The 2011 Motocross des Nations was held at the Saint-Jean d’Angély circuit in France, exactly 10 years after the hosting country’s very first victory in the World Motocross Teams event in 2001, on home soil in Namur.

So, the French were dreaming of a second win, with the powerhouse US Team their strongest opposition. Since winning their first MXDN’s in 1981 at Bielstein in West Germany, the Americans went on to dominate this event and win it 21 times – thirteen in a row between 1981 and 1993, winning the last six in a row between 2006 to 2010.

But at the Saint-Jean d’Angély circuit, on 18 September 2011 the French had to settle for second with the US Team winning for the 22nd time (7th in a row!) ahead of Australia.

For the first time in its history, the Aussies finished on the podium led by Chad Reed (MX1 Honda) – who won the first Moto – Matt Moss (MX2, KTM) and Brett Metcalfe (Open, Suzuki).

Americans Ryan Villopoto (Open, Kawasaki) and Ryan Dungey (MX1, Suzuki) were unstoppable with both winning their respective classes and clinching the overall victory for Team USA with a 1-2 finish in moto 3.

Moto 1 - MX1/MX2: In the first moto between MX1 and MX2 drivers, Chad Reed got the Aussies off to the perfect start winning the race ahead of German Ken Roczen (MX1, KTM) ahead of Dungey in third. It was not an ideal start for the favourite USA Team with Blake Bagget (MX2, Kawasaki) having to settle for 17th place. MX1 World Champion Antonio Cairoli showed Dungey in qualifying that he would be a threat.

But the Italian injured his hand in the first round after a fall at the start and struggled with pain throughout and had to throw in the towel, going to hospital after the event. Australian MX2 rider Matt Moss (KTM) finished 19th with the Aussies in third overall behind Great Britain and France, and ahead of the United States in fourth.

Moto 2 - Open/MX2: Frenchman Gautier Paulin led the start of Moto 2 for the Open and MX2 categories. However, Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings (Open, KTM) soon took the lead, while Villopoto got a bad start and was stuck in the pack. The US champion, however, stormed through the field to finish third behind Paulin and Herlings, after the Frenchman snatched back the lead.

Strijbos, who was in fourth for most of the race, gave way to Roczen at the end of the race and had to settle for 5th place. Belgium rider Joël Roelants (KTM) finished in 11th place to elevate the Belgian team to third overall position behind the French and US Teams. Australian Brett Metcalfe finished a creditable seventh, but with Matt Moss not finishing, the Aussies gave up their promising Top 3 position.

Moto 3 - Open/MX1: Australian Chad Reedfinished 1-7 at the 2011 French Motocross des Nations to lead the Aussies to third. Heading into the final moto, the US Team knew that to take home the famous Chamberlain Trophy for the seventh year in a row, they simply had to beat the two French riders, which they did.

Villopoto and Dungey finished 1-2 (26 points) to relegate the French Team to second overall (39 points), after Christophe Pourcel had a big fall on the top of the circuit and Paulin could only manage 8th place, behind Chad Reed. Reed finished seventh and Metcalfe 10th, to give the Australian Team its first ever podium finish since first competing at the MXDN’s back in 1984 in Sweden. They finished third overall on 44 points, two points ahead of Great Britain (46 points) and Belgium (54 points) in 4th and 5th, respectively.

2011 MXoN Team Placings and Race results: Saint-Jean d'Angély, France

Nations Top 10

1. USA, 26 points

2. France, 39

3. Australia, 44

4. Great Britain, 46

5. Belgium, 54

6. Rep. of South Africa, 56

7. Germany, 68

8. Spain, 68

9. The Netherlands, 81

10. Estonia, 86

Race 1 (MX1/MX2) Top 10

1. Chad Reed (AUS, Honda)

2. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM)

3. Ryan Dungey (USA, Suzuki)

4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki)

5. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki)

6. Tanel Leok (EST, TM)

7. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, Kawasaki)

8. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM)

9. Dean Wilson (GBR, Kawasaki)

10. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM)

Moto 2 (Open/MX2) Top 10

1. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha)

2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM)

3. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki)

4. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM)

5. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki)

6. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Yamaha)

7. Brett Metcalfe (AUS, Suzuki)

8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki)

9. Carlos Campano (ESP, Yamaha)

10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha)

Race 3 (Open/MX1) Top 10

1. Ryan Villopoto (USA, Kawasaki)

2. Ryan Dungey (USA, Suzuki)

3. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki)

4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki)

5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Kawasaki)

6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda)

7. Chad Reed (AUS, Honda)

8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha)

9. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM)

10. Brett Metcalfe (AUS, Suzuki)

MX1 Classification

1. Ryan Dungey, Suzuki USA (3-2) 5

2. Tyla Rattray Kawasaki RSA (5-3) 8

3. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR (4-4) 8

4. Chad Reed Honda AUS 1-7 (8)

5. Tanel Leok TM EST 6 -2 (18)

6. Jonathan Barragan Kawasaki ESP 7-14 (21)

7. Rui Goncalves Honda POR 12-16 (28)

8. Yoshitaka Atsuta Suzuki JPN 13-17 (30)

9. Marvin van Daele Honda BEL 16-20 (36)

10. Antti Pyrhönen Honda FIN 14-23 (37)

MX2 Classification

1. Ken Roczen KTM GER 2-4 (6)

2. Marvin Musquin KTM FRA 8-11 (19)

3. Joel Roelants KTM BEL 10-12 (22)

4. Blake Baggett Kawasaki USA 17-17 (34)

5. Dean Wilson Kawasaki GBR 9-27 (36)

6. Donny Bastemeijer Honda NED 23-21 (44)

7. Shannon Terreblance Honda RSA 24-24 (48)

8. Stuart Edmunds TM IRL 26-26 (52)

9. Priit Rätsep Honda EST 18-34 (52)

10. Aleksandr Tonkov Yamaha MFR 37-18 (55)

19. Matt Moss KTM AUS 19-0 (19)

Open Classification

1. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 3-1 (4)

2. Gautier Paulin Yamaha FRA 1-8 (9)

3. Jeffrey Herlings KTM NED 2-9 (11)

4. Davide Guarneri Kawasaki ITA 8-5 (13)

5. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 5-11 (16)

6. Brett Metcalfe Suzuki AUS 7-10 (17)

7. Arnaud Tonus Yamaha SUI 10-13 (23)

8. Gareth Swanepoel Yamaha RSA 6-18 (24)

9. Carlos Campano Yamaha ESP 9-19 (28)

10. Brad Anderson Honda GBR 14-15 (29)

Ray Archer image