Meanwhile, Cairoli had another race to forget: Considered the only rider capable of challenge Villopoto in the MX2 class, the Italian raised hopes of a thrilling showdown by slotting into second early in the race. However, the Yamaha rider made a mistake on the opening lap, then collided with Australian Michael Byrne in his haste to recover positions - leaving him with a broken front wheel.
After the second of three motos, Team USA had extended its advantage to a comfortable 16 points over France - whose riders Pierre Renet and Nicolas Aubin took solid fifth and sixth place finishes in race two - with Spain now 25 points further back in third.
de Dycker helped raise Belgium to fourth, four points from a potential podium, while Great Britain slipped to fifth due to a practice injury for Open class rider James Noble.
Moto Three – MX1 and Open
The decisive moto of the day was an all-450cc affair and this time Carmichael made a safe start, took the lead at turn one - and never looked back. Ricky eventually brought his RMZ home 12secs in front of team-mate Ferry, who worked his way up from fourth on lap one to complete a perfect moto for the USA.
Third position looked like going to reigning MX1 world champion Steve Ramon, but the Belgian was denied by reigning AMA Motocross champion Grant Langston on the very last lap. That pass, and a poor final moto by de Dycker (14th), was to prove costly for Belgium as it lost out on second overall by just one point to France.
The French team were the surprise of the competition, but were rewarded for their consistency with Sebastien Pourcel and Pierre Renet claiming ninth and 14th in the final moto.
With each team's worst score dropped, the USA won by a mammoth 26 points over the French, with Italy finishing 22 points behind Belgium in fourth.
2007 Motocross of Nations – top ten:
1. USA – 8 points
2. France – 34 points
3. Belgium – 35 points
4. Italy – 57 points
5. Great Britain – 63 points
6. Spain – 68 points
7. Japan – 77 points
8. Switzerland – 84 points
9. German – 89 points
10. Canada – 90 points
