USA top MXoN ahead of France and Australia

2022 FIM Motocross of Nations Results

Team USA’s Eli Tomac, Justin Cooper and Chase Sexton ended the nation’s 11-year wait with a win at the 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations on home soil overnight in RedBud, Michigan.

While Saturday’s qualifying day presented the perfect weather conditions, today was a different story, with an overnight downpour and continued rain throughout the day creating some challenging conditions which tested not only man but also machine – but did not hinder the spirits of the thousands of fans who showed their support!

The atmosphere around the venue was next to none, with incredible support from start to finish by the huge crowd of fans that turned out in their most patriotic outfits and made plenty of sound throughout the day.

It was a big victory for the hosting nation, as Tomac, Cooper and Sexton made history by putting the American flag back on the top step for the first time since Saint Jean d’Angely in 2011.

Joining the winners on the podium was Team France with Maxime Renaux, Marvin Musquin and Dylan Ferrandis who finished with 23 points, 7 behind Team USA.

Rounding out the podium was Team Australia’s Mitch Evans, Hunter Lawrence and Jett Lawrence with 26 points.

Team France’s Maxime Renaux was the overall winner in the MXGP category, while in the MX2 class it was Justin Cooper.

Jett Lawrence who made his Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations debut took the individual win in the Open category, and was also awarded the Ricky Carmichael Award for the youngest and best scoring rider in the class, all on his first competitive outing on the 450.

Race One (MXGP + MX2)

In the first MXGP and MX2 combined race, the Fox Holeshot went to Team Belgium’s Jago Geerts who held a very tight line into the first corner ahead of Team USA’s Eli Tomac who took over first place immediately. Team France’s Maxime Renaux was third ahead of Team Switzerland’s Jeremy Seewer as the Yamaha-bound riders dominated the opening race.

Further down the field, Team Italy’s Antonio Cairoli managed to pass Team Australia’s Hunter Lawrence and Team USA’s Justin Cooper, as he moved himself up to seventh, where he would eventually finish the race.

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Geerts meanwhile put up a fight to Tomac, as he set several fastest laps of the race, and managed to whittle the gap down to a second or so, before making a mistake and allowing the American to break free again.

Team Netherlands’ Glenn Coldenhoff had an unfortunate start to his race as he struggled down in 32nd in the first few laps, while his fellow countryman Kay de Wolf was in 10th.

Team Belgium’s Liam Everts passed Adamo for 11th as Seewer closed in on Renaux for third. The Swiss was able to get alongside the Frenchman, but could not make the pass stick, despite making several attempts.

Team Switzerland was dealt a blow as Valentin Guillod struggled with his bike and was forced out of the race which meant that a good result from Seewer was crucial for the squad.

Further down the order, Adamo, Team France’s Marvin Musquin and Team Norway’s Kevin Horgmo battled closely for 13th, with Musquin able to find a way past, as Team Great Britain’s Max Anstie came into pitlane with a bike issue.

In the latter stages of the race, Tomac looked in control as Geerts remained close and Renaux continued to fend off Seewer behind him. Team Australia’s Mitch Evans came under pressure from Team Spain’s Jorge Prado at one stage of the race but was able to remain calm and bring it home in fifth for the Aussie squad.

In the end, Tomac won ahead of Geerts, Renaux, Seewer.

Australia’s Mitch Evans finished fifth while team-mate Hunter Lawrence crossed the line in eighth as the highest finishing MX2 category entrant.

Race One (MXGP + MX2) Results

Race Two (MX2 + Open)

The second heat saw Team Italy’s Mattia Guadagnini take the Fox Holeshot from Team USA’s Chase Sexton and Team Australia’s Jett Lawrence, as several riders went down in the first corner which included Team Great Britain’s Tommy Searle and Team France’s Dylan Ferrandis, among others.

The second rider of the American team, Cooper, started well in fourth, as Australia’s Hunter Lawrence crashed to re-join in 19th.

Further down the field, Ferrandis was making great progress through the field as he got himself into 11th and set his sights on breaking the top 10, with his teammate Musquin also ahead.

