Green Flag: Battle of Nations
So, we are at the end of September and it is gradually time for the season finale: the national competitions. We'll start right away this weekend The Big One, Red Bull MX Of Nations in Thunder Valley, Denver. This means that the biggest competition of the year will take place in the United States for the second time in three years. In 2, an American Dream Team made mincemeat of the foreign teams.
There was a time when the annual performance of the Belgian National Motocross Team caused a lot of ink to flow. Just think of the discussions surrounding the non-selection of Georges Jobe for the MX Der Nations in Valkenswaard or the lack of funds for the trip to Manjimup (1992). Almost twenty years later, the newspapers pay more attention to a few cycling millionaires poor must pay their own Business Class surcharge. Perhaps that is the reason why the Belgian MX of Nations team flew under the radar of the newspapers, except for two articles on the regional sports pages. There has been absolutely little or no discussion surrounding the selection of national coach this year Joel Smets. And that was not so obvious given the difficult choice of the MX2 rider. Jeremy Van Horebeek en Joel Roelants After all, they were evenly matched, but in the end Smets chose Van Horebeek.
What is much more disturbing is that, in view of the status of motocross within the Belgian sporting system Spouse doesn't even send a summary of that Red Bull MX of Nations on the air. And okay, the real die-hard fan will watch the event through that Redbull.TV of MotorsTV, but this is certainly not a positive trend for the further development of motocross in Belgium. Especially when you consider that the “Olympics of Motocross” will take place within two years lommel are held. In other words, there is a lot of work to be done for the organizers and the BMB, which turns a century old in 2012.
MX of Nations team manager Joël Smets estimated the chances of the Belgians to be high. And if you go purely by the line-ups, that is true. With the exception of the US and Belgium, almost all potential top-10 teams had to tinker with their composition. Great Britain, which has always played an outsider role, even comes to Thunder Valley with a team consisting entirely of MxoN debutants. But Team GB does have a considerable asset in Canadian Scot Dean Wilson. Wilson stood on the 250 Class podium at the AMA National in Thunder Valley in late June. That circuit knowledge will of course come in handy, although the circuit will have undergone changes for this MXoN. In the same perspective, I think that the French will start somewhat handicapped without Christophe Pourcel. Pourcel won the 250 Class during that National and was certainly an excellent spearhead for the French. Although we should not lose sight of the fact that circuit knowledge is absolutely no guarantee of success. Rest assured that guys like Gautier Paulin, Antonio Cairoli and Steve Ramon will master any new circuit that is thrown at them in a very short time.
It is difficult to predict what we can expect on Sunday evening. There is an absolute top favorite and that is of course Team USA. In this case we even dare to sell the skin of the bear in advance. With the two reigning outdoor MX champions and the local hero on board, the Americans are almost the unbeatable team. The battle for the remaining podium places promises to be more exciting. France, Germany, Italy and Belgium appear to be the contenders for silver and bronze. But it will certainly be a strange match there in Colorado. For the first time, an MXoN will be contested at an altitude of 1700m and that will obviously play an important role. Although the four potential runners-up will of course have foreseen this and be well prepared for it. In addition to those four teams, there are at least seven teams that have at least one driver who can provide an outlier: Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Puerto Rico, Latvia and Switzerland. The chance that we will see one of these outsiders on the podium is small, but they can steal important points from the top teams. It could well remain exciting until the last meters of the third series.
It remains to be seen to what extent the Belgians can reach the podium on Sunday, but we already had the impression that last Sunday Steve Ramon de
there was only one that was more or less fresh. Clément Desalle did not make his usual impression and you may wonder whether Le Panda would have been better off skipping this, for him, completely unnecessary BC final? Jeremy Van Horebeek sat out the BC final anyway and that also raises doubts. A lot can of course change in a week, but something tells us that this time it will not be so obvious to see Team Belgium on the MXoN podium on Sunday evening.
By the way, Desalle, Ramon and Van Horebeek are not the only motor athletes who will be competing in a Team Belgium shirt on Sunday. The Sidecar Cross and Quadcross of Nations will then be held in Sverepec, Slovakia. In the Sidecar Cross of the Nations, in which Belgium is the defending champion, the Belgian team is once again completely Antwerp-tinged: Joris Hendrickx-Kaspars Liepins, Jan Hendrickx-Tim Smeuninx, and Band Adriaenssen-Kenny Van Gaalen. No matter how you look at it, you cannot ignore the fact that this year's Sidecar Cross World Championship was dominated by Dutch and Belgian teams. And so it looks like this edition of the Sidecar Cross of Nations will be an old-fashioned Holland-Belgium again. The Dutch team is led by world champions Daniel Willemsen, who this time is assisted by the French baking artist Guenady Auvray. Seasonal revelations Etienne Bax and Ben van den Bogaart and the Visscher brothers complete the Dutch team.
In Quadcross of Nations can we classify the Belgians as outsiders? Besides the French, the British and the Dutch also have to Jan Vlaeymans, Davy Brems en Davy De Cuyper can play on stage. The same consideration also applies to the Dutch team that is away Mike van Grinsven, Ingo ten Vreguler en Joe Maessen consists. It is striking that both Belgian teams are managed by the same person: René Loodts. The resident of Heist will therefore have a busy Sunday, but as we know him, René will always remain in good spirits.
Photo Credits: CDS Images, Supercross.com
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