Gautier Paulin and the Kawasaki racing Team did their last appearance of the season last weekend in Geneva (Switzerland), and Gautier collected another SX podium on Saturday.

Not so many Grand Prix riders raced Supercross during the winter break, but Gautier had this opportunity and was pleased to race some SX on his factory Kawasaki. Geneva was his second and last Supercross of the season, and Gautier who raced in the Palexpo during his BMX career was pleased to be back in the Swiss capital where he discovered one of the biggest European SX track. On Friday night he didn’t qualified so well and lost too much time at the start as he was blocked by a collective crash; coming back eight, he was still confident for Saturday night as he enjoyed the track and had a good feeling with his bike. His second night was much better with a strong qualification in third position, and then a good main event; racing with Marvin Musquin who is currently preparing his US Supercross season, he finished third behind Justin Brayton and Musquin who just fly from the US to race this event. It was the last race this year for Gautier, who will be back racing in Mantova at the end of January.

Gautier Paulin: “I was impressed when I arrived in Geneva by the package, I mean the track, the ground and the organisation. I enjoyed each minute of the weekend and I had really good time in Geneva, even more than in Genoa where I got a podium for my Supercross comeback. I came here to have fun and I had fun, even if I was unhappy with my result on Friday. I didn’t want to take too much risks and it was great to battle with Marvin on Saturday, and to leave Geneva with a podium result. I didn’t raced Supercross last year and I’m really happy with the two events I entered this year, for sure I will race again SX in the future.”

Red Bull KTM factory rider Marvin Musquin had a great weekend at the 27th Edition of the Geneva Supercross in the PalExpo exhibition center finishing second to American Justin Brayton in the MX1 class but riding a KTM 250 SX-F.

Thor’s Russell Bobbitt earned his first win of the season with a steady performance at the AMA National Enduro season finale in Stanton, Ala. Bobbitt earned three test wins on the way to victory, allowing him to secure third in the points standings.

Along with the National Enduro hosting its season finale, the GNCC series was also closing out its season. In Hurricane Mills, Tenn., Thor’s Kailub Russell rode with incredible heart as he pushed from the back of the pack at start of the opening lap to finish the second. Russell finished second in the standings, earning the most wins of the season with an impressive five victories.

Kailub Russell
(Photo: Shan Moore)

In the women’s class, Maria Forsberg earned her 13th-straight win of the season, giving her a perfect season. The accomplishment comes after clinching the championship with four rounds remaining, along with claiming an overall victory at Round 11 amongst the entire field in the morning races.

Maria Forsberg
(Photo: Shan Moore)

In Genoa, Italy, Thor’s Gautier Paulin competed in the Genoa Superbowl Supercross. His 4-3 race results placed him third overall and on the prestigious podium.

Gautier Paulin
(Photo: KRT- Pascal Haudiquert)

For all the latest from Thor, be sure to visit the NEW thormx.com, Thor on Facebook and follow@ThorMXOfficial on Twitter.

Team Germany, with two of their three riders from the KTM factory stable emerged victorious on Sunday at the Motocross of Nations at Lommel, Belgium ending the USA’s winning streak of seven victories in the competition. The host country Belgium, also with two KTM factory riders was second and Team USA with KTM’s AMA 450 MX Class champion Ryan Dungey finished third.

Kawasaki riders were in the thick of the action at the FIM Motocross of Nations, the annual contest for national teams, with six top 10 placings and a medal for Blake Baggett with Team USA.

The deep unrelenting sand of the Lommel facility in the north-eastern corner of Belgium was a severe challenge for each of the 99 competitors from all over the world and in the end victory went to the sand specialists as Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands took three of the first four places in the team classification.

Blake Baggett of the Pro Circuit Kawasaki team was the most successful member of the USA team, which defied the strange conditions to separate the sand specialists by taking third place on the podium; the Kawasaki rider was only beaten in his class by Ken Roczen, of the victorious German team.

Gautier Paulin of the Kawasaki Racing Team led France forcefully and recorded a superb second place in the opening moto. He appeared poised for third place in the final race of the day until he flew over the handlebars, a fate which befell most riders during the day, but battled on to finish the day third overall in the MX1 class. Xavier Boog, his teammate at KRT and for France, was ninth in the Open class after unselfishly accepting his team’s least satisfactory starting place.

