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Australia's historic first win at 2024 MXdN’s in the UK
2024 Motocross des Nations, world teams event - MATTERLEY BASIN, UNITED KINGDOM (4-6 October)
Photos: [Left] The triumphant Australian Team at the 2024 Motocross of Nations in the United Kingdom (L-R) team manager Michael Byrne, Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence and Kyle Webster; [Right] Jett and Hunter Lawrence celebrating after the final moto – Courtesy Motorcycling Australia
Australia wins Motocross of Nations for the first time on its 40th Anniversary
Forty years on from its first attempt in the Motocross of Nations World Teams event in Varburg, Sweden in 1984, Australia finally broke through in 2024 to create history and win the Chamberlain Trophy for the first time.
The Honda-riding trio of Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence and Kyle Webster on 6 October 2024 created history at the Matterley Basin racetrack in the United Kingdom, becoming the first Australians to win this prestigious event. The brothers from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland also became the first siblings to win the overall teams event.
After two motos, the 2024 MXoN’s came down to five countries in the third – Team USA, Australia, The Netherlands, Spain and the reigning champions and powerhouse French team who have absolutely dominated this event in recent years.
The intensity in the final moto went to another level with the Lawrence brothers representing Australia in the final MXGP/Open moto. But when the gates dropped, the Australians were near the front of the field and were in with our best ever shot to win the World Teams Championship.
With Jett starting from the more difficult start-line position to give Hunter the edge, his older brother took the advantage and got a great start in fourth position. From the outside, Jett was in the Top 10 at the start and now had to work his way through the field. But most importantly, the two Australians were ahead of the other vying nations.
American rider Eli Tomac though won the holeshot and stormed to the lead, with his countryman Aaron Plessinger outside of the top 10. With both Dutch riders in the Top 10, the battle now came down to the USA, The Netherlands and Australia.
But mid-way through the race, Jett Lawrence had stormed through the field into 3rd ahead of Hunter in 4th. Then after he passed the American Eli Tomac and with Dutchman Glen Coldenhoff dropping his bike and fall out of the top 10, Australia now had it hands firmly on the Chamberlain trophy.
Had Jett and Hunter maintained their 2-4 positions, Australia was home. However, in a risky move, Jett went all out for the race win and passed Slovenian world champion Tim Gasjer for the lead. With his country no chance of winning, Gasjer went all out to win the race with the two fastest men in the world locked in a titanic battle.
Nearing the finish line, Jett looked to have the race won and Australia the Teams Championship, but on the final corner Gasjer stormed past Jett to win. With the Australian team members and fans having their hands on their hearts, everyone was relieved that Jett stayed on the bike and finished second.
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News Highlights | Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations 2024 – MXGPTV
With Hunter finishing in fourth behind Eli Tomac and the other US rider Aaron Plessinger in 8th, Australia finished on 26pts to win the event for the first time – ahead of America (29), The Netherlands (36), Spain (45) and 2023 champion France (50).
In the individual standings, Tim Gasjer was the overall winner after two brilliant victories in Motos 1 and 3 (MXGP/MX2), ahead of Jett (1-2) who easily won Moto 2 (Open/MX2) and American Eli Tomac (Yamaha, 2-3), who competed in the MXGP class.
Gasjer also won the MXGP class, Jett the Open class, and Dutchman Kay De Wolfe (the reigning World MX2 Champion) the MX2 class.
Over the last three years, the Lawrence brothers have led Australia to third (Redbudd, USA), second (Ernee, France) and now they finally finished on top of the podium in the United Kingdom.
The win was a timely result for Australia – 40 years since we first competed in the World Teams event in Varburg, Sweden in 1984. For the first time, Australia will run the numbers 1-2-3 when the race comes to Ironman Raceway in the USA in October 2025.
Moto 1 (MXGP/MX2) The Netherlands leads early ahead of US & Australia
Photo: The complete Australian Team at the 2024 Motocross of Nations [L-R] Lars Larsson (USA HRC race manager), riders Kyle Webster (MX2), Jett Lawrence (Open) , Hunter Lawrence (MXGP), Michael Byrne (Team Manager), Gary Benn, Mark Luksich, Stephen Gall and Jeff Leisk (Courtesy Stephen Gall)
Kyle Webster’s Honda MX2 class – By Stephen Gall
Spain’s Jorge Prado won the holeshot in the opening race for the MXGP and MX2 riders. Most nations chose to put their MXGP rider on the inside gates, a move that paid off for Australia with the country’s MX2 rider Kyle Webster starting 4th and Hunter gating well from his position to be in the top 10.
The move, however didn’t pay off for Team France with their rider Tom Vialle (MX2) and Romain Febvre (MXGP) with work to do after starting mid-pack.
A third of the way into the moto, Slovenia’s Tim Gajser passed Prado to lead with USA’s Eli Tomac charging into second and battling Gajser for the lead. Prado would slip behind Febvre who charged all the way up to third as the lead five riders, including Belgium’s MX2 rider Lucas Coenen sprinted away from the field.
But both Belgium’s and Great Britain’s hopes took a turn for the worst with MX2 riders Coenen crashing and braking his collarbone and Englishman Max Anstie also crashing out and not finishing the race.
