Kawasaki riders win all three motos and Team USA takes overall victory at the 2008 Motocross of Nations held at Donington Park in Great Britain.
If the 2008 Motocross of Nations proved anything it’s that team work is a vitally important ingredient for success. That’s why Team USA – that this year consisted of James Stewart, Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry who were all mounted on Kawasaki race machines – became champions of the Motocross of Nations for the 19th time.
Lead by AMA motocross champions Stewart and Villopoto with Ferry riding shotgun the team who were supported logistically in Britain by Kawasaki Motors UK heavily relied upon team work to get the job done in this year’s race as all three riders had a tough time of it in one moto or another.
For Villopoto it was the opening mixed-capacity moto – MX1/MX2 – that would prove to be the most difficult. Hit from behind by another rider on the opening lap of the race the 20-year-old came from last to 10th in an awesome display of riding skill and exceptional engineering as the three-time AMA Lites champion and his KX250F worked together perfectly throughout the 30-minute plus two lap moto.
While Villopoto had a tough time of it for Stewart the first race of the day was his time to shine. Starting in second place James wasted little time in moving to the lead and from there he schooled the competition in how to ride around the rough and rutted Donington Park circuit.
Moto two was all about Villopoto as he worked his way into the lead on lap one then set about working on extending the gap between himself and the competition. Setting the fastest lap in the mixed field of 250 and 450cc four-stroke machines Ryan would finally finish a massive 24 seconds ahead of the pack – the biggest winning margin of the day.
While Villopoto dominated the MX2/Open moto, Ferry put in a workmanlike performance to progress from 13th to ninth at the finish. Tim would put that result behind him in the next encounter – MX1/Open – though to finish a fighting fifth and that ensured he not only took the Open class individual overall honours but also that both his scores would count towards Team USA’s final total of five results from six.
Surprisingly it was Stewart who’d provide the throw away score for the team as after he lead the second race by 10 seconds – following a brief skirmish with Sebastien Pourcel – he cross-rutted and took a fall. Taking almost a lap to restart his bike James finally finished in 23rd not that it mattered to the final classification as Team USA won the overall in the team event by five points ahead of France.
“Even though I didn’t have a great second moto I’m really happy with my weekend,” said James. “I’m pleased to have won a race here in England and I would have won that second one too if I hadn’t thrown it away but still the team won and overall it’s been a great day.
“The first race went okay, I had a pretty decent start and I got around the leaders in a few laps. After I grabbed the lead for the first time I had a pretty good battle with Philippaerts for a while but I ended up making a pass stick and then pulling away and winning – that was good.
“In the second race I got another good start and I was battling with Pourcel this time but I was able to pull away again until I threw it away with just a couple of laps to go when I got a little cross rutted and jumped onto a hay bale – that ended my hopes of winning that moto right there.”
Villopoto also lamented a difficult race – in his case the first that yielded a 10th place finish – Team USA’s lowest counting position on the day.
“That first moto was a little rough,” said Ryan. “I got a decent start and I was running third but then in one of the turns I was just blasted from behind. That meant I had to work my way forward from last. It was hard to come through with the track the way it was and some of the guys were a little squirrely and that made it hard to predict what they’d do too – it was definitely a tough race.
“I got another good start in moto two – I got away second and then worked my way into the lead. From there I just worked on creating a big gap – in the end I had a decent lead and I was able to cruise to the finish line.
“It was great to win – it was a real team deal. It was a lot tougher than last year but we all pulled together and it all came good in the end. The team, my bike and the weekend were just awesome – there are no other words to describe them.”
And Open class overall winner Ferry was equally pumped. “Today was amazing,” said Tim. “It was really cool to win my class again but the biggest thing was we all worked together well as a team – we all had one bad moto but the other guys were there to pull us through. We definitely won as a team and that’s what this race is all about – it has nothing to do with individuality.
“I’m really happy with myself, for the team and for Kawasaki too. Kawasaki won all three races today and that says a lot about all the work the team does back home in America and also about Kawasaki as a brand.”
While it was Team USA who won the event overall riding their 2008 model AMA championship-winning race-machines it was French sensation Sebastien Pourcel who piloted the 2009 fuel injection model KX450F to victory in the premier MX1 division with a superb 2-1 scorecard against some exceptionally stiff competition.
Sebastien’s excellent results on the day proved that the ongoing development work that Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Motors Europe, the Kawasaki Racing Team and the Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing team as well as visiting technicians from Japan have all carried out with the all-new 2009 model bike is really paying dividends.
For Pourcel his race weekend began well with second place in his qualification heat. The good form continued when he took a great start in the first moto despite offering up the prime starting position on the gate to his MX2 team-mate. Fifth in the early going, Sebastien soon powered through the pack to reach the runner-up spot on lap six which is where he would stay until the end.
Moto two saw an exciting battle between Pourcel and Stewart develop in the early laps as the Kawasaki pairing fought tooth and nail for the premier position on the rutted racetrack. The two traded places several times before the American rider pulled out a small gap ahead of the Frenchman but when Stewart cross-rutted and had a small crash the deal was sealed for Sebastien who went on to take the race win even though Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tanel Leok applied some serious pressure in the closing laps.
