Image: Supplied.

Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin is pleased with Team France’s efforts at the weekend’s 2019 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) in Assen, the squad seeing it’s five-year winning streak come to an end as the Netherlands earned the crown for the first time ever on home soil.

In rain-soaked conditions, Paulin came from outside the top 10 in the opening MXGP/MX2 encounter to finish fifth, while his second outing in the final race of the day saw his YZ450F run out fuel on the final lap, denying France of a podium result.

His French teammates, former world champion Jordi Tixier (KTM) and Maxime Renaux (Yamaha), put in respectable performances alongside Paulin, granting Team France fifth in the Nations classification.

“We have won five times in a row, this was a big highlight of the Motocross of Nations for Team France, but all good things come to an end and today we have to accept the fail,” Paulin explained. “For myself, I was very happy with my teammates, we put in a good amount of effort to be on the podium and on the second to last lap, I run out of fuel.

“It’s tough to accept, but I had a great experience this weekend. The track was gnarly, the atmosphere and fans were incredible. Thanks to the public, and congratulations to The Netherlands on the win. It was a wet and gnarly weekend, but as always, it was a weekend we all enjoyed and it will give us a lot of memories.”

Paulin is set to remain with Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha in the 2020 MXGP World Championship, which will become the official factory Yamaha team.

Image: Supplied.

World champion Tim Gajser rounded out his 2019 season with the opening moto victory and MXGP class overall at Assen’s Motocross of Nations (MXoN), adding to what has been a remarkable campaign.

The Honda HRC rider showed why he was able to capture a second MXGP championship this year by winning the opening MXGP and MX2 moto in sandy, tough conditions in the Netherlands and making history for Slovenia in the process.

Moto three, the MXGP and Open classes, saw Gajser once again grab the holeshot and lead for the first three laps before a small tip-over dropped him two places. He regrouped quickly though and set about trying to regain the lead, but couldn’t make the pass he needed to go 1-1.

“It was a good day,” Gajser commented. “The weather wasn’t the best and the track became a bit of a mess, but I took two good starts, two holeshots and then I was able to win the first moto too, so it was good.

“I’m a bit disappointed to make that little mistake in the second moto when I was winning, but I came back very close to the leader at the end, so overall I’m super-happy. It’s been an incredible season and this is just another great moment to win a moto and to become the first Slovenian rider ever to do so.”

Next up for the 2019 MXGP world champion is a trip stateside as he looks to take on the best supercross riders in the world at the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas on 19 October, marking his first appearance there in two years.

Image: Supplied.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne has declared Sunday’s conditions at the 2019 Motocross of Nations (MXoN) as some of the worst he’s experienced in his career.

Osborne, who formed part of Team USA alongside Husqvarna teammate Jason Anderson and Yamaha-mounted Justin Cooper, finished fifth in the Open class via 5-15 results.

“It’s been a tough day for everyone, but maybe especially for Team USA,” he commented. “I feel that we did all we could, we came into the event with a great attitude and a great team, things just didn’t work out for us, but that’s racing.

“We prepared well, but conditions and luck weren’t with us. I think these might have been the worst conditions I’ve ever raced in, certainly some of the toughest. Each of my motos went okay – they were tough, but fifth in my first race was okay.

“My second race was harder. I got a decent start, but I found it hard to move forwards. Also, I had to change goggles once and, yeah, it was tough. From a team point of view, it’s not at all the result we wanted, but I’m sure we’d do it all again to be here racing for our country.”

It was a considerable effort from the high-profile American team, which arrived in Europe early to prepare, eventually credited sixth overall in the 2019 running following an incident-filled trio of motos on Sunday.

Image: Supplied.

Netherlands MXGP entry Jeffrey Herlings has confessed he wasn’t satisfied with his individual performance at the 2019 Motocross of Nations (MXoN), despite landing a historic home victory in the overall classification.

Herlings appeared ‘off’ for much of the weekend in the sand at Assen, finishing fifth in the MXGP heat and then recording 2-4 results on Sunday.

The MXGP and MX2 moto saw Herlings narrowly fall short of victory following a late surge in the wet conditions, but three falls in the second outing cost him any chance of gaining a class win on home soil.

“I messed up my starts twice today, so from an individual point of view I’m not satisfied,” Herlings recalled. “I almost won the first moto and then when down three times in the second, but still managed to finish fourth.

“We wanted a 1-1 and that didn’t happen, but what we really came here for today was to win as a Nation and we did that. My teammates did a great job and for such a small country to win this is amazing.”

The end result saw Herlings join Dutch teammates Glenn Coldenhoff and Calvin Vlaanderen on the top step of the Nations podium following three-consecutive runner-up finishes, also credited second in the MXGP class overall.