Team World Championship: Nagl finished eighth on a third-party machine

Created: 09/27/2022, 21:00

By: Paul Hopp

motocross rider Max Nagl;

here at the 2022 ADAC MX Masters race in Gaildorf.

© IMAGO/Peter Hartenfelser

The “Motocross of Nations” presented a special challenge for Max Nagl. The rider from Weilheim couldn't use his usual Husqvarna bike.

Red Bud - It was a small miracle that Max Nagl was still able to get involved with driving at the "Motocross of Nations".

Due to the limited budget that was available, not all “Team Germany” riders could have their racing machines shipped from Europe to the USA.

The prestigious team world championship took place this year on the “Red Bud” racetrack in Buchanan (Michigan).

Nagl (Husqvarna) and Tom Koch (KTM) had to rent or organize motorcycles through their manufacturers and adapt them to their needs.

A difficult matter in detail - especially when, as in the case of Nagl, various components are initially delivered to the wrong address in California instead of Michigan.

A courier service had to be organized to cover the 2,800 kilometers as quickly as possible.

"Everything got hectic, in the end everything arrived," said Nagl in a video.

"Team Germany" at MXoN in eighth place

For the veteran from Weilheim, by his own admission, it was the first time at a race overseas “where I organized everything myself, from the motorcycle to all the parts.

That was new territory for me, too.” The Husqvarna he rode was a 22-series demonstrator, “99 percent a production bike.”

The thing "just ran for five hours," says Nagl.

That means: "It's broken in perfectly."

Despite all the circumstances, Nagl, Koch and Simon Längenfelder (GasGas) showed a remarkable performance.

After three races in which drivers from different classes competed against each other, the German trio finished eighth.

“With a place in the top ten, we have achieved our goal.

We didn't have a single retirement and our drivers achieved decent results," says team manager Marcel Dornhöfer.

Max Nagl convinces on the "Red Bud" route

"Team Germany" had only been better once in the past six years - in 2019, when Koch, Längenfelder and Dennis Ullrich finished seventh in Assen (Netherlands).

At the last appearance in the USA, also on the "Red Bud" racetrack, the Germans in the line-up of Nagl, Ken Roczen and Henry Jacobi finished ninth.

Of course, everything is outshined by the German World Cup triumph in Lommel in 2012, when Nagl, Roczen and Marcus Schiffer won the Chamberlain Trophy for the first and only time so far.

This year the Germans were in ninth place after the qualifying races and easily made it into the A final of the 20 best teams.

Venezuela finally managed to qualify for the three races of the top nations as the winner of the B final.

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Nagl was seeded as a driver in the MXGP class.

In the first race (MXGP/MX2) he and Längenfelder struggled in the crowd at the start and were outside the top 20.

Nagl quickly worked his way up to 15th position and crossed the finish line in eleventh place.

“On the third lap I noticed that my bike was losing a lot of coolant.

I then tried to drive as gently as possible and avoided using the clutch or revving the engine too high.

Over time, I adapted well to this driving style,” Nagl told Crossmagazin.

Längenfelder took 17th place.

The Germans were thus in seventh place in the nation ranking;

in the "Motocross of Nations" the placings are added together (including a discarded result) - the team with the lowest number of points wins.

In the second race (Open/MX2), Koch and Längenfelder finished 16th and 11th, respectively, in seventh place overall.

At the front, the USA, Australia and France dueled for the world title.

In the final race (MXGP/Open), Nagl was held up at the beginning by a competitor falling.

He came out of the first lap in 22nd place.

He fought his way up, but a crash on lap five knocked him out of the top-20 again.

Nagl lost the front fender on his bike in the fall, which caused him to get dirt from his front wheel on his goggles for the rest of the race.

Nevertheless, he still drove up to 16th place.

Teammate Koch, who was passed by Nagl in the final stages of the race, finished 18th.

“After the bad start, the early fall was annoying, but after that I picked up the pace even though my vision was limited.

I was able to overtake drivers on every lap.

I'm very happy with my driving performance," said Nagl.

Hosts USA (16 points) - also record winners - secured the World Cup title ahead of France (23) and Australia (26).

Last year's winner Italy finished fourth.

In the class rankings, Nagl impressed the MXGP riders with seventh place.

Koch (Open/tenth) and Längenfelder (MX2/fifth) also placed well among 20 drivers each.