The drizzly weather made it hard for riders to see and Hunter Lawrence, Tom Vialle, Andrea Adamo, and many others chose to stop for a fresh pair of googles, a risky move that seemed to pay off. Febvre, however, elected just to throw his goggles off to maintain his third place behind Tomac in second.
Gajser won the moto ahead of Tomac and Febvre, but it was The Netherlands who led the country points with newly crowned MX2 champion Kay De Wolf (MX2) finishing in 5th ahead of his Dutch countryman Jeffrey Herlings putting them on 11 points. Cooper Webb (MX2) finished in 17th, which left USA in a tie for second on 19 points with Australia with Hunter Lawrence and Kyle Webster finishing in 8th and 11th, respectively.
Webster was the second MX2 rider home and Lawrence was 7th in the MXGP class.
Moto 2 (MX2/Open) - Jett wins moto and open class
Australia’s Jett Lawrence got his first chance of the day in Moto 2 for the MX2 and Open Class riders.
Spain’s Ruben Fernandez grabbed the holeshot, but it didn’t take long for Lawrence to take the lead and slowly pull away from the entire field. The Netherlands’ MX2 standout de Wolf charged to third early before falling twice during the race. He fought back to fifth in the end, but looked to be struggling with goggle troubles.
De Wolf’s form enabled The Netherlands to remain on top heading into the final moto. With Americans Aaron Plessinger and Cooper Webb finishing 7th and 9th, respectively, the USA sat second overall going into race three.
Australia was third after Jett Lawrence took the win with Kyle Webster coming home in 19th, after having to stop for new goggles, with this result likely to be dropped.
Photo: Jett Lawrence comfortably won Moto 2 for the MX2 and Open riders.
Moto 3 (MXGP/Open) - Australia wins, finishing 2-4
Photo: Hunter Lawrence and Jett Lawrence in positions 3 and 4 in Moto 3 – Courtesy Motorcycling Australia
Photo: Australian victory celebrations – Hunter, Kyle Webster and Jett – Courtesy Motorcycling Australia
Hunter lawrence quote
“I just can’t help but thank of all the Australians back home and the fundraising to get us here in 2024.
This win is for you!”
The battle for the Chamberlain Trophy was now down to five nations – between The Netherlands, USA, Australia, France, and Spain heading into race three. With it all on the line, surprisingly Eli Tomac – who is not known for his strong starts – won the holeshot over Jorge Prado to put the Americans in the box seat.
Prado took the lead for a few laps, but Tomac went back to the front as Slovenia’s Tim Gajser moved to second and the battle was on for the lead.
Australia’s move to give Hunter Lawrence the better starting position provide a great tactic, with Hunter in second and Jett managing to start in the Top 10 then work his way up through the field.
Meanwhile, Spain and The Netherlands took huge hits early when their riders Ruben Fernandez and Glenn Coldenhoff both went down on the first lap together, essentially ending their chances at the win.
At this stage, Team France was in contention with Romain Febvre and Maxime Renaux, but Febvre shockingly pulled to a stop and fell over late in the moto, resulting in a DNF that cost them a podium result.
It all came down to the USA versus Australia. But with Jett Lawrence eventually passing Tomic to move into second and Hunter Lawrence in 4th, Australian now just needed to hold these positions to win the World Teams event as America Aaron Plessinger was well down behind the Australians.
In a risky move, Jett ended up passing Gajser to take the lead. But Gajser had nothing to lose and was not going down without a fight. With two corners to go, Gajser lunged down the inside to take the lead away from Jett and surged to victory in the final race.
Jett managed to stay upright, which meant team Australia had done enough to claim the Peter Chamberlain Trophy for the first time ever.
Jett and Hunter Lawrence finished 2nd and 4th, respectively, to win overall by just three points over Team USA with The Netherlands in third after Dutchman Glen Coldenhoff dropped his bike towards the end of the race and fell out of the top 10.
2024 MXDN's Team Placings and Race results - Matterley Basin, UK
Nations Top 6
1. Australia 26 pts
2. United States 29
3. The Netherlands 36
4. Spain 45
5. France 50
MXGP Class Overall
1 Tim Gajser 1-1 (SLO Honda)
2 Eli Tomac 2-3 (USA Yamaha)
3 Jeffrey Herlings 5-5 (NL) KTM
4 Hunter Lawrence 8-4 (AUS Honda)
5 Jeremy Seewer 7-6 (SUI Kawasaki)
MX2 Class Overall
1 Kay de Wolf 6-5 (NL Husqvarna)
2 Karlis Alberts Reisulis 12-8 (LAT Yamaha)
3 Simon Laengenfelder 18-3 (GER GasGas)
4 Mikkel Haarup 13-10 (DEN Triumph)
5 Cooper Webb 17-9 (US Yamaha)
6 Kyle Webster 11-19 (AUS Honda)
Open Class Overall
1 Jett Lawrence 1-2 (AUS Honda)
2 Maxime Renaux 4-9 (FRA Yam)
3 Ruben Fernandez 2-12 (SPA Hon)
4 Aaron Plessinger 7-8 (USA KTM)
5 Conrad Mewse 6-19 (UK KTM)
References and photo credits –
Motorcycling Australia
MXGPTV
Stephen Gall – Yamaha Legend
