It was a superb weekend for Dunlop riders at the annual Motocross of Nations event in Latvia, where competitors using the popular Geomax MX-32 front and Geomax MX11 sand tyre rear really outshone the competition.
Dunlop riders made up 22 of the 102 individual competitors, representing 13 of the 34 nations present.
Czech Republic:
Martin Michek rode for the Czech Republic in the Open class. The KTM rider was 16th in free practice and initially was seventh in qualifying, ultimately dropping to 11th. His teammates did not do so well and the team qualified for the B Final in which Michel finished third with the team as a whole being classified 25th.
Finland:
Ludvig Söderberg rode in the MX2 class with his team-mate Santtu Tiainen in the open class. Both rode Husqvarna bikes shod with Dunlop tyres. After qualifying 19th, the pair struggled to finish any higher up the field, and after the three motos, Finland were classified 16th overall.
France:
France took the big prize with the title, but Dunlop tyres powered Gautier Paulin and Steven Frossard (both Kawasaki) to the individual MXGP and Open class titles respectively. Gautier took wins in his qualifying race and both of the motos in which he raced, with Steven finishing second and fourth in his two races. Gautier also took a fastest race lap in moto one. It is Team France’s second ever win, the first being in 2001.
Germany:
Max Nagl started the weekend well with a third place in free practice and fourth in his qualifying heat. He was on good form in his two motos finishing third in race one. However, a fall in his second race whilst in fourth place meant a recovery and 12th placed finish was the best he could manage in the remaining 15 minutes. His results helped the team finish in fifth place.
Great Britain:
Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) had a fantastic event, narrowly missing a podium finish for the team. Dean finished second in his Open class qualifying heat going on to finish third and fifth in his two races making him the highest performer on the team. Despite tying on points with third place finishers Team USA, Team Great Britain was classified in fourth due to finishing position regulations.
Ireland:
Gordon Crockard stood in at the last minute for team Ireland in the MXGP class. The Kawasaki rider finished 25th in his qualifying heat but could only manage 30th and 37th in his two races. Team Ireland were classified 19th.
Latvia:
Team Latvia finished 12th at their home event with Roberts Justs choosing Dunlop tyres for his Husqvarna bike. Roberts rode in the Open class, finishing 13th in his qualifying heat but only managing 22nd and 27th in his motos.
Slovenia:
Gercar Klemen raced for Slovenia in the MXGP class, finishing 16th in his qualifying heat. Gercar, racing on his Dunlop-shod Honda, finished 28th and 31st in his races with the team being classified 20th overall. Team Slovenia were disadvantaged by having no third rider due to his team-mate breaking two vertebrae in practice and being declared unfit to race.
Sweden:
Team Sweden just missed a top-ten finish at the MXoN event after both riders put in top six results. Frederik Noren rode his Honda in the Open class while Filip Bengtsson was on his KTM for the MXGP races. The team qualified 13th. Filip finished sixth in his first race but crashed while in sixth in the second moto, a result that could potentially have put the team as high as sixth in the results. Fredrik was fifth in his first race and 17th in the final moto.
Dunlop had some impressive statistics come the end of the event, including:
- 2 wins from 3 as Gautier Paulin took the 1st & 3rd motos.
- All 3 fastest race laps
- Four teams in the top five (France, USA, Britain & Germany)
- Four riders in the top six finishers in all motos.
- Five podium places out of a possible 9
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