2024 Motocross Of Nations (MXoN)
MXON 2024 - Matterley Basin UK
Introduction to MXoN
The Motocross of Nations (MXoN) is effectively the "Olympics of Motocross" which takes place once per year, hosted by different countries. Last year (2023) it was hosted by France, in Ernée and on home soil, Team France won the event. This year it was hosted by the United Kingdom at Matterley Basin for the 77th time. It is a Team event, consisting of 3 riders in a team representing their country and each competing in their own race class - the MXGP class, MX2 Class and Open class. Teams are competing for the coveted Chamberlain Trophy. On the Friday, there is a ballot that determines the gate number for the Qualifying race which take place on the Saturday. The Qualification races are 3 separate races for each class - the top 19 teams going through to Sunday's main event and the teams who don't qualify go into a B Final on Sunday morning, to battle for the last (20th) spot - only 1 team goes through in this "Last Chance Qualifier". On the Sunday, each class races twice over 3 races and each time against one of the other two class - that means Race 1 is a mix of MXGP and MX2 classes, Race 2 is MX2 and Open Classes and Race 3 is MXGP and Open Classes. The scoring for the event works on a position system - P1 gets 1 point, P2 gets 2 points etc etc and the lowest combined scores win, with one score getting scrapped, so 5 out of 6 best scores count. Click here for a video showing the teams in the Paddock at the 2024 MXoN.
AS3 Performance supported MXoN Team
Each rider picked to represent their country still rides their team bikes that they have contracts with through the season. Our supported team and rider - JWR Honda and Alvin Östlund - were part of the team representing Sweden at this year's MXoN. Alvin competed in the Open class on his Honda CRF 450 R. The other two Swedish riders were Isak Gifting, who competed in the MXGP class and Arvid Lüning, who competed in the MX2 class. Click here for a behind the scenes look at the JWR Honda / Alvin Östlund's race bikes in Swedish colours.
Team Sweden before the 2024 MXoN. Isak Gifting (#55), Arvid Lüning (#56), Alvin Östlund (#57)
MXoN Free Practice & MXoN Qualifying Race
On Saturday morning, all the teams had free practice, Östlund going out with the Open class group. Although not posting as quick a time as he would have liked, he was getting used to the track and felt good for the Qualifying race in the afternoon. In the 3 separate Qualifying races, the points score was taken from the best two rider results, combined, with the lower score the better, as described in the intro. Isak Gifting came P9 (9 points) in the MXGP class on his Yamaha YZ 450 F. In the MX2 class, Arvid Lüning came P27 (27 points) so it was all for Alvin Östlund to do in order to qualify. Unfortunately for Östlund, his bike came to a halt whilst running P12, a stone had smashed the starter button and the bike wouldn't start! This meant Team Sweden would have to race the B Final on Sunday morning, to try and grab the last spot in the main event. Click here for a video of Alvin Östlund leaving the paddock on the way to the start of the Qualifying race.
Alvin Östlund in free practice MXoN 2024. Ph. Filippo Columbo @flpclm
MXoN B Final
The B Final was a 20 minute plus 2 lap race on Sunday morning, consisting of all 3 riders in the teams that didn't qualify on the Saturday. There was only 1 spot available so it was all or nothing to win the B Final, based on the top 2 class positions combined for the lowest score. Team Sweden and Team Latvia were the favourites and it was a close battle between both teams. Things were going well for Sweden towards the end of the race - Isak Gifting was leading the Yamaha of Karlis Reisulis and Alvin Östlund was in P10. All Sweden had to do was finish as they were and they would be the last qualifiers, but motocross being motocross, disaster struck for Gifting. He came off after a jump and was demoted to P2, where he would finish. Östlund tried his best to overtake the Latvian Mairis Pumpurs for P9 but couldn't quite do it, finishing within 1 second of him and with it, the final qualifying position went to Team Latvia by the finest of margins. Motorsport is cruel sometimes and if is wasn't for the improbable action of that stone breaking the starter motor on Östlund's bike, Team Sweden would have been in the main event easily. It was a bitter pill to swallow but we congratulate JWR Honda and Alvin Östlund on a good season and great attempt to qualify for the main event! Click here for a video of the first lap of the B Final.
2024 Motocross of Nations Main Races
Below we highlight all of the information from all 3 classes of the 2024 Motocross of Nations including the event winners, class winners and details on the British team.
Who won the 2024 MXoN?