Marc de Reuver of Team ICE1 Kawasaki scored significantly in both races as he helped the Dutch team to take fourth overall in the team classification, while Tommy Searle of Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit faced a difficult baptism in the MX1 class as he is not recognised as a sand expert, but he responded with his usual tenacity to top score for his country as Great Britain finished eighth in the team classification.

Blake Baggett: “We don’t have tracks like this in the USA so we came here early to be ready for the sand. I feel that we did our best, but this track was a nightmare. We learnt a lot this weekend and at least we got a podium. In the first moto I had a crash and then came back to fourteenth, then in the second one I had better lines and could finish sixth.”

Marc De Reuver: « I should be happy with our fourth position overall, but when I see the result I’m disappointed as we missed the podium by only five points. The first race was good; the track was flat and I got a top ten result but at the start of the last race another rider crashed in front of Herlings and me. We both crashed but this rider had his foot in my rear wheel so I lost too much time; I came back and was battling with Boog, but I went over the bars and had to take it easier after that.”

Gautier Paulin: “I had a good feeling today with the track, and I had a good start in the first race. I finished second behind Cairoli and I was happy with that result. In my second race I lost several positions in the first corner, but again recovered strongly and fourth, waiting to pass Barcia for third position in the last few laps. I was trying some new lines and in one fast section I went over the bars so I lost my rhythm for the last fifteen minutes and finished eighth. I had a good feeling with the bike and the track, and it was a disappointment to miss the podium with France by just a few points.”

Xavier Boog: “I had the twenty fifth gate in both races, and even though the first corner was wide I got pushed outside both times. In the Open/MX2 race I was able to come back from nearly last to tenth, but in the Open/MX1 race it was difficult as a rider crashed in front of me in the third corner. I stalled the engine and it took me so much time to restart that I could only recover to sixteenth. It’s frustrating to be so unlucky at the starts, for me and my teammates as we all did our best.”

Tommy Searle: “I didn’t feel like I rode as well as I could, but we just didn’t have enough time to test the bike and racing in sand is not my strongest point. We tried our best but Lommel was my worst GP last year; for sure I could have done better if the race had been somewhere else.”

The 66th edition of the Motocross of Nations has seen more than 65.000 specators turn out to cheer on their favourite countries around the deep and demanding sand circuit of Lommel in Belgium.

KRT racer, Gautier Paulin, was the spearhead of team France, and having already secured 3rd in his rookie season in the MX1 class, he rolled onto the start line with team-mat Marvin Musquin for the MX1-MX2 heat. Paulin was placed in the top 5 after lap one and then moved up the ladder passing Nagl and Goncalves. He set the fastest lap of the race as he closed down Cairoli and then matched the Italian until Cairoli found a break to take the victory with Paulin in Second.

A lessor start in the final MX1-Open race left Paulin with loads of work to do as he came from around 10 place. He quickly moved past Nagl, Desalle, Bobryshev and then Barcia for second spot but a hard charging Herlings took over and Barcia mnaged to splip by into 3rd. A big crash a few laps later rattled Paulin abut he did not give up and stuck out the grueling moto for 8th spot.

Gautier Paulin: Gautier Paulin: “I had a good feeling today with the track, and I had a good start in the first race. I finished second behind Cairoli and I was happy with that result. In my second race I lost several positions in the first corner, but again recovered strongly and fourth, waiting to pass Barcia for third position in the last few laps.

I was trying some new lines and in one fast section I went over the bars so I lost my rhythm for the last fifteen minutes and finished eighth. I had a good feeling with the bike and the track, and it was a disappointment to miss the podium with France by just a few points.”

Image by Ray Chuss

Race 1 top ten: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 34:26.888; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.182; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:28.933; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:38.741; 5. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), +0:40.180; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:05.036; 7. Ryan Dungey (USA, KTM), +1:11.286; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:38.040; 9. Marc de Reuver (NED, Kawasaki), +1:42.851; 10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +1:44.824;

Nations top ten: Germany, Belgium, France, USA, Russia, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Italy

Race 2 top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:41.619; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:58.141; 3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +1:00.358; 4. Ken Roczen (GER, KTM), +1:48.464; 5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, KTM), +2:27.689; 6. Blake Baggett (USA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 7. Marcus Schiffer (GER, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 8. Todd Waters (AUS, Suzuki), -1 lap(s); 9. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), -1 lap(s); 10. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s);

Nations top ten: Germany, USA, France, Estonia, Belgium, The Netherlands, Russia, Italy, Great Britain, Australia

