Team Australia Take Back to Back Motocross of Nations Wins

Once again, the sun shone over Ironman Raceway as a vast crowd enjoyed the 78th Edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, the hottest such event in recent memory, and the universally loved new Nations venue served up an incredible day of racing as the Motocross world united for a memorable weekend once again.

Defending Champions and pre-race favourites Team Australia were the dominant team with all three race wins collected by Jett Lawrence and Hunter Lawrence as the brothers carved up the world’s best between them, also winning the MXGP and Open classes respectively.  It was a brilliant display from the riders in green-and-gold, as MX2 rider Kyle Webster heroically recovered from two first corner crashes for 15th and 13th from dead last to leave the team result in no doubt.

Team USA won a pitched battle with Team France for the runner-up position, with decisive moves going back and forth in the very final laps of the day! Ultimately, they finished on equal points, the best result tie-breaker going to the host nation with a second place for Eli Tomac in Race 3.

Team Netherlands rider Kay de Wolf took some consolation for the two-man Team Netherlands by claiming the individual victory in the MX2 class for the second year in succession, despite the team losing Glenn Coldenhoff through injury from a crash on Saturday that was not his fault.

Before the three main races, the morning B-Final took place, which was won by Team Estonia with 2-4 finishes for Harri Kullas and Jorgen-Matthias Talviku. Canadian Jess Pettis took the race win, but his next best teammate was only able to finish ninth.

The packed hillsides created an amazing atmosphere, and for sure Ironman made an impression on every visitor to this beautiful part of the world!

Jett Lawrence continued his domination from Saturday with the top time in his morning Warm-up group, by over 1.4 seconds from fellow Honda HRC pilot Tim Gajser. Justin Cooper took a brilliant third best time on his 250 in the mixed capacity group, to show the home team’s intent to be right at the top. The other group saw new MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre as fastest, with Kay de Wolf second on his 250 ahead of Maxime Renaux.

Race 1 (MXGP + MX2)

After crashing in the first corner of Saturday’s MXGP Qualifying Race, Belgian Lucas Coenen gave himself a much better chance of Nations glory with the Holeshot Award in Race 1, coming out ahead of Jett Lawrence and Gajser.  Germany’s Ken Roczen, so strong put out of the gate on Saturday, crashed hard and was run over at the top four on turn three, just as his teammate Simon Längenfelder was being helped off the track by the medical crew from a first corner pile-up.  Team Germany’s podium chances were over almost immediately.

Febvre got around Isak Gifting to take fourth place early, but coming out of the wooded section towards the Godzilla hill, Lawrence put in a stunning burst of speed to take the lead from Coenen! From there, he was never to be caught, despite Lucas doing all he could to stay with him, sometimes bettering his lap times, but not often!

Eli Tomac had lifted himself up to fifth by the end of lap one, ahead of the first MX2 machine of Sacha Coenen. Then came MXGP riders Gifting and Spain’s Ruben Fernandez, before De Wolf started to hassle the big bikes. Jeremy Seewer was initially tenth but was passed by Frenchman Mathis Valin.

Lawrence’s teammate Webster had to pick himself off the floor in turn one, and had got up to 27th by the end of the first full lap! Febvre washed out in the second turn of the third lap, allowing Tomac and Sacha Coenen past. The Frenchman took two laps to get back around Sacha Coenen, but Tomac was just a little out of reach.

In fact, “Captain America” nearly caught Gajser for third in the final laps, finishing a frustrated fourth less than two seconds behind the Slovenian! His teammate, MX2 teammate Justin Cooper got up to tenth after a last-lap collision with Sacha Coenen, which damaged the Belgian’s bike to the point where he couldn’t finish the final lap, cruelly demoting him to 20th place!

De Wolf and Valin swapped places several times until the Dutchman finally finished eighth as the top MX2 rider, with Gifting a solid seventh, Fernandez sixth, and Febvre fifth. Webster got through to a brilliant 15th position to keep Australia as high as third overall after race one, but the USA and France were level on points, a situation they were to repeat at the end of the day! Belgium and Spain, for whom Guillem Farres finished 16th, were tied for fourth going into race two, but Jett’s seven-second margin of victory left onlookers stunned at his riding.

