Monday, October 1

Motocross des Nations

New 500cc World Champion Stefan Everts phones in from the 55th running of the Motocross des Nations at Namur, Belgium

Somehow it's ironic that in the French-speaking Belgian town Namur - known as the gateway to the Ardennes - that Team France should take its first-ever Motocross des Nations win. On a cool, sunny autumn day atop the towering Citadelle, Yves DeMaria, Franco-American star David Vuillemin, and Luigi Seguy took advantage of some bad luck experienced by Joel Smets of the heavily favored Belgian squad to win the 55th annual running of the storied Motocross des Nations.

In the opening 125cc/Open, it was long-time Grand Prix campaigner Yves DeMaria piloting his Yamaha YZ250 to a fifth place finish, with teammate, Luigi Seguy (Yamaha) placing 13th (second overall in the 125cc class). In the second, moto - 125cc/250cc moto - Vuillemin placed a strong third overall, while Seguy, who was punted off the track in the early stages of the race, fought his way back admirably to place 15th (and third overall in the 125cc class). In the final moto of the afternoon - the 2500cc/Open moto - DeMaria placed third overall, and Vuillemin and fifth. When the final scores were tallied, it was France taking possession of the Peter Chamberlain with nine points to spare.

Truth be told, following the opening moto of the day, the Motocross des Nations looked to be a Belgian affair. Stefan Everts, fresh off his fifth World Championship, reeled off a big holeshot and dropped into the forests of Namur with a big lead. Ultimately putting 17 seconds of Belgian real estate between himself and runner-up finisher Colin Dugmore (KTM), the crowd favorite - as he always has been on the treacherous, tree-lined course - was in a league of his own. Coming across the line in third overall was Spaniard Javier Vico Garcia aboard his KTM. In the 125cc class, it was Belgian Steve Ramon flashing across the finish line in 10th (and first 125cc rider). One moto into the event, it was already looking like a Belgian whitewash, with Everts and Ramon combining for a grand total of 11 points. France - considered something of a "B Team" due to the absence of new 250cc World Champion Mickael Pichon (who was rumored to be in a political squabble over show money with the French Federation) and an injured Sebastien Tortelli and sat second with 18 points.

For all intents and purposes, it was moto two that did in the Belgians. 19 year-old Chad Reed - who will race in the United States for Team Yamaha of Troy in 2002 - raced a way to an impressive moto win aboard his KX250, landing atop the Esplanade amphitheatre some ten seconds ahead of German, Pit Beirer. Vuillemin was third. Meanwhile, back in 10th place, vanquished 500cc World Champion Joel Smets' saw the engine of his KTM250 go south some 500 meters from the finish line. An agonizing swipe of bad luck, it dropped him to 29th place. Ramon, concurrently, was the top 125cc rider with an eighth place on-track position. Seguy, after a crash on the opening lap, was 15th. When the points were counted, Team France went into the final moto with 36 points. Belgium was 12 points adrift with 48 points.

The final moto of the day, the 250cc/Open moto, was won by Everts. In his thundering wake, DeMaria placed third overall, while Vuillemin was fifth, which was enough to give Team France it's first-ever Motocross des Nations victory by nine points. Although Team Belgium had an excellent chance at victory before the gate dropped to unleash the field of two-strokes and four-strokes for the final moto, once again, Joel Smets' orange miracle machine turned into a pumpkin when he and the KTM clashed with the Javier Vico, subsequently tearing the radiator cap off the KTM and sending Smets to the pit area on two separate occasions.

Enter Stefan Everts. An hour after the third and final moto, Racer X Illustrated editor Eric Johnson tracked the Belgian down via cell phone to get his account on the bittersweet afternoon. For while the new all-time FIM Grand Prix victory leader was certainly the man of the day, the misfortunes of his teammate cast a pronounced pallor over the entire event.

"I'm very disappointed, " said Everts while rolling off the Citadelle in his Mercedes, "but when Joel's engine seized in the second moto, then when he had the crash with Vico in the last moto which made the radiator cap come off and splash hot fluid on him, I have to say we had some very bad luck.

"You know what?" he continued, in the second moto when Smets' bike seized only 500 meters from the finish, I couldn't believe it. I was watching it on a big screen on the Esplanade and I was so disappointed. But at that moment, I knew that we still had the last race and a score we could throw away."

When asked about the atmosphere which surrounded the strongly favored Belgian team at Namur, Everts was quick to reply, stating: Yeah, it was very exciting but I was very down to Earth with it all. There were so many people and journalists saying, 'you guys will win - it is your race.' When I head all that, I would reply, 'first we have to go out and race.' When I look back on the day, it was not for us. Everything was going normal and going easy at first, then it all went wrong.

"For the French, this is their first Motocross des Nations victory. They fought for it and rode like hell to get all their points. They won the Motocross des Nations and I am very happy for them. However, I must say that we had some bad luck - but that is racing.

"Following the final moto, Joel was crying for a little while. He was very, very disappointed. He just had bad luck. For me, I did everything I could. While I am unhappy that we lost, I am happy with my results and riding."

Conspicuous by their absence, which was precipitated by terrorist actions which took place in the United States on September 11, one is left to wonder how Team USA - Ricky Carmichael, Mike Brown and Kevin Windham - would have fared at Namur…

"I had to answer that question a lot in dealing with the press," offered Everts. "In regard to the U.S. team, I respect their decision not to be here. There were so many people here who were curious to see how they would have done on this track, which, as you know, is so different than anything else they ever race on. It would have been different for them today than it was last year in France, where they won really strongly. With this track being so unique, I think it would have been more difficult for them here."

Final results of the 55th annual running of the Motocross des Nations in Namur, Belgium
1.France (Seguy, Vuillemin, Demaria), 28; 2.Belgium (Ramon, Smets, Everts), 37; 3.New Zealand (Hurley, Coppins, King), 47; 4.Great Britain (Sword, Nunn, Nicoll), 56; 5.Germany (Kanstinger, Beirer,Eckenbach), 57; 6.Australia (Byrne, Reed, McFarlane), 73; 7.Sweden (Johansson, Karlsson, Lindhe), 73; 8.Portugal (Goncalves, Rodrigues, Goncalves), 80; 9.South Africa (Swanepoel, Hunt, Dugmore), 90; 10.Finland (Pyrhonen, Vehvilainen, Aaltonen), 94; 11.Estonia, 99; 12.Czech Republic, 104; 13.Slovenia, 109; 14.Ireland, 113; 15.Netherlands, 113; 16.Spain, 115; 17.Italy, 116; 18.Latvia, 125; 19.Denmark, 130; 20.Switzerland, 149.