Team Belgium wins Motocross of Nations at Ernee as Red Bull KTM's Coenen twins star
A record crowd of 105,000 watched Red Bull KTM's Lucas and Sacha Coenen help Team Belgium win their first Motocross of Nations since 2013 at Ernee, France.
- 105,000
- 79th
- 2013
- October 9-10
What Happened
The 79th FIM Motocross of Nations drew a huge record crowd of 105,000 to the 'amphitheater' setting of the Ernee circuit in northern France. Red Bull KTM riders Lucas and Sacha Coenen contributed to Team Belgium's first victory in the annual contest since 2013. Red Bull KTM's SMX champion Jorge Prado inspired Team Spain to 2nd place and their first ever podium result. The 2026 MXoN draws a curtain on the international motocross campaign, with testing and preparation for the 2027 MXGP World Championship as well as 2027 SMX beginning in the following weeks before the off-season.
105,000spectators
Attendance for the 79th FIM Motocross of Nations at the Ernee circuit in northern France.
Each nation presented three-man teams with a rider in the MXGP, MX2 and Open classes, and five of the six results posted on Sunday from three 30 minute and 2 lap motos counted towards the final score. The top twenty of two classes from Saturday's Qualification Heats were combined in the start gate: MXGP and MX2, MX2 and Open, and MXGP and Open. Red Bull KTM had a total of five athletes representing four of the 32 entered countries. Ernee welcomed the Motocross of Nations for the fourth time in the past two decades, with the last edition in 2023; previous winners at the steep, hardpacked course west of Le Mans were Team USA in 2005 and Team France in 2015 and 2023.
Jorge Prado took victory in the MXGP Qualification race. Lucas Coenen was 5th in the same outing despite a crash at the start and a damaged seat, Andrea Adamo grabbed 4th in Open, and Sacha Coenen ran to 7th in MX2 after leading early on.
Sunday was hotter and breezier and Ernee was at capacity. Prado finished 1st overall in the MXGP class, leading the first moto until a small tip-off and taking 2nd in the third moto against the Open category for 2-2 on the day. Lucas Coenen, 19, took a productive 3rd overall in his first race since wildcarding at the Southwick National in July, running 3rd in the first moto and 5th later. Sacha Coenen crashed in the first race but recovered to 12th on his KTM 250 SX-F and then rode to 7th in the second moto. Julien Beaumer was 7th overall in MXGP with a 10-17 for Team USA. Adamo was P2 in the second race and was inside the top ten in the final outing until a brief crash damaged his radiator; he tried to continue but was forced to retire.
The 2027 Motocross of Nations is set to take place at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands.
- MXGP: 1. Jorge Prado (ESP) Red Bull KTM, 2-2; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA) Kawasaki, 1-3; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL) Red Bull KTM, 3-5; 7. Julien Beaumer (USA) Red Bull KTM, 10-17
- MX2: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP) Triumph, 4-5; 2. Camden McLellan (RSA) Triumph, 7-8; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL) Red Bull KTM, 12-7
- Open: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED) Honda, 1-1; 2. Liam Everts (BEL) Husqvarna, 4-4; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT) Kawasaki, 3-8; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA) Red Bull KTM, 2-38
- Teams: 1. Team Belgium (Coenen, Coenen, Everts); 2. Team Spain (Farres, Garcia, Prado); 3. Team Netherlands (Coldenhoff, Herlings, van de Moosdijk)
- Teams: 4. Team Latvia (Jonass, Reisulis, Reisulis); 5. Team USA (Beaumer, Kitchen, Webb); 6. Team Italy (Adamo, Forato, Zanchi)
“I cannot thank these guys enough. It's unbelievable. Last week I could barely do [ride] 10 minutes but we kept working and on Tuesday I managed to do one moto. I don't know how I did it today, especially with [Cooper] Webb on my wheel and I was nervous for the second start. A big thanks to Joel [Roelants, Team Manager] and everyone behind the scenes. This is amazing. Belgium is back on top and I love it.”
“With the whole team we put Spain on the box. We have never achieved a podium and to take 2nd place is amazing. There are a lot of people behind this and a lot who have been waiting, waiting and waiting for us to be up here. We had some amazing performances today and I'm really happy I can live this with them.”
Why this matters
The Motocross of Nations is described as the biggest and most popular offroad motorcycle race of the year, so Belgium's first win since 2013 and Spain's first ever podium are significant results for the national teams involved. Both came from riders on Red Bull KTM machinery, and the weekend closed the 2026 international motocross campaign ahead of testing for 2027.
Terms in This Story
- Motocross of Nations
- An annual international motocross event in which national teams of riders compete for their country.
- moto
- A single race or heat within a motocross meeting; several motos make up an event's results.
- MXGP
- The premier class of grand prix motocross racing and one of the classes contested at the Motocross of Nations.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.