By Jeff Kardas

Team France scored the overall win at the 2018 FIM Motocross of Nations, followed by Italy and the Netherlands.

The U.S. team finished a disappointing sixth at Michigan’s RedBud MX Oct. 7-8.

It had been eight years since the international motocross event had occurred on U.S. soil, and U.S. Team Manager and AMA Hall of Fame Legend Roger Decoster brought the U.S. Motocross of Nations team to the event that he’d been hoping to assemble for the past several years.

The team included Pro Motocross 450MX Class Champion Eli Tomac and 2018 Pro Motocross 250MX Champion Aaron Plessinger.

Justin Barcia rounded out the U.S. team. He’d been a clutch player on several previous U.S. Motocross of Nations teams.

Facing off against the Americans was a selection of great riders from the FIM World Championship series. Defending champions Team France was comprised of talented riders Gautier Paulin, Dylan Ferrandis and Jordi Tixier.

Heavy rainfall during the evening and nights of the event resulted in very muddy conditions in the pits and on the track surface.

In order to minimize the effect of the rain, the track was not re-graded as deeply as it normally is. The layout was changed in the first few corners, which effectively removed much of the U.S. team’s home track advantage.

Sunday afternoon’s opening moto featured the team’s best result of the event when Tomac scored a fourth-place finish. He finished more than 40 seconds behind winning rider Jeffrey Herlings from The Netherlands. Plessinger crossed the line in 18th place.

In the second moto, Barcia found himself stuck in a no-man’s land and finished in ninth place. Plessinger struggled with a bad start and possible mechanical issues that slowed him to a 16th-place finish.

In the third and final moto of the event, Tomac and Barcia got mid-pack starts and were not fast enough to keep up with race winner Glenn Coldenhoff of The Netherlands and Herlings. Tomac finished in seventh place while a flat tire slowed Barcia to a 13th-place finish.

The U.S. team finished the event in sixth place overall in what was a humbling performance on home soil.

The 2019 FIM Motocross of Nations takes place at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands on a man-made track on the road racing circuit’s infield.