Race 3 top ten: 1. Cairoli, Antonio (ITA, KTM), 35:00.015; 2. Herlings, Jeffrey (NED,KTM), 3.037; 3. Barcia, Justin (USA, HON), 57.823; 4. Leok, Tanel (EST, SUZ), 1:23.257; 5. De Dycker, Ken (BEL, KTM), 1:29.784; 6. Nagl, Maximilian (GER, KTM), 1:37.774; 7. Desalle, Clement (BEL, SUZ), 1:49.089; 8. Paulin, Gautier (FRA, KAW), 1:56.647; 9. Dungey, Ryan (USA, KTM), 2:00.599; 10. Goncalves, Rui (POR, HON), 2:08.575.

Nations top ten: Germany, Belgium, USA, The Netherlands, Italy, France, Estonia, Great Britain, Portugal, Australia.

The Saturday afternoon qualifying races saw expected wins in all the three classes, with the Red Bull Factory KTM team locking down the top two places in MX1, MX2 and MX3.

But whilst the wins from Cairoli, Roczen and Herlings went according to script, the position below them saw a fair amount of drama and even the disqualification of one of the American team.

MX1
From the start of the first race, World Champion Antonio Cairoli made his intentions clear as he lead coming out of first corner, with team mate Max Nagl, Marc Dereuver, Clement Desalle and Evgeny Bobryshev close behind. The number 1 plate of Ryan Dungey was in an unfamiliar sixth place and in this company, the American didn’t look his usual confident self. Within a short period of time Cairoli began to build a gap on Nagl and the race was beginning to head in a familiar direction. But Max clearly had other ideas, fighting back to get past the Italian Team captain on lap three. As this was happening, Dungey was making slow progress to get to fourth, only to have problems on lap eight that left him without goggles a and far from his previous dominant form. Cairoli retook the lead five laps later and never really looked back. Holland’s DeReuver put in a fantastic performance at the start of the race, but dropped back slightly towards the end bringing in a creditable seventh for his team. . France’s Gautier Paulin was able to put in a strong performance, taking a fourth place finish ahead of a hard charging Evgeny Bobryshev. By the end of the twenty minute qualifying race, the top three were taken by Cairoli, Nagl and Desalle, with America’s Ryan Dungey in a safe if not spectacular sixth.

MX2
Whilst it didn’t last very long, it was the KTM of Glen Coldenhoff that took the hole shot in the MX2 class, heading round the first corner ahead of Ken Roczen. Within a few moments, the German snatched the lead and proceeded to put on a faultless performance, leading every one of the twelve lap race. Behind him, home rider Jeremy Van Horebeek was also slotting in perfect laps to hold second unchallenged for the whole moto. Jake Nicholls started in third place, but was passed by Coldenhoff by lap two. As with his team mate, Americas Blake Baggett began his heat in sixth place, rapidly advancing to fourth within three laps. When Coldenhoff fell on the back part of the circuit, Baggett moved up to third, but with Roczen and Van Horebeek long gone, it was the best he could achieve within the short race. Marvin Musquin was the man on the charge within the top of the field, improving from seventh on lap one to an eventual fourth place finish. With Nicholls ending the race in fifth, there were an impressive four KTMs in the top five. With Roczen adding a win to Nagl’s second place in the first moto, Team Germany were looking decidedly strong prospects for the main races tomorrow.

MX3
Without doubt this was the most eagerly awaited race of the three, with the weight of expectation firmly hung round the neck of ‘King of the Sand’ Jeffrey Herlings. And whilst the young KTM pilot got the overall win, it was by no means as dominant a display as he had given at the Lierop Grand Prix. Americas Justin Barcia was the one who took the early lead, and had the look of a man that had this circuit firmly dialled. Great Britain’s Max Anstie was in second behind him, muscling the big Honda around Lommel’s tough sand ahead of Ken De Dycker. Herlings started way back in the pack, but he had moved from eleventh to fourth within one lap, catching up with Barcia by lap five. Herlings passed the American going into the far loop of the circuit, but Barcia was not going to let him go without a fight, throwing all of his speed into the deep sand to keep in sight if the Dutch rider. Max had fallen on lap three allowing Tanel Leok to inherit his place. But then the drama came. Barcia got twisted on the sweeping curve before the pit lane straight, and ended up ploughing into the advertising hoardings. The young American could not free his bike, only succeeding in digging the bike further into the sand. He eventually got out with what was latterly judged as ‘outside assistance’ and was to be disqualified after the race.

