Team France has won the 68th edition of the Motocross of Nations.

After a day of ups and downs for the main contenders, the trio from France (Gautier Paulin, Steven Frossard and Dylan Ferrandis) won the day in Kegums, Latvia, on Sunday.

All of them on Kawasakis and without MX2 world champion Jordi Tixier to boost them along, the French riders posted a score card that read 1-1-2-4-9-9, with Paulin’s back-to-back wins in the MXGP (MX1) class being the highlight.

Runners-up were Team Belgium (Kevin Strijbos, Jeremy Van Horbeek and Julien Lieber), with Team USA (Ryan Dungey, Eli Tomac and Jeremy Martin) taking the third step on the podium.

Great Britain, Germany and Italy rounded out the top six.

With the MXoN back in France next year, it will be a fantastic sight to see Team France at home with the No.1, No.2 and No.3 on their bikes.

For our South Pacific readers, it is worth noting that Australia finished 14th, while Team New Zealand could not fight its way out of the B Final and had to settle for a final ranking of 23rd.

Photo above shows New Zealand MX2 rider Hamish Harwood (CMR Red Bull KTM), courtesy Nuno Laranjeira.

More words and pictures to come.

Here’s Scotty Columb’s crash …

Meanwhile, video highlights from the racing below: