Belgium wins Motocross des Nations.

Despite the efforts of American ace Ricky Carmichael, Team Belgium have won the 57th Motocross des Nations in front of their home fans at Zolder, to claim the prestigious end of season trophy for the 13th time.

In front of a 23,000 strong crowd, crammed around the purpose built course that crosses the historic motor racing circuit several times, the 2003 World Championship winning trio of Stefan Everts, Joel Smets and Steve Ramon notched the highest overall results - and therefore the lowest winning score - in the A Final to own the event.

Semi-Final 1:
After the heavy rainfall of Friday the 'whoops' section, which had been cut out of the track in the interests of preservation for today's activities, were re-opened today - and raised the difficulty of the circuit up another notch.

A taster of the action to come was provided by the first semi-final, in which AMA champion Carmichael and seven-times world champion Everts indulged in a fantastic battle for the lead throughout the first half of the race.

The pair seemed to be urged on by the energy radiating from a thrilled and boisterous crowd - and did not let the fans down. Swapping lines and positions with almost show-staged regularity, Carmichael was finally able to finally make the break around the 20 minute mark of the 30 minute and 2 lap distance.

By that time Everts was clearly in trouble, and was caught by the second member of Team USA, Ryan Hughes, and then also his countryman Steve Ramon. It later emerged that Everts was struggling with arm pump, and would eventually cross the line fourth.

However that, together with Ramon's third, was good enough to leave Belgium second overall on points - which were awarded in reverse order with Carmichael taking one, Hughes two etc, with the top two scores of each nation counting.

A mass pile-up wrecked the moto for the latter half of the field in the first few corners, and Joel Smets crossed the line in a disappointing 15th after hole-shotting and then crashing while fronting the pack on the first lap. Factory KTM rider Joaquim Rodrigues was ruled out of action for Portugal in the formative stages with a spectacular accident.

Leading results - Semi-Final 1:
1. Carmichael (USA)
2. Hughes (USA)
3. Ramon (BEL)
4. Everts (BEL)
5. Jorgensen (DEN)
6. Ferry (USA)
7. Cooper (GBR)
8. Aubert (FRA)
9. Gundersen (NOR)
10. Seguy (FRA)

The above results placed America, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Denmark and South Africa, respectively, through to the A Final.

Semi-Final 2:
Chilly conditions were offset by intervals of bright sunshine contrasted by the odd shower as the second semi-final got underway.

Josh Coppins of New Zealand dived into the opening turn first and was not headed as those around him began to feel the demands of an increasingly rougher and challenging sandy terrain. The Kiwis were able to take the overall win and enter the gate second for the A Final, with teenager Ben Townley finishing 9th despite crashing twice.

Finland's Jussi Vehvilainen swept past the chequered flag undisturbed as runner-up giving Honda a 'one-two', while Antti Pyrhonen was eighth and allowed the podiumees from 2002 to claim second place overall.

Spain almost squeezed through but Javier Garcia Vico had some mechanical problems and also slipped off. Joan Barreda and Jonathan Barragan both crashed. Barreda had to be taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg.

Leading results - Semi-Final 2:
1. Coppins (NZ)
2. Vehvilainen (FIN)
3. Crockard (IRE)
4. Leok (EST)
5. Narita (JPN)
6. McFarlane (AUS)
7. Kadlecek (CZE)
8. Pyrhonen (FIN)
9. Townley (NZ)
10. Matsuda (JPN)

The above results meant that New Zealand, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Czech Republic and Ireland, respectively, would complete the line-up for the A Final.

B Final:
Defending Champions Italy, with a weakened squad, lost the only member of their 2002 winning line-up when Andrea Bartolini fell out on the whoops section on lap three as the rain began to fall again for the rest of the duration.

The race consisted of a brief contest between Norway and Spain for the win (and 13th place overall in the 2003 MX of Nations), which Kenneth Gundersen triumphed for the former.

Early leader Javier Garcia Vico had mechanical problems that dropped him to fourth behind Sweden's Joakim Karlsson and Australia's Andrew McFarlane; the Aussies were standing on the podium only two years ago. Sweden gained overall success and the '03 ranking of 13th while Italy had to be content with 17th (5th in Final B).
Leading rider results - B Final:
1. Gundersen (NOR)
2. Karlsson (SWE)
3. McFarlane (AUS)
4. Garcia Vico (SPA)
5. Jelen (SLO)

Leading team results - B Final:
1. Sweden
2. Australia
3. Norway
4. Solvenia
5. Italy

A Final:
The main race, starting at 5pm with the King of Belgium looking on, saw a superlative performance once more from Carmichael.

In front of an excited and willing crowd the Honda rider recovered from a shaky start to rapidly slice the advantage carved out by leader Everts that stood at around 4-5 seconds.

Yamaha mounted Everts could offer no resistance to the American superstar's threat and instead wisely chose to defend a solid second position, safe in the knowledge that Joel Smets was riding relatively unhindered in third.

While Carmichael would win by over 10secs, Team USA's chances of victory went out the window when Ferry, who had been nursing a small injury to his left hand, started near the rear of the pack and Ryan Hughes crashed and could not restart due to a broken chain on his KTM.

Ferry made his way up to 8th but then fell with several laps to go and finally crossed the line in 9th.

Belgian Ramon was another faller and was fortunate that his retirement on the KTM 250 did not affect the team's result. With the first two places on the podium decided it was left to Finland to make the top three for the second year in succession thanks to the efforts of Jussi Vehvilainen and Antti Pyrhonen who were 6th and 10th respectively.

Gordon Crockard ended the race fourth and helped lift Ireland to 7th overall. Josh Coppins was fifth and Ben Townley's involvement in a crash on the first lap and subsequent DNF did not help New Zealand get the result they were expecting. Shayne King earned 14th to place the Kiwis a disappointing fourth after their early heroics.

However, a DNF by star rider Yoshitaka Atsuta did not prevent Japan taking fifth. Paul Cooper's seventh position was Great Britain's highest result and hiked the Brits to seventh in the final table.

So the Belgium/USA battle everyone had been expecting ultimately went in the direction of the host nation - a surprise to some who believed that the AMA stars would simply be in a class of their own. Carmichael aside, that didn't happen and the likes of Ferry, Hughes and even RC will surely return home with more respect for their European rivals.

"When I was growing up I would always read the magazines and read about the great American teams that won at the Motocross des Nations. It has been a big honour to have been here to represent my country. We may not have been the fastest guys on the track today but I hope that I can return next year," said Ferry.

It might be of small consolation, but Carmichael can now go back to his native Florida having taken on - and beaten - the best the rest of the world had to offer, whilst also winning a place in the European fans' hearts.

However, the des Nations is a team event and while RC was undoubtedly 'rider of the day' the history books will record Team Belgium as beating the USA in 2003.

"This is an incredible day and it has been an amazing year," said Everts. "The race was hard today but we knew what he had to do, and we had such excellent support. Motocross is very important in this small little country and to ride and win in front of the King was a proud moment."

Leading rider results - A Final:
1. Carmichael (USA)
2. Everts (BEL)
3. Smets (BEL)
4. Crockard (IRE)
5. Coppins (NZ)
6. Vehvilainen (FIN)
7. Cooper (GBR)
8. Narita (JPN)
9. Ferry (USA)
10. Pyrhonen (FIN)

Leading team results - A Final:
1. Belgium - 5
2. USA - 10
3. Finland - 16
4. New Zealand - 19
5. Great Britain - 20
6. Japan - 20
7. Ireland - 27
8. Estonia - 27
9. France - 36
10. Czech Republic - 37