The 74th edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations took place at Mantova over the last weekend and saw Team GB claim third overall.
After being awarded 16th position for the qualifying races on Saturday, Team GB qualified for Sunday’s main event in fourth place in a three-way tie for second place on 5 points. MXGP rider Ben Watson finished his qualifying heat in second after leading the race. MX2 rider Conrad Mewse backed up Watson with a third-place finish, while MX Open rider Shaun Simpson suffered an early race crash and finished in 20th.
Despite the heavy downpour and the thunderstorm that rocked the day from the first warm up session until the final race of the day, this didn’t hinder the support of the crowd of fans that turned out to support their nations as Italy took victory from Team Netherlands who finished just one point behind the victors (38 points) and Team Great Britain who obtained their fourth consecutive podium to finish third overall on 39 points.
As the gate dropped for the first race of the day, it was Ben Watson who was the leading Team GB rider inside the top 10 and quickly moved forward to the front of the field and claimed a well-deserved third place, while teammate Conrad Mewse rode well in the heavy conditions to take 22nd place on the MX2 machine.
In the second heat Shaun Simpson battled on to secure a solid 12th place finish, while riding with an injured thumb following his crash the previous day. Conrad also produced a great result to secure 14th place in the MX2 machine, which saw Team GB head into the final race in third place.
The third and final race, like always, was the most important. It was the decider for the team who will take victory, as well as the teams who were going to join the victors on the podium. Team Italy entered the final race with a solid 19-point lead over Team Belgium who were second at the time, with Team Great Britain third and looking to stay in the fight for the podium.
And as the gate dropped, there was plenty of drama that unfolded which saw the nations classifications change for the final time, keeping the final order in question until the end of the race.
In the final heat of the day, it was Team Great Britain’s Ben Watson with the Fox Holeshot, but once again it was Herlings who muscled his way to the front, with Cairoli managing to squeeze past Watson also. Later in the race Watson was another rider to get caught out by the rough track, with the Brit going down big. Luckily, he was able to get going quickly and only lost a position to Coldenhoff.
Watson finished the race in fourth place with teammate Simpson backing him up in a great sixth place. The results were enough to see Team GB claim third overall for the fourth consecutive podium and narrowly missed out on victory by just two points.
Watson’s 3-4 scorecard also saw the MXGP rider claim the MXGP class overall victory and a Holeshot in the final moto, while Mewse finish sixth overall in the MX2 class and Simpson was third overall in the MX Open class.