Image: Supplied.

After an extended time on the sidelines with injury, Christian Craig made his racing return at Ernee to represent Team USA at the Motocross of Nations and was eighth overall in the Open category.

Craig was ruled out at the Glendale 450SX round back in early April, missing the remainder of the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) following a recovery setback.

Making a welcome return to competition in stepping up for the defending champions, Team USA, Saturday’s qualifying race in France saw him claim a hard-fought fifth-place finish, before posting a P16 result in the Open and MX2 moto to commence Sunday.

Going down in race three off the start placed the number three deep in the pack, with the Californian salvaging a P20 result in the MXGP and Open moto, which earned him eighth overall in the Open category to complete the weekend. That also resulted in Team USA claiming P8 in the Nations classification.

“It was everything I guess I expected, from the chaos to the craziness, the excitement, and the pressure of being the defending champions,” Craig commented. “Shoutout to the whole support group of Team USA, we couldn’t have done it without them, everyone being there for us and we were one big team.

“RJ [Hampshire] and AP [Aaron Plessinger] did the best they could, they rode great and, unfortunately, I just came up a little short. I put myself in a good position in the second moto, just fell on the start, and the rest was kind of history. To experience this was unreal, I will always put my hand up to put myself in the hat to be here and will always relish this moment, win or lose.

“It stings, but we have to learn from it. All-in-all, it was a really cool experience, would have been better to stand on that podium, but it is what it is and we’ll try to be better next time out.”

The MXoN provided Craig with an important chance to get gate-drops in before the off-season, with the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship to commence at Angel Stadium, Anaheim, on Saturday, 6 January.