Race 2 (Open + MX2)

There were two surprise leaders at the start of race two, after Hunter Lawrence sped across the Holeshot Award line first, but made a mess of the right-left corners that followed, allowing Team Brazil’s Fabio Santos, then Team Slovenia’s Jan Pancar, to briefly lead through the wooded section. Despite nearly swapping out on his bike machine, Hunter emerged from the woods back in front, and like his brother before him sped away from the pack.

Santos fell back rapidly to eighth by the end of the first lap, as Valentin Guillod duelled with Pancar for second, the Slovenian holding his ground from the Swiss privateer. Behind them, Japan’s Jo Shimoda was scrapping with home hero RJ Hampshire, and the pair moved steadily forward to sit second and third at the end of lap six, until they came together at the top of the biggest hill, the American coming off worse and having to remount and try again

Belgian Liam Everts was plugging away in his 450 class debut and looked smooth ahead of the Frenchman Renaux and Italian Andrea Bonacorsi. De Wolf was again the top 250 rider on a circuit that really suited the more powerful 450s, and battled past Cooper to eventually finish eighth again, this time with teammate Calvin Vlaanderen right behind him as a buffer against Cooper.

While Hunter Lawrence cruised to another Australian victory, Webster again had to recover from a first corner crash, this time getting further up, to 13th, enabling the team to drop the P15 score from race one, if all went to plan in race three.

Hampshire caught back up to Pancar, who was riding brilliantly in third, but fell his back wheel in the corner at the end of Pit Lane, before he suffered a heavier fall on a steep downhill with two laps to go! The battered American finished in seventh, just ahead of De Wolf. Bonacorsi put in Team Italy’s best result of sixth place behind Renaux, and Everts impressed with fourth behind a jubilant Pancar. Slovenia were eighth overall, and surely able to drop a P37 in MX2 race one from Jaka Peklaj.

The troubles for Hampshire had cost Team USA any margin for error in the final race, as they were one point behind the Australians, who had the two Lawrence brothers in the final outing. France weren’t out of it, just two points further behind, but more issues for Sacha Coenen had put the Belgians some way back in fourth ahead of Team Italy, who were looking to drop the P25 from Antonio Cairoli in race one. It was technically all to play for, except that Team Australia had the two brothers, with an average winning margin of eight seconds, set to work in tandem against the rest of the world!

Race 3 (MXGP + Open)

As is so often the case with Motocross, the expected outcome doesn’t become reality at all! Jo Shimoda made it a second Honda HRC Holeshot of the afternoon, with Lucas Coenen chasing and Isak Gifting initially third ahead of the Lawrence brothers! In a wretched day for the Germans, Roczen was down in the second corner already, but never gave up in a strong recovery to 12th.

Hunter made great progress again through the woods, and exited in third place, hot on the heels of Coenen before roaring past him up Godzilla hill to take second! At the top of that hill, Jett Lawrence collided with Gifting on the exit, putting both of them on the floor, mercifully before they started coming back downhill! It put the Aussie superstar down in 11th at the end of lap one, giving the crowd a treat as he got creative with the battered circuit in order to overtake!

Meanwhile, his brother was doing his part as he launched past Shimoda over the finish line jump, with Coenen following him past along the start straight! The Belgian kept on digging in, not letting Hunter relax one iota! Behind Shimoda, Everts had the close company of Tomac, whose teammate Hampshire was two places behind Jett, giving the US some hope! The French, however, still had Febvre and Renaux inside the top ten, and the pressure was on both teams in the battle for second.

Tomac moved past Everts on lap three, and suddenly Fernandez fell spectacularly from seventh place as he attempted a pass on Febvre. The Spaniard was out of the reckoning, as was his country. Jett put a block pass on his rival from last year’s MXoN, Tim Gajser, and was up to seventh by the end of lap five.