The top five were thus Herlings, De Dycker, Leok, Anstie, Guarneri, and this result meant that the top places go went to Germany, followed by Belgium, Italy, Holland and France for Sunday’s races.

Words Julian Challis
Images by Ray Chuss

Full Results

Well, this is it – the once in a year opportunity to see AMA and GP riders bang bars in the biggest festival of dirt bike riding. The Monster Energy Motocross of Nations is here.

Catching up with the likes of Blake Baggett, Tommy Searle, Mitch Payton, Josh Coppins, Zach Osborne and Gautier Paulin yesterday we got a perspective of what it means to ride this immense occasion. The USA clearly have a target on their backs as home favorites Belgium plus the likes of France, Germany, GB are hunting silverware with serious intent.

When the gates drop for Qualifying this afternoon we’ll get a better idea of who’s got the measure of this sand, but in the meantime take in the thoughts and sights of all the build up.

Just one week before representing Great Britain at the Motocross of Nations, Thor’s Tommy Searle made the last race of the FIM Motocross World Championship count with an impressive 1-1 MX2 victory in Teutschenthal, Germany. His six overall wins and seven additional podium finishes helped Searle to finish second overall in the MX2 championship standings.

Tommy Searle
(Photo: CDS)

In the MX1 class, Gautier Paulin got a boost before representing France at the MXoN with a hard-fought fifth-place overall with a 4-5 moto result. Paulin wrapped up the season third overall in the championship standings. Paulin’s teammate and fellow Frenchman Xavier Boog, who will be competing at the MXoN, ended the day eighth overall with a 9-7 moto result.

Gautier Paulin
(Photo: CDS)

While the Motocross of Nations is less than a week away in Lommel, Belgium, Thor riders started competition at the International Six Day Enduro in Saxony, Germany. Thor comprises the entire six-man USA Trophy Team with Destry Abbott, Russell Bobbitt, Mike Brown, Kurt Caselli, Charlie Mullins, and Taylor Robert. While the team results have not been posted, Mullins earned third in the fourth special test and Taylor Robert finished fourth in the final special test. Check in to our Facebook where we will be posting updates throughout the week.

(Left to Right) Bobbitt, Mullins, Robert, Caselli, Abbott, Brown
(Photo: Shan Moore)

For all the latest from Thor, be sure to visit the NEW thormx.com, Thor on Facebook and follow@ThorMXOfficial on Twitter.

The final round of the FIM Motocross World Championship was a happy hunting ground for the fastest racers of the Monster Energy MX2 crew as Floride Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle and Monster Energy Yamaha duo Zach Osborne and Arnaud Tonus covered the podium with champagne at the Grand Prix of Germany, checked out by a massive 40,000 crowd at Teutschenthal.

Leaping around the spectacular, bumpy and hard-pack track –scene of the 2013 Motocross of Nations next year – Searle was the main man in the MX2 class as the Brit flew to his sixth win of 2012 and notched his twelfth visit to the box in the sixteen rounds of the action-packed series. The Kawasaki ace and ’12 runner-up was unchallenged in both motos and ran to the chequered flag ahead of Osborne and Tonus. The American graced the top three for the thirdtime since coming back from injury for the ninth GP of the season and did so with a gutsy ride from a bad start and early crash in the second moto to grab fourth and make sure of the second step. Tonus has been dealing with injuryniggles throughout 2012 but the Swiss’ impossibly cool style helped him to third spot in the second race and therefore his first trophy on the factoryYZ250F.

“This was a nice way to finish up; to make a 1-1 happen is never easy,” said Searle who’ll step-up to MX1 next season. “It’s been a good weekend and I couldn’t have asked for much more. I hit my lines well and felt good on the track. Jeffrey [Herlings] was fast but missed most of the firstmoto and I’d figured out my lines by that time.”

MX1 saw Kawasaki Racing Team’s Gautier Paulin seal fourth place in Germany and beat countryman Christophe Pourcel to third place overall in the championship standings after his rookie season in the premier class.GP21 said: “It has been a really good year; it could have been better and it could have been worse. A top three finish was our goal at the beginning of the season and we did that.”

The FIM Motocross World Championship has wrapped after six months, sixteen meetings, fourteen countries and two continents of the circus being on the road. Just one more call lays in store with the 66th Monster Energy Motocross of Nations ready to deliver the ultimate carnival of international racing and partying in Lommel in Belgium next weekend.