a second. It was a grandstand finish.
With Tomac third, and Hunter backing his brother up in fourth, Team Australia were finally crowned Champions after going from third to second to first in the last three competitions. Kyle Webster did his bit behind the fastest brothers on the planet, and the Australians deserve their time, but the joy of this event was the wide-open racing between a pack of some of the greatest riders the world has ever seen.
Race Three – MXGP & Open Results
Pos | Rider | Nat. | Bike | Time/Gap |
1 | Gajser, Tim | SLO | Honda | 35:51.888 |
2 | Lawrence, Jett | AUS | Honda | 0:00.459 |
3 | Tomac, Eli | USA | Yamaha | 0:17.172 |
4 | Lawrence, Hunter | AUS | Honda | 0:18.129 |
5 | Herlings, Jeffrey | NED | KTM | 0:20.434 |
6 | Seewer, Jeremy | SUI | Kawasaki | 1:00.988 |
7 | Forato, Alberto | ITA | Honda | 1:09.220 |
8 | Plessinger, Aaron | USA | KTM | 1:12.390 |
9 | Renaux, Maxime | FRA | Yamaha | 1:17.022 |
10 | Roczen, Ken | GER | Suzuki | 1:20.261 |
11 | Lopes, Enzo | BRA | Yamaha | 1:31.002 |
12 | Fernandez, Ruben | ESP | Honda | 1:31.229 |
13 | Wright, Dylan | CAN | Honda | 1:51.336 |
14 | Prado, Jorge | ESP | GASGAS | 1:53.651 |
15 | Coldenhoff, Glenn | NED | Fantic | 1:55.118 |
16 | Pancar, Jan | SLO | KTM | 1:58.867 |
17 | Guillod, Valentin | SUI | Honda | 2:01.225 |
18 | Bonacorsi, Andrea | ITA | Yamaha | 2:07.510 |
19 | Mewse, Conrad | GBR | KTM | 2:12.589 |
20 | Geerts, Jago | BEL | Yamaha | 2:23.206 |
21 | Nagl, Maximilian | GER | Honda | 1 lap |
22 | Pettis, Jess | CAN | KTM | 1 lap |
23 | Teresak, Jakub | CZE | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
24 | Kullas, Harri | EST | KTM | 1 lap |
25 | Searle, Tommy | GBR | Kawasaki | 1 lap |
26 | Bidzans, Edvards | LAT | Honda | 1 lap |
27 | Fredsoe, Mads | DEN | GASGAS | 1 lap |
28 | Purdon, Tristan | RSA | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
29 | Pumpurs, Mairis | LAT | Husqvarna | 1 lap |
30 | Aparecido dos Santos, Fabio | BRA | Yamaha | 1 lap |
31 | Skovbjerg, Nicolai | DEN | Yamaha | 1 lap |
32 | Durow, Cameron Anthony | RSA | KTM | 1 lap |
33 | Polak, Petr | CZE | Yamaha | 2 laps |
34 | Febvre, Romain | FRA | Kawasaki | 3 laps |
35 | Krestinov, Gert | EST | Honda | 3 laps |
36 | Toendel, Cornelius | NOR | KTM | 8 laps |
37 | Kratzer, Michael | AUT | Honda | 9 laps |
38 | Horgmo, Kevin | NOR | Honda | 12 laps |
39 | Van doninck, Brent | BEL | Honda | 13 laps |
40 | Stauffer, Marcel | AUT | KTM | 15 laps |
MXoN Results 2024
Pos | Nation/Team | Points |
1 | Australia | 26 |
2 | USA | 29 |
3 | The Netherlands | 36 |
4 | Spain | 45 |
5 | France | 50 |
6 | Germany | 62 |
7 | Slovenia | 67 |
8 | Italy | 70 |
9 | Switzerland | 86 |
10 | Latvia | 103 |
11 | Denmark | 109 |
12 | Great Britain | 113 |
13 | Brazil | 114 |
14 | Czech Republic | 115 |
15 | Canada | 117 |
16 | Belgium | 123 |
17 | Norway | 136 |
18 | Rep. of South Africa | 137 |
19 | Estonia | 140 |
20 | Austria | 155 |
Ruben Fernandez – Team Spain
“It wasn’t quite enough to land on the podium, but I’m still happy with my riding and my results today, and after the start of the year, to finish like this is very satisfying. I got a holeshot, I finished second in a race against some of the best riders in the world and fought hard in that third moto to get back to 12th. I have to be happy with that and it gives me motivation for next year.”
Jorge Prado – Team Spain
“It’s always an honour to represent Spain at the Motocross of Nations, especially at such a challenging track like Matterley Basin. The fans and the atmosphere have been amazing all weekend. I felt really strong after qualifying first on Saturday, and getting my 149th holeshot was a great start to Sunday’s motos. But unfortunately, I just couldn’t find my rhythm, which was frustrating. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but that’s part of racing. It has been an incredible year, and we are all still smiling after winning the championship title at the last round at home in Spain. I want to say a big thank you to everyone at Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing, and all my friends and family for their support this season!”
Tim Gajser – Team Slovenia
“It was a great day of racing and I’m extremely happy with how it all went. I wanted to end this season on a high and I think I did that. It was great to battle with Jett and we put on a real show for the fans, but obviously I wanted to take the win and I made it happen on the last corner. I felt good all day and in the first race I got into the lead and didn’t have to push too much to win the race. Then in the last moto, I got into the lead but didn’t know Jett was there, so when he was there, I realised I had to go again. Then he made the pass but I stuck with him and took a different line before the uphill triple, got the drive and made the move. A big thank you for all the support I’ve received this weekend and to all the team. Now we have a bit of a break before we prepare for 2025!”
Jeremy Seewer – Team Switzerland
“It was a solid performance for my final race of the season. My KX450-SR gave me another two top-three starts and I just tried to enjoy myself as much as possible. We (Switzerland) finished ninth, which is not bad for a small country, but we were not fighting for the podium so I didn’t go crazy and just rode two smart races; I knew the track could bite hard so I rode a solid rhythm and concentrated on making no mistakes.”
Romain Febvre – Team France
“In the first race I had a problem with my goggles, just like many riders, but I didn’t want to risk losing positions by stopping to take new ones! Even without goggles I was faster than Tomac in second and I came right behind him but I took dirt in my eyes and had some troubles with my vision, especially my right eye. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to race the final moto but after the sighting lap I decided to try. I had a good start and a good speed, but after twenty minutes I started to have more problems with my vision and couldn’t see the ruts clearly; then three laps from the end I slid before a jump and nearly went over the bars. I hit the handlebar with my chest; I just couldn’t breathe so I had to stop to recover. Before this crash we were heading for the podium so of course I am disappointed; all three of us in the team had our ups-and-downs today so it’s difficult to accept this result.”
Tom Vialle – Team France
“A tough weekend with the rain. Saturday was really good and I won the only race where we are only on track with other 250s. It was cool to do that. I had to stop both times to change the goggles on Sunday which cost us time and positions. P5 for France and we can only hope to do better next year.”
Simon Längenfelder – Team Germany
“This weekend had its ups and downs, but I’m proud of how I fought through the races. I have had some great results here at Matterley in the past – it is the place where I got my first podium and win. After the crash in the first moto, I just tried to push and charged back to 18th. In the second moto, I was fighting for a podium but had to stop for a goggle change, which set me back. Still, I managed to fight back to third, which felt great. Competing against the world’s best riders is always a challenge, and it’s, of course, an honour to represent Team Germany. Thank you to everyone at Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing and all of my family for their support!”