The German national team had a lot of bad luck at the 77th edition of the Motocross of Nations. Nevertheless, the team achieved a good 6th place in the end.
The 77th edition of the Motocross of Nations is history. The DMSB team with Ken Roczen (Suzuki/MXGP), Max Nagl (Honda/Open) and Simon Längenfelder (GASGAS/MX2) took 6th place in Matterley Basin behind Australia, USA, Netherlands, Spain and France. Weber-Werke was on site to accompany the German team and filmed on the track and behind the scenes. The result is a highly recommended film.
The Germans were unlucky in the draw for starting places for the qualifying races on Friday morning, as they took the last starting place. “We have 100 meters more to cover before the first corner,” said Ken Roczen, and Max Nagl, who is known as a quick starter, saw before the race that a good start from the outside in Matterley Basin was almost impossible.
The grass track was soft all weekend, but drivers complained about the ruts and soft ground, particularly on rainy Sunday. “We haven’t had routes like this all year,” said Nagl, who crashed in his first race and later even retired because the axle of his rear wheel kept shifting on the drive side. Simon Längenfelder crashed in the first race, but came a sensational third in the second race with the inferior 250cc against the 450cc of the Open class.
Ken Roczen wasn’t spared from a fall either. He had to take a test of the ground in the third race and finished tenth twice. «Last year I was better prepared. I was able to train more motocross overall. Because of the injury and the SMX in America, I didn’t ride enough motocross. Of course I would have wanted more, but I gave it my all and so did my teammates. The conditions were difficult with the fine drizzle, but we hope that it will continue next year.”
