Team Italy win 2021 Motocross of Nations - Cairoli gets Gold MXoN Medal

By Andrew Hill on 26th Sep 21

MXGP MXoN Tony Cairoli Mantova

In a dramatic finale after two days of MXoN racing, Tony Cairoli and Team Italy celebrated winning the 2021 Motocross of Nations on home soil in Mantova today. The first time Italy has won the prestigious Chamberlain Trophy in 19 years.

Cairoli had a rough opening moto with the nine-time world champion only managing to finish in 21st place after a collision with the Netherlands Glenn Coldenhoff before they could even make it to the second straight.

But strong MX2 rides are normally crucial to a team's chances at the Nations and so it proved again with Italy's Mattia Guadagnini delivering in both races with a 5-6 result, making him the second-best MX2 rider on the day. Austria's Rene Hofer topped the MX2 classifications with two solid results.

On lap six, Lupino went down while he was holding sixth place. The crash violently whipped the Italian's head back but he still remounted quickly luckily (as would become apparent later) he only dropped one place as Simpson took full advantage.

A lap later and Watson had his own heart-in-the-mouth moment. The Brit was ejected from his factory Yamaha, and he hit the dirt hard. Somehow he regained his senses and quickly threw his leg over the bike. He used the electric start and rejoined the race, with The Hoff taking over third.

The drama wasn't done. At the mid-point in the race, it was announced there could be a penalty coming Lupino's way. He had run off the side of the track at the start and then didn't rejoin at the nearest point.

Tense drama then unfolded. To ensure Team Italy had enough points to claim victory for the first time since 2002 and the first time in Cairoli's illustrious career, with a 10-place penalty looming, Lupino had to pass Latvia's Karlis Sabulis for seventh spot. Failure to do so would have been catastrophic for Italy.

The thought of Team Italy being denied victory by a penalty on home soil in TC's (probably) last Motocross of Nations would have been too much for the Italian fans to bear.

With two laps to go Lupino almost binned it he was clearly struggling on track. Somehow he just about held it together. The Italians had their victory and Cairoli finally had that Nations Gold Medal to complete his racing CV.

Team GB's trio of riders acquitted themselves well. Watson was clearly the star of the weekend. A second-place finish in qualifying was followed up by two magnificent rides hinting at what potential the young Brit could bring to MXGP. He finished top of the MXGP classifications, a fantastic feat in his rookie 450 season. It should be a massive boost for his confidence when MXGP racing resumes in Germany next weekend.

Although Mewse may be disappointed with his first moto, he shouldn't let that get him down. He was excellent in qualifying and had a solid second moto with a clutch-pass on the final lap which ensured Team GB had that third place all to themselves.

Simpson at 33 is a beast. He suffered a nasty thumb ligament injury on Saturday and still didn't let his teammates down today. I'm not sure how many Nations he has left in him, but at this moment, he was the right man for the job.

Team Belgium and Team France saw their podium chances implode today. Vialle retired from the second race with what looked like a chain problem, and Mathys Boisrame had a tough time of it too.

Belgium looked good for a podium, and then it all went wrong in the final moto, with Brent Van Doninck and Cyril Genot both failing to finish their races. A small consultation would be Liam Everts, who only had his MX2 debut at the last Grand Prix, did himself proud with two good rides for fourth in the MX2 Classification.

After a year away and some difficult decisions for riders and teams, the buildup to the 74th edition of the MX of Nations was not ideal. But once again, the racing lived up to the hype. Welcome back!

The 2022 Motocross of Nations will be held at RedBud in the USA that should be another cracker.

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