Motocross des Nations 2003

Team Belgium have won the 57th Motocross of Nations this afternoon at Zolder in their home country. It is the 13th time the Belgians have claimed the trophy of the prestigious end of season competition.

In front of a large 23,000 attendance, crammed around the purpose built course that crosses the historic motor racing circuit several times, the 2003 World Championship winning trio of Stefan Everts, Joel Smets and Steve Raom notched the highest results and therefore the lowest winning score to own the event.

After the heavy rainfall of Friday the ‘whoops’ section (that had been cut out of the track in the interests of preservation for today’s activities) was opened and raised the difficulty of the circuit another notch.

A taster of what was to come was provided by the first Semi final in which AMA Champion Ricky Carmichael and Everts indulged in a fantastic battle for the lead throughout the first half of the race. The pair seemed to be urged on by the energy radiating from a thrilled and boisterous crowd and did not let the fans down. Swapping lines and positions with almost show-staged regularity Carmichael was able to finally make the break around the 20 minute stage of the 30 minute and 2 lap distance. A mass pile-up wrecked the moto for the latter half of the field in the first few corners of the race and Joel Smets crossed the line in a disappointing 15th after hole-shotting and then crashing while fronting the pack on the first lap. Factory KTM rider Joaquim Rodrigues was ruled out of action for Portugal in the formative stages with a spectacular accident.

Everts was caught by the second member of Team USA, Ryan Hughes, and then also his countryman Steve Ramon. The seven times World Champion struggled with arm pump and eventually placed fourth, that together with Ramon’s third was good enough to leave Belgium second overall on points scored (awarded in reverse order with Carmichael taking one, Hughes two and so on, the lowest score of the two best placed riders from a team of three winning the race for a Nation). Placed after America and Belgium were France, Great Britain, Denmark and South Africa all making it through to Final A.

Chilly conditions were offset by intervals of bright sunshine contrasted by the odd shower as the second semi final got underway. Josh Coppins for New Zealand dived into the opening turn first and was not headed as those around him began to feel the demands of an increasingly rougher and challenging sandy terrain. The Kiwis were able to take the overall win and enter the gate second for Final A as Ben Townley finished 9th despite crashing twice. Finland’s Jussi Vehvilainen swept past the chequered flag undisturbed as runner-up giving Honda a ‘one-two’, Antti Pyrhonen was eighth and allowed the podiumees from 2002 to claim second place overall. Estonia, Japan, Czech Republic and Ireland were the other Nations to qualify for Final A. Spain almost squeezed through but Javier Garcia Vico had some mechanical problems and also slipped off. Joan Barreda and Jonathan Barragan both crashed. Barreda had to be taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg.

So come the afternoon and Final B got underway. Defending Champions Italy, with a weakened squad, lost the only member of their 2002 winning line-up when Andrea Bartolini fell out on the whoops section on lap three as the rain began to fall again for the rest of the duration. The race consisted of a brief contest between Norway and Spain for the win (and 13th place overall in the 2003 MX of Nations), which Kenneth Gundersen triumphed for the former. Early leader Javier Garcia Vico had mechanical problems that dropped him to fourth behind Sweden’s Joakim Karlsson and Australia’s Andrew McFarlane; the Aussies were standing on the podium only two years ago. Sweden gained overall success and the ’03 ranking of 13th while Italy had to be content with 17th (5th in Final B).

The main race, starting at 5pm and with the King of Belgium looking on, saw a superlative performance once more from Carmichael. In front of an excited and willing crowd the Honda rider recovered from a shaky start to rapidly slice the advantage carved out by leader Stefan Everts that stood at around 4-5 seconds. Everts could offer no resistance this time to the American’s threat and instead wisely chose to defend a solid second position with the knowledge that Joel Smets was riding relatively unhindered in third. Team USA’s chances of victory went out the window when Tim Ferry, who had been nursing a small injury to his left hand, started near the rear of the pack and Ryan Hughes crashed and could not restart due to a broken chain on his KTM. Ferry made his way up to 8th but then fell with several laps to go and finally crossed the line in 9th.

Steve Ramon was another faller and was fortunate that his retirement on the KTM 250 did not affect the team’s result. With the first two places on the podium decided it was left to Finland to make the top three for the second year in succession thanks to the efforts of Jussi Vehvilainen and Antti Pyrhonen who were 6th and 10th respectively.

Gordon Crockard ended the race fourth and helped lift Ireland to 7th overall. Josh Coppins was fifth and Ben Townley’s involvement in a crash on the first lap and subsequent DNF did not help New Zealand get the result they were expecting. Shayne King earned 14th to place the Kiwis fourth.

A DNF by star rider Yoshitaka Atsuta did not prevent Japan taking fifth. Paul Cooper’s seventh position in the race was Great Britain’s highest result and hiked the Brits to seventh in the final table.

