08/10/2026
Thursday Thoughts – 2026 MX Des Nations Review
Wow, what an incredible the Motocross Des Nations is!!. Ernee was my seventh Des Nations and the atmosphere at this incredible venue was off the scale. The sheer volume of spectators from all parts of the globe is also something to behold. For Race 1 on Sunday I was stood by a Father and Son from Barnsley, Australians, a family from Canada, Swedes, some very colourful Belgians and of course, plenty of fans from the host nation.
The Des Nations continues to be the biggest event in the Motocross calendar because of the fans. Sadly, with the way Motorsport is now promoted and TV Rights being the be all and end all, we have lost many great events from the sporting calendar. In Formula 1 we used to have “The Race of The Year” and in what is now MotoGP – The Trans Atlantic Trophy which was a competition held over the Easter Weekend where Team GB took on Team USA and in later years, The Commonwealth v Team USA.
The Motocross Des Nations is such a feel-good event. A rousing end of season finale where each nation sends three riders to represent them and not just ride for their regular domestic or Grand Prix team or AMA if American or Australian. This year saw the competition once more held in The Mayenne at the wonderfully atmospheric venue of Ernee. I’ve been to Ernee, twice now for the Des Nations, but also twice in the past when on holiday, just to look at the place. Only one other venue in the world has that draw for me personally and that is Farleigh Castle. You drive by on a non-race weekend, and both venues are just fields set in the beautiful countryside of both countries, but close my eyes and I’m back to 1985 or 1989, cheering Dave Thorpe on with thousands of others or if at Ernee, a banked cauldron of French passion and noise, with the Tricolore’s waving. There was no need to imagine that this weekend as an expectant French crowd, fuelled by their qualification performance on Saturday, fancied their chances of repeating victory at this venue in 2015 and 2023 with Romain Febvre, Mathis Valin and Tom Vialle all qualifying well.
In Febvre, France have the perfect role model to any young rider in the EMX / MXGP paddock. Whilst he is not the most talented rider to win a world title he is most definitely one of the most determined who is in great physical shape and has the mindset to match that determination, makes him one of the hardest riders to beat over the past decade. He duly won Race 1 on Sunday.
Isak Gifting had got the holeshot and was leading as the riders launched up the big triple but made an error in the corner afterwards and was on his way down as Prado took the lead and Febvre, trying to squeeze past the falling Swede, clipped him in the process. This reminded me of Team GB’s fate 12 months earlier in the opening stages in the USA. Josh Gilbert had gated fantastically well only for Ken Roczen to fall in front of him resulting in Josh crashing, through no fault of his own, and all that excitement and optimism is gone in a split second, just like Gifting and Sweden on Sunday.
After Febvre kept pressurising Spaniard Jorge Prado into a mistake. Prado remounted to take second ahead of Lucas Coenen. The young Belgian, still not fully recovered from his crash at Foxhill, was able to complete his first thirty-minute race and secured good points for Belgium. Twin brother Sacha, yet again had taken a tumble, but yet again, bounced back to recover to finish 12th. France were under massive pressure despite Febvre’s brilliant victory as Mathis Valin crashed out on the opening lap.
MX2 World Champion, Guillem Farres was first 250 home in fourth which saw them leading the competition at this early stage. For Great Britain, new boys Taylor Hammal and Ben Mustoe had made a solid start, 20th and 21st on the first lap and stuck at it well in hot conditions for the time of year. Taylor would finish an excellent 16th and Ben a very respectable 23rd . ……
As the saying goes “To finish first, first you have to finish” and with Valin’s DNF the pressure was on the hosts as the gate dropped for Race 2 but with Vialle leading and Valin 8th France were looking to make inroads from the off, but, half a lap in, Vialle went massive – misjudging the take off on the table top in the centre of the track and was unceremoniously spat over the bars, and that was that - France were out of it – From Hero to Villain in one minute.
At the front now was Herlings and he totally dominated proceedings as we’ve become accustomed to in the second half of 2026. Andrea Adamo would finish an excellent second withstanding some late pressure from Pauls Jonas and Liam Everts. Ben Watson had made an excellent start for Great Britain, defending gamely, keeping you Everts at bay. Ben reminds me of Paul Cooper, and please don’t think I’m being disrespectful to either of them when I say “they could get second and finish eighth and gate thirty fifth and finish eighth” . They aren’t quite quick enough to win a world title, but they fight for every second of every race that they are in and never let Great Britain down ! Ben would eventually finish a brilliant 10th . An excellent result. What of the other Ben? That young man Mustoe – Ben Mustoe had gate pick 30 with Team GB correctly sending the other Ben to the line for pick 10 so the young man from Cheltenham would need to dig in deep – in only his tenth thirt minutes plus two laps race, but this time with only forty minutes rest between races. Ben had a little fall with four laps to go, but remounted without losing a position to finish 24th . A more than respectable showing for the young man from Cheltenham. In my opinion, to secure two top 25 finishes at the Des Nations is very respectable. To do that on a 250 on your debut and be 10th overall MX2 finisher is a job very well-done Ben Mustoe !!
After a brief chat and congratulating Ben and his father Steve on his great showing I made my way back into the spectator area for the showdown, the finale, Race 3 of the Motocross Des Nations 2026.
For all the hype and drama at the front with Herlings winning from Prado and Febvre, the real story was Belgium, winning the 79th running of this great event with the youngest team. Liam Everts and Lucas Coenen finished an excellent fourth and fifth in the race to help secure victory for Belgium. Seeing the youngest team ever claim victory, and the celebrations that followed was truly wonderful. For Lucas and Liam especially, after that tangle in late 2024 which left Liam with a nasty neck and back injury, to a joyous embrace between the two countrymen was the start of a massive celebration for Team Belgium.
Sixth in the race was Cooper Webb of the USA. Another brilliant individual performance on the day on his first outing on new machinery, and by a rider who is one of the all time best at Supercross but not at that same level in Motcross was an incredible effort. Webb epitomises what the Des Nations should be about, especially in this “greed is God” era that we find ourselves in. To be selected for one’s country is the greatest honour, irrespective of your chosen sport or pursuit.
The impression given by certain individuals, or one individual across the Atlantic, is that you should be paid to attend this event. Whilst “everyone has their value” , the true essence of sport or life in general, is to be the best value of oneself and uphold those values. This is what the Motocross Des Nations does, be it those competing on the track or those watching in appreciation, competing in a common language of love and respect, making this mad, crazy world, a better place -