Up front, Lucas finally pushed too hard to stay with Hunter and crashed at the top of the circuit, able to remount with a damaged bike and able to limp home to tenth. Despite Everts doing all he could in an eventual seventh, there would be no podium for Belgium, who would take fourth on the day.

On lap ten, Tomac pressured his way past Shimoda through the woods to take second place, with Jett up to fourth past Everts, who then fell victim to Febvre! Febvre tried to get past Shimoda to hold onto the runner-up spot for France, and did so to claim an eventual fifth, but not before Gajser had gone past them both to get into fourth! And it wasn’t as if the Slovenian was fighting for a losing cause, as Pancar took 14th position, good enough to lift their team into a best-ever finish of fifth!

Febvre had done his bit, and Hampshire was out after another crash, this time running into a camera tower!, so with Tomac unable to catch Hunter for the lead, the French looked to be on for second place, until Gifting found his way past Renaux in the middle of the circuit to take eighth in the race and knock France back to third overall!

With Italy in sixth, Gifting’s move, together with the results of Alvin Ostlund and Albin Gerhardsson, gave Sweden seventh overall, their best result since 2002! There was no stopping Team Australia, however, who won by a mammoth 14 points to claim their second straight Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations trophy! Team USA lost out for just the second time on home soil, but with all the turmoil before the event, they must have still been satisfied, and France’s podium was solid considering the inexperience of their MX2 rider, as they scored with the consistency of three fifth places and two ninth places!

Individual classifications

In the individual classifications, Jett Lawrence took top honours in the MXGP class, while his brother Hunter Lawrence clinched the Open category, sealing Australia’s overall victory in style. In MX2, Kay de Wolf once again proved unstoppable, winning the class for the second consecutive year, this time aboard Team Netherlands.

The top three teams were presented with their FIM medals by FIM President Jorge Viegas, FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela and AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman, while Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo awarded the traditional MXoN Champions’ Rings to the victorious Australian squad.

Adding a special touch to the celebrations, Ricky Johnson personally presented the winners of each individual class with the exclusive Ricky Johnson “Bad Boy Club” Award, a unique medallion custom-designed to honour the standout performers of the event.

Hunter Lawrence reflected on Australia’s weekend, saying the first moto had been “tough, I was on the ground way too much, more than I have been all year, but we cleaned it up in the last one. It feels amazing. I’m so thankful for everyone behind us, for the incredible support from Australia and the fans here in America. My boys, Kyle [Webster] and Jett [Lawrence] were unreal all weekend. I’m beyond stoked, so proud, and just grateful to share this moment with everyone.”

For Team USA, Justin Cooper acknowledged the strength of the defending champions: “Australia were really strong this weekend — they’re a great team. We gave it everything we had, put our best foot forward, and came up just a bit short. That’s racing, and that’s what makes this event so exciting. We’ll take the positives and come back fighting.”

Maxime Renaux added his thoughts on the weekend for the French squad: “It was an okay weekend overall. We fought hard through every moto, and both Mathis and Romain did an amazing job. We gave everything we had, it was enough for third place, and I’m proud of what we did as a team.”

All in all though, the winners were the Motocross fans of the world, who saw a stunning battle amongst the very top riders across the Atlantic divide in our sport. Long may the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations continue to grow, as the madness returns to Ernée in 2026!

2025 Nations Classification
Pos	Country	Points
1st	Australia	19 Points
2nd	USA	33 Points
3rd	France	33 Points
4th	Belgium	43 Points
5th	Slovenia	57 Points
6th	Italy	58 Points
7th	Sweden	84 Points
8th	Switzerland	86 Points
9th	Latvia	88 Points
10th	Spain	89 Points
11th	Japan	99 Points
12th	Brazil	110 Points
13th	Estonia	112 Points
14th	Rep. of South Africa	116 Points
15th	Germany	120 Points
16th	Great Britain	123 Points
17th	Venezuela	151 Points
18th	Norway	162 Points
19th	The Netherlands	60 Points
20th	Denmark	107 Points

