A commanding performance from Eli Tomac (MXGP), Justin Cooper (MX2) and Chase Sexton (Open) saw Team USA make a long-awaited return to the top step at the 2022 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations (MXoN), with Team France trio Maxime Renaux (MXGP), Marvin Musquin (MX2) and Dylan Ferrandis (Open) impressing at RedBud with P2 as Team Australia stood on the rostrum for the second time ever at the event thanks to the efforts of Mitch Evans (MXGP), Hunter Lawrence (MX2) and Jett Lawrence (Open). In this special edition of Debrief, riders from the podium nations share their thoughts after Sunday’s races. 

Team USA

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac (MXGP):
First off, I just want to say I’m so proud of my teammates. This event is truly a team event and there is no race like this. When we woke up to rain this morning, I thought ‘uh-oh, this could really level the playing field’, but we came through strong, even in these muddy conditions. We’ve waited 11-years for this. It’s a long time to wait, so this is very special to us. I know these don’t come easy and they don’t come often. I think back to the beginning of the day and beginning of the weekend… It felt great with the team, we had a great team atmosphere, great team effort and with the racing today we all pulled our own weight and put in those solid motos, those solid scores. I’ve got to give it up to Chase and Justin, this is an awesome one to win.

Justin Cooper (MX2):
Everything came together for us. We had six solid motos as a team and everyone was working so good together – the crowd was behind us the whole time. It was an awesome weekend… I would never take this for granted. This is very special to us and it’s been 11 years, that’s been pretty dented in our heads and it was long overdue. To get it done is very relieving and I’m proud of the guys for holding up. I had a lot of pressure this weekend. First, with the race being here in the US and then with how it went for me in 2019 was weighing on my mind. It was quite a stressful day, but I really had to focus – I just did my best to hang with these 450 guys. Overall, it was a fun day and the rain made it really tough to ride. After the result in the first race, I did my best to get off the gate good in the second race and get closer to the top-five, which was something I was able to accomplish. It put our team in a good position and I hoped it would take the weight off my teammates going into the final race, which it did. Everything went to plan, so I am super-pumped. I’ve just got to give it up to the team and my teammates.

Chase Sexton (Open):
This whole weekend has been a dream come true. Being my birthday, it all worked out. First one, first win, you can’t take that for granted as Eli [Tomac] said – they don’t come very often and I’m just so happy. That last race, going off the start was key to get out there, and it was a nerve-racking race. I just wanted to get it to the finish, so I’m stoked on today, stoked on the crowd and I can’t really explain… I’m just lost for words right now.

Team France

Image: Supplied.

Maxime Renaux (MXGP):
It’s amazing as a personal result, but we come to the Motocross of Nations as a team, for sure we were disappointed as we wanted to win so badly but USA was really strong and we couldn’t do anything about it. I’m really happy personally, I did my job and got two great starts, one holeshot, one race win and won the MXGP class so it’s amazing for me, and really happy with my teammates, such a great feeling to be with them and I really want to give a big shoutout to them.

Marvin Musquin (MX2):
I knew my teammates, they were really good, so I’m really proud. Obviously the second moto the track conditions were very difficult… I wish we raced same as yesterday, it would have been awesome and better for us. Also for me, the conditions were tough for me on the 250. I gave my best and I rode better and better, but a little bit disappointed, to be honest. Second place is a good result, but we were fighting and wanted to win. It was a great opportunity and honor to represent my country. I got the call to ride the 250 while I was on vacation and it seemed a bit crazy, but I wanted to go for it, so I trained and prepared and it was definitely a bit easier riding on Saturday compared to Sunday. I had two super-strong teammates. I’m a little disappointed with my results, but I gave my best and all I had. It is amazing to be up here and on the podium with Team France again.

Dylan Ferrandis (Open):
I gave everything for the team, for sure, but what a frustration for the second moto, getting the holeshot, leading the moto pretty easy and feeling so comfortable on the bike then threw away the moto win with a stupid crash. Very, very frustrated, but I regrouped and gave it everything I had – I think we saved the second position and Team USA was very strong this year, we respect that. Next year will be in France and it will be something else, we will have the country behind us and we will be on home soil. It’s going to be different for them, but anyways, thanks to my teammates, the French federation and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing did such a great job, my bike was awesome.

Team Australia

Image: Supplied.

Mitch Evans (MXGP):
It is great to get on the podium with Team Australia. It hasn’t happened much in our history, so to be part of a team that’s done it is a massive honour. The first moto went well, just rode a nice consistent race and kept a good pace throughout. I knew it was important to get us off to a good start and together with Hunter we did that in race one. Jett and Hunter then did a great race two to give us a solid shot at the podium, and that’s what happened in race three. I would have liked to have done a bit better but its motocross and anything can happen, but thankfully we still did well enough to land on the podium. A big thank you to all of the team for the job they did in what ended up being really tough conditions, and I can’t wait to be part of this event again, where we will try to do even better.

Hunter Lawrence (MX2):
Everyone rode awesome, they left it all on the track and no one gave up regardless of what happened. We’ve got some good years to come and this is a great year to kick off, first time we are on the team together so we are looking forward to it, it’s going to be a good few years ahead of us.

Jett Lawrence (Open):
It was really good. That second one, I felt not too bad – not the greatest start – and had a little trouble with my goggles near the end, which was a bit of a bummer as my pace would’ve been faster. I’m happy to be on the box for my first year and happy I got the overall win in Open. I can’t wait for next year… I feel like we have a really good team and you’ll be seeing a lot of us in the next few years. Hopefully, we do better and better each year!