The annual FIM Motocross of Nations is always a hugely anticipated contest as countries arm-wrestle to be the greatest nation the world. Every year one country basks in the glory of victory while 40 others mourn, point fingers, offer excuses or hope for better luck next year. If nothing else, the MXoN is a fascinating affair that will always be a firm favourite on the international calendar, but there are always a tonne of interesting lessons we can learn by pitting the world’s best against each other. Here are 10 things we gleaned from the weekend’s wild contest at Kegums, Latvia.

Source: KTM.

1. Antonio Carioli is human after all:
While he might have a grill that only his mother could truly love, you can’t deny that Antonio Carioli is one of the greatest racers the world has ever seen with eight world championships to his name. But even demigods have bad days, and Tony’s happened to coincide with the biggest race of the year. Racing a KTM 250SX-F, the MX1 regular crashed hard in the opening moto while holding down an impressive fifth position. He DNF’d but returned for the second moto reportedly nursing a damaged knee ligament, where he suffered probably his worst start of the year (35th into the first turn), but recovered to finish 19th.

2. Commentators can make or break live coverage:
Foxtel subscribers who had initially cheered at the prospect of having all three final motos aired live on Eurosport were soon either desperately wishing they’d subscribed to the MXGP live stream or were watching the action on mute. The reason? The commentators were that bad. From criticising the “hapless cameras” (admittedly, the camerawork in the first moto did a great job of missing all the key battles), calling the local riders filling GP gates “nitwits”, to branding Ryan Dungey as a “stud muffin”, the commentary was so bad we almost felt embarrassed for them. Almost.

3. Gautier Paulin is the world’s most under-rated racer:
Look, just because you can’t pronounce a bloke’s name doesn’t mean he’s not a savage on a motorcycle. Frenchman Gautier Paulin definitely doesn’t get the credit he deserves on a global scale, but to go 1-1 against the world’s best riders (and move to a record-matching four MXoN race victories) is a superhuman effort. Paulin has suffered from living in the shadow of Carioli for much of his career, but when he gets the opportunity to shine, he grabs it by the throat and gives it a damn good shake. Y’all better recognise.

4. Right-hand first turns always cause dramas:
There’s a good reason that the vast majority of first turns in the world are left-handers. When 40 guys storm in a line towards a hairpin turn and have to negotiate the corner without using their rear brakes, mistakes are going to happen more often than not. Every one of the finals races at Keygums saw at least one rider take a sand sample in the first turn, and often spelling bad news for the country’s podium hopes.

5. Luke Clout can handle pressure:
It’s easy to forget that Luke Clout is only 19 years old. The 2014 MX2 champ might’ve been a late inclusion to Team Australia after Dean Ferris snapped his femur leading up to the MXoN, but he raced with consistency and maturity that saw him place 22-21 in his two motos against the larger 450cc machines. More importantly, Clouty was the eighth-ranked 250F rider and Australia’s highest-placed result. The kid is bound for big things.

Source: Youthstream.

6. France has talent to burn:
In the lead-up to this year’s event, French racing fans were demanding team manager Olivier Robert’s head for choosing Gautier Paulin, Steve Frossard and Dylan Ferrandis, while 2014 MX2 champion Jordi Tixier and US revelations Marvin Musquin and Christophe Pourcel were left off the love list. It turned out to be a masterstroke as the French won their first MXoN title in 13 years, but it’s staggering to think that most countries would kill to have a team with the caliber of France’s second-stringers. For ours, even France’s outcasts could’ve been podium contenders this year.

7. Don’t piss off Eli Tomac:
When Eli Tomac went down in the first turn of the final moto, American shoulders sank and hands covered faces across the planet. It was a disaster. The US would miss the podium for the first time in forever. But Tomac got back on the bike, put his angry face on, then put on a charge that could go down as one of the greatest rides in MXoN history; he screamed from last place to third position, with his best lap a full two seconds quicker than that of Paulin’s. Tomac’s charge saved the USA from what looking like a certain, humiliating defeat.

8. Motocross has no favourites:
One day… one day, Team Australia will get a fair shake of the moto dice, all our ducks will line up in a row, and we’ll see the green and gold up on the podium again. This year’s team seemed capable of a top five result at least, but not in our darkest nightmares did we expect to see our boys Chad Reed, Matt Moss and Luke Clout finish a lowly 14th. And how quickly things changed. After hovering around the top eight for most of the day, Reed was cleaned out on the moto three start straight, then Mossy hit the eject button less than a lap later and returned to the pits with a concussion. The two DNFs put any respectable result to the sword. If it’s any consolation, fate doesn’t like the Brits either: the team looked locked and loaded for a podium finish before Shaun Simpson’s chain snapped mid-way through the final moto. Adding insult to injury, they missed the podium on countback to the Americans.

9. Even sand tracks can be hard to pass on:
Normally sand tracks lend themselves to a multitude of racing lines that can be mixed and matched to get around the bloke in front of you in pretty quick fashion. The Latvian circuit didn’t really pan out that way. In fact, passing opportunities were surprisingly thin on the ground and riders had to either find another couple of gears (Tomac style) or line the guy up about half a lap in advance of actually squeeze past him. Normally hardpack tracks are more prone to becoming one-lined, but it appears even sandy circuits aren’t immune to becoming slot-car circuits.

10. Europe can outgun USA:
While the Americans rattle off all manner of excuses about why the best team in the world didn’t win (again) this year, the elephant in the room that people don’t want to seem to talk about is the fact that European MXGP riders are now faster, fitter, stronger and smarter than ever – more than good enough to take on the all-star Americans. The USA doesn’t boast the best racers any more, at least on European soil, and after three years on the top step of the rostrum, European riders are now officially and the fastest in the world when it comes to European MXoN events.