Race 1 (MXGP + MX2) – Classification
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Gap
1st	1	Jett Lawrence	AUS	Honda	+0:00.000
2nd	46	Lucas Coenen	BEL	KTM	+0:07.012
3rd	19	Tim Gajser	SLO	Honda	+0:17.417
4th	4	Eli Tomac	USA	Yamaha	+0:19.361
5th	13	Romain Febvre	FRA	Kawasaki	+0:37.927
6th	10	Ruben Fernandez	ESP	Honda	+0:55.921
7th	61	Isak Gifting	SWE	Yamaha	+0:59.758
8th	8	Kay de Wolf	NED	Husqvarna	+1:00.895
9th	14	Mathis Valin	FRA	Kawasaki	+1:01.052
10th	5	Justin Cooper	USA	Yamaha	+1:24.233
11th	25	Jeremy Seewer	SUI	Ducati	+1:27.241
12th	23	Andrea Adamo	ITA	KTM	+1:30.718
13th	53	Camden Mc Lellan	RSA	Triumph	+1:34.175
14th	37	Enzo Lopes	BRA	Yamaha	+1:45.758
15th	2	Kyle Webster	AUS	Honda	+1:51.319
16th	11	Guillem Farres	ESP	Triumph	+1:54.228
17th	32	Mikkel Haarup	DEN	Triumph	+1:54.802
18th	16	Ken Roczen	GER	Suzuki	+2:00.121
19th	28	Karlis Alberts Reisulis	LAT	Yamaha	+2:08.120
20th	47	Sacha Coenen	BEL	KTM	+1 lap
21st	55	Jorgen-Matthias Talviku	EST	Yamaha	+1 lap
22nd	34	Josh Gilbert	GBR	Honda	+1 lap
23rd	70	Anthony Rodriguez	VEN	KTM	+1 lap
24th	26	Nico Greutmann	SUI	Husqvarna	+1 lap
25th	22	Antonio Cairoli	ITA	Ducati	+1 lap
26th	38	Bernardo Tiburcio	BRA	Honda	+1 lap
27th	29	Janis Martins Reisulis	LAT	Yamaha	+1 lap
28th	62	Albin Gerhardsson	SWE	Husqvarna	+1 lap
29th	50	Pelle Gundersen	NOR	Husqvarna	+1 lap
30th	56	Joosep Parn	EST	GASGAS	+1 lap
31st	79	Yuki Okura	JPN	Honda	+1 lap
32nd	49	Hakon Osterhagen	NOR	KTM	+2 laps
33rd	20	Jaka Peklaj	SLO	Husqvarna	+2 laps
34th	71	Carlos Badiali	VEN	Yamaha	+2 laps
35th	52	Slade Smith	RSA	Honda	+2 laps
36th	80	Soya Nakajima	JPN	Yamaha	+2 laps
37th	35	Dylan Walsh	GBR	Kawasaki	+2 laps
38th	17	Simon Längenfelder	GER	KTM	+16 laps