"This is an incredible day and it has been an amazing year, “ said Stefan Everts. “The race was hard today but we knew what he had to do, and we had such excellent support. Motocross is very important in this small little country and to ride and win in front of the King was a proud moment.”

Yamaha Report

Yamaha’s Stefan Everts crowned his glorious 2003 season by leading Belgium to the prestigious Motocross des Nations title in Zolder today.

The ‘Nations’ is a unique event on the motocross calendar, featuring teams of three riders from 24 nations. Over 23,000 fans turned out at the Belgian circuit to see a showdown between the home team, complete with their triumvirate of world champions, and the United States – whose talents are usually showcased in their tough domestic series.

American Ricky Carmichael (Honda) won the race but Everts was able to take his Yamaha L&M Motocross Team YZ450FM to a controlled second place. Results were determined by adding together the finishing position of each nation's top two riders. With Belgian team-mate and 650cc world champion Joel Smets (KTM) in third, the Belgians’ score of five points gave them a cushion of a similar amount over the USA.

It caps an amazing year for the 29-year-old, the most successful Grand Prix racer ever with seven world titles and 72 GP wins. This year Everts won the Motocross GP world championships and a total of 18 Grands Prix – including a unique hat trick where he won all three classes at the French GP.

“This has been a very special day for me,” said Everts. “To win the Motocross des Nations, in Belgium and in front of the king is a dream come true. I didn’t have any problems with my riding in the final. I made the holeshot and rode at my own pace. I’m so happy, but maybe a little bit of me is disappointed that I didn’t win the race. It has been great to have the Americans here today. They bring prestige to the event and that is important for European motocross. Ricky was faster than me today – hopefully he will return for a rematch next year!”

Tim Ferry (Yamaha Factory Race Team) had a tough race on the bumpy circuit, but especially for the event at a facility normally used for car racing. He got a poor start and ended the first lap in 20th, fighting through to eighth, before a heavy crash relegated him three places. He was able to remount and finish ninth to give the United States team second place, six points clear of the impressive Finns.

“It was a tough race,” admitted Ferry. “I had seen from my pit board that Ryan (Hughes) had gone out so I knew that I had to get back on and finish the race to keep us on the podium. When I was growing up I would always read the magazines and read about the great American teams that won at the Motocross des Nations. It has been a big honour to have been here to represent my country. We may not have been the fastest guys on the track today but I hope that I can return next year.”

The victory completes Belgium’s domination of the 2003 motocross world championships. In addition to the ‘Nations’ victory Belgian riders won all three of the individual Grand Prix titles with Everts, Smets and Steve Ramon.

Australian Report

Team Australia -- Andrew McFarlane, Paul Broomfield and Paul Grant -- finished a creditable second in the B-Final at the 2003 Motocross of Nations (MoN), which was held at Zolder, Belgium on October 4-5.

After just failing to earn a spot in the A-Final – the team was seventh in its semi – McFarlane (Kawasaki KX250) led the Australian charge in the B-Final, completing the race third, with Broomfield (Yamaha YZ45oF) 14th and Grant (Honda CRF450F) 21st respectively.

The accumulation of results saw Australia ‘lose’ 14pts and complete hostilities just two behind Sweden (12), which prevailed after two of its riders finished in the top 10 – including Joakim Karlsson (Husaberg) in second. McFarlane’s teammate in the factory Kawasaki world motocross team, Norway’s Kenneth Gundersen, won the B-Final, which helped his country finish third behind Australia on 16pts.

Combined with results in the A-Final – won by Belgium -- Australia was 14th out of 30 nations at Zolder, which team manager Gary Benn labelled a positive result.

“Sure, it wasn’t our strongest team, but the three riders gave their all, and to finish second in the B-Final was a great effort,” said Benn. “And, remember, we were very close to scoring a berth in the final when we were running second in our semi-final with just two laps to go.

“However, Grant was unfortunately taken out by another rider, which knocked us back to seventh. That was disappointing, but they didn’t drop the ball in the B-Final, which was great to see.”

Meanwhile, Team Belgium, with three world champions under its umbrella, didn’t let 23,000 partisan fans go home downcast after defeating America to claim the trophy for the first time since 1998.

While American star Ricky Carmichael (Honda) was a law unto himself in winning the A-Final by a massive 11 seconds, Belgian duo Stefan Everts (Yamaha) and Joel Smets (KTM) finished second and third in the 30-minute plus two-lap race, which helped steer the host country to its 13th Motocross of Nations trophy in 44 years.

Aided by the early withdrawal of America’s Ryan Hughes, whose chain broke after a crash, the third Belgian rider, Steve Ramon (KTM), only had to circulate to make sure of victory. Ramon, despite a bingle, duly obliged when he finished in 26th position.

Belgium finished on 5pts, followed by America (10), Finland (16) and New Zealand (19), which prevailed in the same semi-final in which Australia was eliminated.

It was Finland’s second successive third place in the MoN, while last year’s winner, Italy, was surprisingly evicted at the semi-final stage.