Team Spain impresses at the 2019 Motocross of Nations

THE Spanish trio of Jorge Prado in MXGP, Iker Larrañaga in MX2 and Carlos Campano in MXOpen achieved a strong position in wet and slick conditions in last weekends Monster Energy MXoN 2019.

Typical Dutch weather greeted the riders as rain and cloud enveloped the track, leaving conditions tricky throughout the whole event.

Saturdays qualifying saw rookie Jorge Prado lead qualifying for a number of laps before a fall led him to loose a number of places. He remounted to charge for the front, finally qualifying in fourth position for Sundays races.

Iker also took a tumble and finished eighteenth in the standing with Campano pushing towards thirteenth.

These results led to Spain qualifying 20^th in the Sunday main event.

More mud and slime greeted the riders as the MXGP and MX2 classes took to the track. Jorge Prado led again for a period before goggle issues led him to pit. He eventually would finish in third place with Iker suffering the same goggle issues bringing his KTM home in 20^th.

During the second MXGP and MXOpen race, Iker would eventually take 28^th position whilst Campano was clipped by another rider, cracking his fibula and putting him out of contention.

The third race was a battle of resilience for the team, Prado pushed forward with a valiant effort from last place to finish seventh but unfortunately Carlos Campano’s ankle couldn’t last the distance and he retired.

Overall, team Spain finished in ninth position, but was only within 5 points of finishing in the top five.

Paco Rico, team manager commented, “We finally managed to be ninth, just 5 points from the top 5. The track and weather conditions were extreme and spectacle changes were decisive. I want to thank the effort of the riders who have given everything on the bike knowing how to suffer in those conditions until the end.”

The competition was won for the first time by hosting nation Team Netherlands comprising of Glenn Coldenhoff, Jeffrey Herlings and Calvin Vlaanderen who took advantage of the conditions to secure a dominant win.

Second overall was Team Belgium as Jeremy Van Horebeek, Kevin Strijbos and Jago Geerts were consistent enough for yet another podium with 47 points, and third overall was Team Great Britain with Shaun Simpson, Nathan Watson and Adam Sterry on 58 points.