Race 2 (MX2 + Open) – Classification
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Gap
1st	3	Hunter Lawrence	AUS	Honda	+0:00.000
2nd	81	Jo Shimoda	JPN	Honda	+0:09.479
3rd	21	Jan Pancar	SLO	KTM	+0:14.927
4th	48	Liam Everts	BEL	Husqvarna	+0:16.474
5th	15	Maxime Renaux	FRA	Yamaha	+0:20.396
6th	24	Andrea Bonacorsi	ITA	Fantic	+0:22.240
7th	6	RJ Hampshire	USA	Husqvarna	+0:24.706
8th	8	Kay de Wolf	NED	Husqvarna	+0:34.174
9th	9	Calvin Vlaanderen	NED	Yamaha	+0:39.584
10th	5	Justin Cooper	USA	Yamaha	+0:45.153
11th	30	Pauls Jonass	LAT	Kawasaki	+0:46.840
12th	23	Andrea Adamo	ITA	KTM	+0:52.275
13th	2	Kyle Webster	AUS	Honda	+1:08.285
14th	14	Mathis Valin	FRA	Kawasaki	+1:11.243
15th	32	Mikkel Haarup	DEN	Triumph	+1:14.525
16th	11	Guillem Farres	ESP	Triumph	+1:17.703
17th	29	Janis Martins Reisulis	LAT	Yamaha	+1:23.613
18th	53	Camden Mc Lellan	RSA	Triumph	+1:27.075
19th	57	Harri Kullas	EST	Yamaha	+1:28.870
20th	63	Alvin Östlund	SWE	Triumph	+1:29.056
21st	47	Sacha Coenen	BEL	KTM	+1:43.157
22nd	18	Maximilian Spies	GER	KTM	+1:47.435
23rd	36	Conrad Mewse	GBR	Honda	+1:48.549
24th	26	Nico Greutmann	SUI	Husqvarna	+1:57.740
25th	38	Bernardo Tiburcio	BRA	Honda	+2:09.063
26th	12	Francisco Garcia	ESP	Kawasaki	+1:07.080
27th	54	Cameron Anthony Durow	RSA	KTM	+2:11.847
28th	39	Fabio Santos	BRA	Yamaha	+1 lap
29th	62	Albin Gerhardsson	SWE	Husqvarna	+1 lap
30th	56	Joosep Parn	EST	GASGAS	+1 lap
31st	80	Soya Nakajima	JPN	Yamaha	+1 lap
32nd	71	Carlos Badiali	VEN	Yamaha	+1 lap
33rd	50	Pelle Gundersen	NOR	Husqvarna	+4 laps
34th	72	Lorenzo Locurcio	VEN	GASGAS	+7 laps
35th	27	Valentin Guillod	SUI	Yamaha	+9 laps
36th	51	Hakon Fredriksen	NOR	Yamaha	+13 laps
37th	20	Jaka Peklaj	SLO	Husqvarna	+1 lap
38th	33	Mads Fredsoe	DEN	Husqvarna	+16 laps
39th	35	Dylan Walsh	GBR	Kawasaki	+16 laps

Race 3 (MXGP + Open) – Classification
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Bike	Gap
1st	3	Hunter Lawrence	AUS	Honda	+0:00.000
2nd	4	Eli Tomac	USA	Yamaha	+0:05.730
3rd	1	Jett Lawrence	AUS	Honda	+0:14.058
4th	19	Tim Gajser	SLO	Honda	+0:18.301
5th	13	Romain Febvre	FRA	Kawasaki	+0:24.503
6th	81	Jo Shimoda	JPN	Honda	+0:26.668
7th	48	Liam Everts	BEL	Husqvarna	+0:29.318
8th	61	Isak Gifting	SWE	Yamaha	+0:31.171
9th	15	Maxime Renaux	FRA	Yamaha	+0:35.237
10th	46	Lucas Coenen	BEL	KTM	+0:47.099
11th	27	Valentin Guillod	SUI	Yamaha	+0:48.465
12th	16	Ken Roczen	GER	Suzuki	+1:04.930
13th	22	Antonio Cairoli	ITA	Ducati	+1:07.678
14th	21	Jan Pancar	SLO	KTM	+1:10.506
15th	24	Andrea Bonacorsi	ITA	Fantic	+1:11.577
16th	25	Jeremy Seewer	SUI	Ducati	+1:12.398
17th	30	Pauls Jonass	LAT	Kawasaki	+1:26.057
18th	36	Conrad Mewse	GBR	Honda	+1:34.481
19th	37	Enzo Lopes	BRA	Yamaha	+1:45.997
20th	57	Harri Kullas	EST	Yamaha	+1:48.669
21st	63	Alvin Östlund	SWE	Triumph	+1:50.124
22nd	55	Jorgen-Matthias Talviku	EST	Yamaha	+1:51.282
23rd	34	Josh Gilbert	GBR	Honda	+1:58.373
24th	28	Karlis Alberts Reisulis	LAT	Yamaha	+2:02.616
25th	12	Francisco Garcia	ESP	Kawasaki	+1 lap
26th	39	Fabio Santos	BRA	Yamaha	+1 lap
27th	54	Cameron Anthony Durow	RSA	KTM	+1 lap
28th	70	Anthony Rodriguez	VEN	KTM	+1 lap
29th	79	Yuki Okura	JPN	Honda	+1 lap
30th	18	Maximilian Spies	GER	KTM	+1 lap
31st	52	Slade Smith	RSA	Honda	+1 lap
32nd	49	Hakon Osterhagen	NOR	KTM	+1 lap
33rd	6	RJ Hampshire	USA	Husqvarna	+7 laps
34th	10	Ruben Fernandez	ESP	Honda	+12 laps
35th	9	Calvin Vlaanderen	NED	Yamaha	+14 laps
36th	51	Hakon Fredriksen	NOR	Yamaha	+16 laps
37th	33	Mads Fredsoe	DEN	Husqvarna	+16 laps

