Belgium won the 2013 Motocross of Nations in Germany’s Teutschenthal in a typical last lap thriller that decided their win in front of USA in second place and Italy in third. KTM factory riders Ken de Dycker, Ryan Dungey and Tony Cairoli all answered the challenge of this important nations competition in a result that went down to the wire.
KTM’s Tony Cairoli (Team Italy) and Ken Roczen (Team Germany) were the stand out riders in their respective Mx1 and MX2 classes. Cairoli secured victory in both of his races with his usual tactical precision on the KTM 350 SX-F. Roczen, who rode with the additional pressure of being in the title-holding team finished with 2-1. He took an amazing victory after a cliff-hanger race two where he was challenged right to the flag by American Eli Tomac.
Tony Cairoli paid tribute to his team and said it had been “just an amazing weekend.” “It was our goal to finish on the podium but there are so many good teams. My dream was to finish on the podium and this is the first time in the eight years I have been riding for Italy that we made it. It was like a victory for us. My own goal was to win both my races and the MX1 class and I managed that.”
Ken Roczen said it had been a great experience and paid tribute to the fans at the Teutschenthal Talkessel circuit. “I didn’t feel so good in the first moto but I had a good start in the second and Eli (Tomac) and I were hammering down the whole moto. It was very important for me to win a moto and overall I’m very happy with my performance. I reached my personal goal and the fans were great.”
Team Belgium (Ken de Dycker, MX1 – KTM), Jeremy van Horebeek, MX2 and Clement Desalle – Open) leave the competition with the coveted Chamberlain Cup, which they last won in 2004. Their win was a rollercoaster of emotions when at the beginning of the final race, Clement Desalle was involved in a crash and has to withdraw with a dislocated shoulder. The team first thought their chances of winning were over but de Dycker went on the charge in the final laps to finish and impressive second behind KTM teammate Cairoli.
Ken de Dycker said racing the MXoN was special and admitted he had made “a few mistakes’. “For sure its nice to win the MXoN but it it was a tough track. it was very hard and I made a few mistakes and had to be careful with choosing the lines.”
Roczen, returning from the US where he now races in the AMA championships had a great day even though he had been suffering from arm pump over the weekend. He rose to the occasion in front of his home crowd, first finishing second behind Cairoli in the opening MX1 & MX2 race before coming back to take the win in the second race against his rival Tomac.
For the USA, KTM’s Ryan Dungey picked up a 6-7 result in his two races. He had a 24-hour flight delay in arriving from the US and had little track and setup time to prepare for this event. Team USA, managed by Red Bull KTM Factory Manager Roger DeCoster and long-time owners of the Chamberlain Cup fought with their typical tenacity right to the last seconds. They finally had to settle for second, finishing with a three point deficit to Belgium. It was their second defeat in two years.
Ryan Dungey: “Second place is pretty respectable but for us it was important to win. Eli and Justin rode awesome today and I gave it all I had even though I wasn’t riding to the level I’m capable of. It was a very tough track for us. The European tracks are a little different to what we are used to.”
Motocross of Nations Classification:
