Yamaha Riders Win at 2016 Motocross of Nations

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Team France won the 2016 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations at Italy's #maggiora Park on Sunday, with top results from Monster Energy #yamaha Factory MXGP rider Romain Febvre and Kemea #yamaha Official MX Team rider Benoit Paturel in a dramatic three-moto combined-class competition against the world's top motocross nations.

Febvre's trade-teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek won the overall MX2 competition on a #yamaha YZ250F for Team Belgium and led his country to fourth overall in front of more than 50,000 fans on a bright, sunny day near the northern lakes of Italy's Piemonte region.

Febvre won the first #moto of the day, a combined heat of MXGP and MX2 riders, charging up from a start in fifth to pass Canadian Kaven Benoit and Dutch rider Glenn Coldenhoff before settling in behind home favorite Antonio Cairoli. When the Italian made a mistake on a descent and came off his bike, Romain passed quickly and never looked back, posting the fastest lap time of the day along the way. Paturel finished 14th.

Van Horebeek started alongside Febvre on a YZ250F that was tuned and engineered especially for him during the week by Monster Energy #yamaha Factory Team mechanics, and finished fifth against the mixed field, the top result for an MX2 rider.

Kemea #yamaha MX Team rider Valentin Guillod injured his right index finger in qualifying on Saturday and needed five stitches to close the wound, which left him at a disadvantage on Sunday. The rookie MXGP motocrosser took his YZ450F to 13th in the first #moto but found himeslf disappointed with the result. Wilvo Standing Construct rider Alvin Östlund struggled with the mixed riding group in the first race and finished 19th. In his second outing Guillod finished 16th.

In the second race it was again Van Horebeek ahead of the MX2 field, finishing seventh to win the category, with fellow countryman Brent Van doninck of Kemea #yamaha MX Team crashing twice to finish 39th and out of the points, which left Team Belgium at a disadvantage as Paturel crossed the line 10th with his OPEN field teammate Gautier Paulin posting a top result in third to put #teamfrance ahead in the rankings.

In the third and final heat Team USA and Team Netherlands pulled away and into a commanding 1-2 lead as Febvre started back in 13th and had to work for the full 30 minutes to catch up. In the final three laps the French rider, who won the individual MXGP classification at the 2015 Motocross of Nations on the way to claiming France's second consecutive victory, passed Cooper Webb of Team USA in a dramatic head to head battle and then shot off after Team Great Britain's Tommy Searle on the last lap to finish ahead of the Briton in fourth overall.

Team France won its third consecutive Motocross of Nations with a combined minimum aggregate of 29 points, ahead of Team Netherlands at 30 points and Team USA at 33 points. Team Belgium finished a close fourth with 36 points, with hosts Team Italy at fifth with 44 points, taking the tiebreaker on rankings ahead of Team Switzerland.

Results

Race 1 MXGP/MX2

Romain Febvre FRA
Antonio Cairoli ITA
Kevin Strijbos BEL
Cooper Web USA
Jeremy Van Horebeek BEL
Glenn Coldenhoff NED
Todd Waters AUS
Kaven Benoit CAN
Alex Martin USA
Cody Cooper NZL
Race 2 MX2/OPEN

Jason Anderson USA
Jeffrey Herlings NED
Gautier Paulin FRA
Arnaud Tonus SUI
Dean Ferris AUS
Shaun Simpson GBR
Jeremy Van Horebeek BEL
Jeremy Seewer SUI
Alex Martin USA
Benoit Paturel FRA
Race 3 MXGP/OPEN

Jeffrey Herlings NED
Antonio Cairoli ITA
Kevin Strijbos BEL
Romain Febvre FRA
Tommy Searle GBR
Evgeniy Bobryshev RUS
Glenn Coldenhoff NED
Arnaud Tonus SUI
Jose Butron ESP
Cooper Webb USA
Nations Overall

France 29pts
Netherlands 30pts
USA 33pts
Belgium 36pts
Italy 44pts
Switzerland 44pts
Great Britain 73pts
Australia 76pts
Estonia 93pts
Canada 95pts

Romain Febvre - #teamfrance Romain Febvre
Team France

"I didn't realize that we had won when I passed in the final lap, I just saw the sign very quickly that we were in second place. It's a great feeling to win again."

"I was riding like at the beginning of the season this weekend, and to start Sunday with a win is unbelieveable. I just felt so free on the YZ450FM."
Jeremy Van Horebeek - Team Belgium Jeremy Van Horebeek
Team Belgium

"I won MX2, but the goal here was for the national team, so it's a pity that we missed the podium. Michele and the team really did an awesome job to get the YZ250F ready for me, and I'm happy for the result."

"It's a big atmosphere here at the Motocross of Nations. Every year is better and better, new #people, a new country. I really enjoy the race."
Cooper Webb - Team USA Cooper Webb
Team USA

"I'm proud of the way we turned things around from Saturday. We struggled a bit with qualifying and getting used to the track here, and we raced really well on Sunday. The crowd here in the Motocross of Nations is so amazing and it's a great feeling out there to race for them and hear their support. But it's going to take a long time to get over what happened in the race today, and I'm really crushed to go out like I did."
Valentin Guillod - Team Switzerland Valentin Guillod
Team Switzerland

"It's the biggest #event in the world of motocross, with all of the fans supporting their country, so it's awesome. The track is a bit slippery but it's very fast."

"In the qualifying race I cut my hand and got five stitches when somebody hit me full gas in the first lap, and so I wasn't able to ride at my top level. I'm disappointed because I can ride faster than what I did today."
Alvin Östlund - Team Sweden Alvin Östlund
Team Sweden

"It's a lot of spectators and always nice to be on the track for them, and there's also a lot of good riders on the track, so it's tough. In qualifying I had a really good start, but we found out today the settings were a little bit off, so we changed them for the second race and did a lot better."
Benoit Paturel - #teamfrance Benoit Paturel
Team France

"For me the experience here was great, and I want to thank my teammates and the mechanics for perparing the bike this week on the track at #maggiora. All season we worked together with Jacky Vimond my trainer and the mechanics to improve in MX2 and to get better. Today at Motocross of Nations was a good day for me and a great day for #yamaha and France."
Brent Van doninck - Team Belgium Brent Van doninck
Team Belgium

"In my first heat I crashed twice, first was small but the second was pretty big, and I hurt myself and my head. But I didn't get any points. In the second race I crashed again, but I got back on and got some points."

"I had one week to get used to the YZ450F, but it was difficult to race for me because I am a YZ250F rider normally. I really like it, and I like the Motocross of Nations even more, but I would like to race it again next year with more time on the bike first."
Alex Martin - Team USA Alex Martin
Team USA

"We were in the hunt down to the last lap today, and it's no secret that we had a lot of adversity yesterday and today. But it's a really cool #event to be part of and have two top 10 finishes today. Congrats to #teamfrance and Team Netherlands today, this was a great weekend and I'm proud to take part in it."