Nations Classification Open Class Top Ten
Pos	No	Rider	Nat	Fed	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Total
1st	3	Hunter Lawrence	AUS	MA	Honda	1	1	2 Points
2nd	81	Jo Shimoda	JPN	MFJ	Honda	2	6	8 Points
3rd	48	Liam Everts	BEL	FMB	Husqvarna	4	7	11 Points
4th	15	Maxime Renaux	FRA	FFM	Yamaha	5	9	14 Points
5th	21	Jan Pancar	SLO	AMZS	KTM	3	14	17 Points
6th	24	Andrea Bonacorsi	ITA	FMI	Fantic	6	15	21 Points
7th	30	Pauls Jonass	LAT	LAMSF	Kawasaki	11	17	28 Points
8th	57	Harri Kullas	EST	EMF	Yamaha	19	20	39 Points
9th	6	RJ Hampshire	USA	AMA	Husqvarna	7	33	40 Points
10th	36	Conrad Mewse	GBR	ACU	Honda	23	18	41 Points

Nations Classification MXGP Class Top Ten
Pos	Nr	Rider	Nat.	Fed.	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Total
1st	1	Jett Lawrence	AUS	MA	Honda	1	3	4 Points
2nd	4	Eli Tomac	USA	AMA	Yamaha	4	2	6 Points
3rd	19	Tim Gajser	SLO	AMZS	Honda	3	4	7 Points
4th	13	Romain Febvre	FRA	FFM	Kawasaki	5	5	10 Points
5th	46	Lucas Coenen	BEL	FMB	KTM	2	10	12 Points
6th	61	Isak Gifting	SWE	SVEMO	Yamaha	7	8	15 Points
7th	25	Jeremy Seewer	SUI	SWISSMOTO	Ducati	11	16	27 Points
8th	16	Ken Roczen	GER	AMA	Suzuki	18	12	30 Points
9th	37	Enzo Lopes	BRA	CBM	Yamaha	14	19	33 Points
10th	22	Antonio Cairoli	ITA	FMI	Ducati	25	13	38 Points

Nations Classification MX2 Class Top Ten
Pos	Nr	Rider	Nat.	Fed.	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Total
1st	8	Kay de Wolf	NED	KNMV	Husqvarna	8	8	16 Points
2nd	5	Justin Cooper	USA	AMA	Yamaha	10	10	20 Points
3rd	14	Mathis Valin	FRA	FFM	Kawasaki	9	14	23 Points
4th	23	Andrea Adamo	ITA	FMI	KTM	12	12	24 Points
5th	2	Kyle Webster	AUS	MA	Honda	15	13	28 Points
6th	53	Camden Mc Lellan	RSA	MSA	Triumph	13	18	31 Points
7th	32	Mikkel Haarup	DEN	DMU	Triumph	17	15	32 Points
8th	11	Guillem Farres	ESP	RFME	Triumph	16	16	32 Points
9th	47	Sacha Coenen	BEL	FMB	KTM	20	21	41 Points
10th	29	Janis Martins Reisulis	LAT	LAMSF	Yamaha	27	17	44 Points