“I had a great weekend,” said Sebastien. “This win in the MX1 class at the Motocross of Nations has an especially sweet taste. This race is not only an exceptional event but now I’m also the first rider to beat James Stewart during 2008 in a Motocross race.
“I’m glad to offer this success to the engineers who worked with us on the 2009 KX450F fuel injection bike, to our mechanics and to all the team staff who never gave up despite me having average results during the last few Grand Prix.
“This weekend I posted the second best time during the practice session and then I finished second in my qualifying race too.
“I was second in the first moto then during my last race I gave everything I could in the first part of the heat after I got a great start behind Stewart. I tried to follow him and I even passed him for the lead but he had a better rhythm than me and he passed me back. I was about 10 seconds behind him when he crashed out of the lead.
“I took over at the front and in the last laps I was focused to secure my race win and also second place overall for the French team. Leok came close on the last few laps but I took the inside in the corners and defended my line – he tried to pass me on the last but he crashed and victory was mine.”
For Tanel Leok second place in the final moto was a fitting end to an increasingly successful year for the Estonian rider who also won his first ever MX1 Grand Prix with Kawasaki’s flagship motocross outfit – the Martin van Genderen managed Kawasaki Racing Team – in 2008.
Bouncing back from a difficult first race Leok was at his best in the final moto of the day as the circuit was at its roughest and most technical. Utilising the awesome power of the KX450F-SR along with his exceptional fitness and attacking riding style, Tanel was able to close the gap between himself and Pourcel as the race progressed but was unable to make a move for the lead before the end of the 30-minute plus two lap race. Even though Tanel crashed on the final lap the lead Pourcel and he had over the rest of the pack ensured that the final race of the day would end excellently with a Kawasaki 1-2.
“The first race was nothing special for me but the second race was really good,” said Tanel. “I got quite a good start – I was around eighth – and I was able to make a lot of passes early on and then push hard for the whole race because my fitness is so good.
“I was riding well but I could have ridden a lot better, I was making a lot of mistakes because the track was quite hard to ride with many ruts in it – it was difficult but that’s good for me because I like difficult tracks.
“At the end I was very close to Pourcel and I set myself up to make a pass on him on the last lap. He closed me off in a corner and I touched him a little bit by accident and I crashed – still second place is quite okay and it was a great end to my year.”
2008 Motocross of Nations Results:??
MX1/ MX2:
1. James Stewart (Kawasaki - USA) 35:25.692
2. Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) +0:21.030
3. David Philippaerts (Yamaha - ITA) +0:33.076
4. Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:35.481
5. Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:44.913
6. Billy MacKenzie (Honda - GB) +0:50.640
7. Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:52.266
8. Ken de Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:52.266
9. Tommy Searle (KTM - GB) +0:52.901
10. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki - USA) +0:53.267 ??
MX2/ Open:
1. Ryan Villopoto (Kawasaki - USA) 36:14.798
2. Steve Ramon (Suzuki - BEL) +0:24.632
3. Tommy Searle (KTM - GB) +0:25.490
4. Cody Cooper (Suzuki - NZL) +0:27.281
5. Alex Salvini (Suzuki - ITA) +0:39.243
6. Zach Osborne (Yamaha - PUR) +0:46.750
7. Nico Aubin (Yamaha - FRA) +0:48.469
8. Michael Byrne (Suzuki - AUS) +0:49.480
9. Tim Ferry (Kawasaki - USA) +0:51.446
10. Brett Metcalfe (Kawasaki - AUS) +1:05.336??
MX1/ Open:
1. Sebastien Pourcel (Kawasaki - FRA) 35:55.949
2. Tanel Leok (Kawasaki - EST) +0:05.763
3. Max Nagl (KTM - GER) +0:26.044
4. Ken de Dycker (Suzuki - BEL) +0:37.085
5. Tim Ferry (Kawasaki - USA) +0:40.251
6. Josh Coppins (Yamaha - NZL) +0:42.053
7. Julien Bill (Honda - SUI) +0:42.641
8. Chad Reed (Suzuki - AUS) +0:43.527
9. Jonathan Barragan (KTM - ESP) +0:53.260
10. Nico Aubin (Yamaha - FRA) +0:57.885
??Motocross of Nation Overall:
1. USA (Stewart/Villopoto/Ferry) 26 points
2. France (Pourcel/Boissiere/Aubin) 31
3. Belgium (De Dycker/Van Horebeek/Ramon) 41
4. Great Britain (MacKenzie/Searle/Simpson) 42
5. Italy (Philippaerts/Monni/Salvini) 45
6. Australia (Reed/Byrne/Metcalfe) 55
7. Spain (Barragan/Campano/Lazano) 58
8. New Zealand (Coppins/Columb/Cooper) 63
9. Switzerland (Bill/Tonus/Wicht) 82
10. Germany (Nagl/Siegl/Chittaro) 96