At the front of the group though, Guadagnini was still in control, with Jett Lawrence pushing Sexton for that second position. After several attempts, Sexton was able to get through on Guadagnini, though the Italian responded shortly after.

Sexton then lost second to Jett Lawrence, who forced the issue on the American. Moments later, the Aussie was also able to get by Guadagnini to lead the second race.

As Jett Lawrence led the way, Ferrandis was making moves down in seventh, and then sixth after passing Team Netherlands’ Calvin Vlaanderen and setting the fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile his teammate, Musquin was coming under pressure from Hunter Lawrence, who eventually passed the Frenchman but then threw it away moments later.

Sexton then got around Guadagnini for second, as also Cooper closed in on the Italian, but Guadagnini was able to hold off the American until the chequered flag.

Jett Lawrence won the second heat convincingly ahead of Sexton, Guadagnini, Cooper and Team Spain’s Ruben Fernandez.

Hunter Lawrence showded true grit to recover from that aforementioned earlier fall to cross the line in tenth place on the CRF250R.

Race Two (MX2 + Open) Results

Race Three (MXGP + Open)

In the final and the most crucial race of the day the Fox Holeshot went to Renaux, as Ferrandis took over the lead almost immediately, which meant it was a 1-2 for Team France, followed by Sexton, Prado, Seewer and Jett Lawrence.

Geerts crashed as he headed towards the second corner, which also caught out Tomac and meant both riders had to work their way up from the back of the field.

Mitch Evans, who was running pretty well at the beginning of the race crashed and got going again in 35th. The Australian managed to bring it home in 28th by the end of the heat.

Ferrandis was looking fast, with Renaux fending off a hard-charging Sexton who was pushing to get by. On lap four, there was a change for the lead, as Ferrandis crashed and got going again in sixth.

Renaux was the leader with Sexton, Jett Lawrence, Prado and Seewer just behind. Tomac was in seventh at the time, but Ferrandis had a big enough gap to the American that he did not have to worry too much about potential pressure from behind.

Prado then dropped two positions to Seewer and Ferrandis, as Jett Lawrence charged down the inside of Sexton to take second place on lap eight.

In the end, Renaux held on and took the race victory from a clearly faster Jett Lawrence.

Chase Sexton rounded out the podium ahead of Dylan Ferrandis and Jeremy Seewer.

Team USA ended up as this year’s winners with a 16-point scorecard ahead of Team France who ended up second with 23 points. Team Australia rounded out the podium in third with 26 points.

Race Three (MXGP + Open) Results

Rider Quotes

Eli Tomac – P2 in MXGP

“That’s what it was, it felt like a redemption you know from the team here and I just first off, I want to say how proud I am of my teammates, Chase and Justin. This is truly a team event and there is no race like this. Yesterday started great for us for the qualifying heats and then the rain this morning. This really levelled the playing field but we came through strong in these muddy conditions. 11 years is a long time, so I’m just proud of my teammates and everyone who is part of Team USA, this is very special for us”.

Maxime Renaux – MXGP Winner

“Of course it’s great! But I want to start about the team, you know it was not the result we wanted, we wanted to go for the win, but sometimes things don’t go as planned and USA was really strong today. But I am really happy to say we had a really good atmosphere in the team, these guys were like friends that I knew a very long time, they were really like big brothers to me. They both know the track so they gave me a lot of advice and I want to thank them for that and my result for sure is a part of that. Personally, first victory at the Motocross of Nations in the 450 class was amazing with some pretty strong names”.

Justin Cooper – MX2 Winner

“I had a lot of pressure this weekend. First, with the race being here in the US and then with how it went for me in 2019 was weighing on my mind. It was quite a stressful day, but I really had to focus. Today, I just did my best to hang with these 450 guys. Overall, it was a fun day, and the rain made it really tough to ride. After the result in the first race, I did my best to get off the gate good in the second race and get closer to the top five, which was something I was able to accomplish. It put our team in a good position, and I hoped it would take the weight off my teammates going into the final race, which it did. Everything went to plan, so I am super pumped. I’ve just got to give it up to the team and my teammates.”

