Preview - Motocross of Nations.

The biggest single event in Motocross will take place at Ernee, France, this weekend when no less than 34 teams from around the world descend on the immaculately prepared world championship circuit for the 2005 Motocross of Nations.

And even before a wheel has been turned in anger the event is being tipped as potentially one of the best ever with the return of Team USA, the participation of all the 2005 individual Motocross World Champions, a good weather forecast and (if prevent event ticket sales are anything to go by) a huge crowd.

However, the Motocross of Nations was in a far less healthy state as recently as 2002, when only seventeen teams came to compete in Spain - putting its reputation as 'the Olympic Games of Motocross' in serious doubt.

But since then all the parties concerned - the governing federations, promoters, teams, riders and media - have been working hard to bring the competition back to the highest level. The efforts paid off with Zolder (2003) and Lierop (2004) confirming the resurrection of the oldest FIM International race.

Born in 1947 in the Netherlands - a meeting had been organised in 1946, but it was a tentative outing and the event was called 'Motocross Des Nations' for the first time in 1947 - the 'Nations has a long history and the 2005 edition is as eagerly awaited as any.

After the longest ever season of racing on both sides of the Atlantic - seventeen events for the GP riders and twenty-eight AMA Supercross-Motocross outings for the American based riders - the Motocross of Nations will officially close an exciting season.

Two of the most dominant champions in the history of the sport obtained new titles in 2005 - a ninth for Stefan Everts in the MX1 series, twelfth and thirteenth titles for Ricky Carmichael in the US Supercross and Motocross series - while numerous teenagers including Italian Antonio Cairoli (MX2 World Champion) and American Ivan Tedesco (US 125 Supercross and Motocross Champion) made their mark in the support class.

These champions will all be involved with their national teams in the 59th edition of the 'Nations, and will be revered by the fans who had already pre-booked 15,000 tickets one month in advance.

Fifteen-times winners of the 'Nations, the American team again field an impressive line-up with a charismatic leader and strong team-mates. Carmichael, Kevin Windham and Tedesco were the strongest US riders this season and will start as favourites.

Their last victory was in France (2000), and only two years prior to the return of the event on US territory (due in 2007) they now have the opportunity to equal the record held by Great Britain.

The only team race in this individual sport, the 'Nations always demands a unique approach from the riders, who race for their own pride - but mainly for their team. Everyone is expecting a duel between US leader Carmichael and GP star Everts for race victories, but it is the team prize that counts.

Reigning champions (they have won for the last two years) the Belgians are naturally among the favourites, with 2005 MX1 GP winners Kevin Strijbos and Steve Ramon alongside captain Everts. It's the same Flemish team as last year, but Ern?e is very different from sandy Lierop and the Belgians will have more difficulty to match the US team and aim for a fifteenth win.

Two other countries are among the favourites: New Zealand (Josh Coppins, Ben Townley and Cody Cooper) and France (Mickael Pichon, David Vuillemin and S?bastien Tortelli). Both have the capability to claim the Chamberlain trophy on Sunday and in each team there will be a healthy dose of pressure.

But anything can happen at the 'Nations, including a surprise win by an 'outsider' - such as France at Namur (2001).

Among those with more than enough potential to cause such an upset are Italy (Antonio Cairoli, David Philippaerts and Davide Guarneri), Estonia (Aigar and Tanel Leok, Juss Lansoo), South Africa (Tyla Rattray, Gareth Swanepoel and Neville Bradshaw) and Great Britain (Billy Mackenzie, Carl Nunn, James Noble).

Meanwhile individual talents such as Dutchman Marc De Reuver (450 KTM), Australian Andrew MacFarlane (250 Yamaha), Denmark's Brian Jorgensen (450 Yamaha), Switzerland's Julien Bill (450 KTM) or Spain's Jonathan Barragan (450 KTM) will try to claim a strong individual performance and lead their team-mates to the best overall result.

Action will start on Saturday with the first practice session at 10.00 (MX1), and the qualifying races are scheduled at 2.20 (MX1), 3.20 (MX2) and 4.20 (Open class).

The best two results of each country will be retained to qualify the twenty strongest teams who will be admitted to the MXoN on Sunday, with three races scheduled at 1.10 (MX1 and MX2), 2.40 (MX2 and Open) and 4.10 (MX1 and Open).

The best five of the six results will then count towards crowning the winner of the 2005 Motocross of Nations.

Weather forecast is pretty good for the week-end with sunny sky (possibly cloudy on Sunday morning) and temperatures around 20?C.