Team Australia won the MXoN overall for the very first time with 26 points, after coming 2nd in 2023. The Australian team included The Lawrence brothers and Kyle Webster, all on Hondas. Hunter Lawrence competed in the MXGP class on a CRF 450 R with Webster competing in the MX2 class on a CRF 250 R. Jett Lawrence rode a 450 in the Open class. 2nd overall went to Team USA with 29 points, consisting of Eli Tomac, Cooper Webb and Aaron Plessinger. 3rd overall went to Jeffrey Herlings, Kay de Wolf and Glenn Coldenhoff of Team Netherlands, who scored 35 points. Click here for a video of the Australian team walking through the paddock to the opening ceremony.
Hunter Lawrence (#4) MXGP class at MXoN 2024
Who won the MXoN MXGP Class?
Honda's Slovenian rider Tim Gajser took P1 in Race 1 and P1 in Race 3 to win the MXGP class overall. In Race 3, he had an incredible battle with fellow HRC Honda rider Jett Lawrence, overtaking Lawrence with a block pass on the final corner to claim the win. For a video of them battling on the last lap of the race, click here. P2 overall went to Yamaha's Eli Tomac of Team USA and P3 went to KTM's Jeffrey Herlings from Team Netherlands.
Who won the MXoN MX2 Class?
Team Netherlands and Husqvarna rider Kay de Wolf won the MX2 class overall with a 6-5. This was a strong result after just winning the 2024 FIM MX2 World Championship. P2 overall went to Team Latvia's Karlis Reisulis of Yamaha with a 12-8 - the Latvian performing well after having had to do the B Final too in the morning. P3 overall went to GasGas rider and Team Germany's Simon Längenfelder with a 18-3 - the German had a very strong Race 2 on his MC 250 F. For a video of the Race 1 sighting lap, click here.
Team Netherlands Kay de Wolf #53 on his Husqvarna FC 250
Who won the MXoN Open Class?
Honda and Team Australia's Jett Lawrence won the Open class overall with a 1-2. He only won the SMX series 2 weeks ago over in America and won Race 2 with ease. After a bad start in Race 3, he came through from outside the top 10 to challenge Tim Gajser, leading him on the last lap only to be pipped on the line. It was incredible to see the speed of these guys racing. For a video of Jett leading the Open class click here. P2 overall went to Yamaha's Maxime Renaux of Team France who went 4-9 with P3 overall going to Team Spain and Honda rider Ruben Fernandez with a 2-12.
Jett Lawrence in free practice (furthest to the right) MXoN 2024
Who were the 2024 MXoN British riders and where did the team finish?
Team GB for the 2024 MXoN consisted of Tommy Searle riding a KX 450 F in the MXGP Class, Max Anstie riding a YZ 250 F in the MX2 class and Conrad Mewse riding a CRF 450 R in the Open class. The team placed P12 overall. In Race 1 Max Anstie unfortunately crashed and hurt his neck, causing him to DNF, scoring 40 points and subsequently DNS'ing Race 2. With his 40 points counting towards the team total, it would mean Team GB would be no where near the podium this year. Tommy Searle went 23-25 and Conrad Mewse put in a heck of a performance, especially in Race 2, going 6-19. Click here for a video of Conrad Mewse leaving the paddock.
Tommy Searle's Kawasaki KX 450 F for the 2024 MXoN
What was Matterley Basin mx track layout like for the MXoN?
Matterley Basin has only been used this year to host the MXoN! It was last used in September 2023 for last year's final MXGP round. Famed for being a fast, undulating, hard pack track, it has a fairly steep downhill start straight off the gate, with the end of the start straight sweeping into a tight left-hander and the holeshot line, the pit lane on the left. Usually about 2km in length, the track was changed a bit this year, taking out a couple of tight corners to make the lap a bit faster and shorter. As usual though, because of the lie of the land (in a basin) and the 9 up and down hills, spectators saw almost 95% of the track, so it was relatively easy to keep up wit the racing. Lap times were around 2 minutes for the fastest riders.
View from the start gate at Matterley Basin with its downhill start
This picture gives an indication of how undulating the track was
Where will the MXoN be in 2025?
The USA will host the 78th edition of the Motocross of Nations in 2025. It will be the 6th time it has taken place in America and it will run from 3rd-5th October at Ironman Raceway, Indiana. It will be the first time the event will be held at Ironman Raceway - the elevation changes of this mx track will be a key feature and factor for the team riders competing. We look forward to 2025!