Jeremy Seewer – P3 in MXGP

“I enjoyed this weekend a lot. Especially yesterday, when the track was dry, it was incredible. I had some good racing yesterday. The fans were amazing; it gives you goosebumps. I’d say I had a solid day today. Nothing ‘wow’ but also nothing bad. My riding was pretty good. I was consistent and didn’t make any big mistakes, other than a small tip-over in race one. Other than that, it was a good day, and that’s a wrap on this season, so I am just looking forward to having some days off.”

Hunter Lawrence – P2 in MX2

“It was really good. In the past years, we have had where we come into the last race somewhat in contention and close to the podium, and we’ve just not been fortunate enough to pull it off, so to do so here is awesome. To do it with my brother, but also Mitch, it’s really cool! Just stoked for everyone. HRC they all came together that was really cool. So yeah, it’s good. And we’re excited for next year we didn’t have some really good years coming up”.

Mitch Evans

“It is great to get on the podium with Team Australia. It hasn’t happened much in our history, so to be part of a team that’s done it is a massive honour. The first moto went well, just rode a nice consistent race and kept a good pace throughout. I knew it was important to get us off to a good start and together with Hunter we did that in race one. Jett and Hunter then did a great race two to give us a solid shot at the podium, and that’s what happened in race three. I would have liked to have done a bit better but its motocross and anything can happen, but thankfully we still did well enough to land on the podium. A big thank you to all of the team for the job they did in what ended up being really tough conditions, and I can’t wait to be part of this event again, where we will try to do even better.”

Dylan Ferrandis

“I gave everything today. I was not very lucky in moto one and then I threw away the win in moto two. I was a little bit disappointed with that, but I regrouped well and that helped us to second today. This was the best we could do. I would like to congratulate the home team, USA. They were very strong today and they had the crowd fully behind them, which just made me look forward to next year when we are on my home soil in France.”

 Jago Geerts

“Overall, I am happy about the weekend. It was really fun on the 450. Winning the Qualifying Heat yesterday was unreal, a little bit unexpected, but really nice. In the first race, I took the holeshot but made a small mistake, which let Tomac past me. I was able to follow Tomac for the whole race, so that was pretty good. I was happy with that. In the second heat, I had a good start but crashed twice on the first lap and only got back to 10th. I am still happy with my riding and my first race on the 450, it was just a fun weekend.” 

Marvin Musquin

“It was a great opportunity and honor to represent my country. I got the call to ride the 250 while I was on vacation and it seemed a bit crazy but I wanted to go for it, so I trained and prepared and it was definitely a bit easier riding on Saturday compared to Sunday! I had two super-strong teammates. I’m a little disappointed with my results but I gave my best and all I had. It is amazing to be up here and on the podium with Team France again.”

Tony Cairoli

“The starts were important in these kinds of conditions and we did not get it in both motos; in the second race I slipped on the grill with the water and was almost last. I had to come through the pack in both races. I was making decent passes and 9th was good. I’m pretty happy even though we didn’t really get into mix. When I crossed the checkered flag in the last moto I was very emotional because I knew this would be my last Pro motocross race. It was hard! I’m happy about the result as I know I haven’t raced since May. No mistakes, no crashes and riding just for fun. It was good.”

Liam Everts

“About the riding: not the best weekend. I need to work on my starts this winter, it’s been a weakness this year and I felt my rhythm was a bit ‘off’ and not at my usual level. I felt like there was more to give but I could not extract it today. The rain made the track better and slower and even though it was not the best of days, I enjoyed being here, representing the team and taking part in the event.”

Glenn Coldenhoff

“I didn’t have the best feeling this weekend, although it did get a bit better. I had wheel spin off the gate and then crashed on the first lap, so I had to start from dead last. I got back to 13th. In the second race, I messed up the start again, and then I got landed on by another rider and crashed. The bike was completely bent, and I could not continue. It’s a shame to end the season like this, but I am happy to go home fit and healthy.” 

2022 Monster Energy FIM MXoN Results Teams