There was barely room to move around the Talkessel circuit at Teutschenthal in Germany as the 47-year-old venue heaved under the pressure of a bumper crowd wedged onto the banking sections for the 67th Motocross of Nations.
Team USA was outclassed by the Belgiums who won for the first time since 2004 and thanks to the undoubted talent of MXGP World Champion Tony Cairoli, Team Italy took the last step on the podium.
Both France and Team GB improved on last year’s MXoN with Team France taking fifth and the Brits coming in sixth, two places higher than 2012. But the Aussies had arguably the biggest improvement from last year with an in form Dean Ferris helping the team push into fourth.
Motocross of Nations Classification:
1. Belgium (De Dycker, Desalle, Van Horebeek) 27
2. USA (Barcia, Dungey, Tomac) 30
3. Italy (Cairoli, Lupino, Philippaerts) 33
4. Australia (Ferris, Metcalfe, Waters) 40
5. France (Charlier, Paulin, Tixier) 44
6. GB (Searle, Nicholls, Simpson) 49
