MXON - ONES TO WATCH
Author: David Bulmer	Features | Saturday, 03 October 2009 12:10

Obviously the Motocross of Nations is all about winning the Chamberlain Trophy for your country, with individual results meaning nothing unless the rest of your team are also performing well. Well we'd like to draw attention to a few of the guys who are worth keeping an eye on, even though their respective nations' might struggle.

Dean Wilson / Jeffrey Herlings

Making your pro debut at the MXoN can't be the easiest of tasks, but both Dean Wilson (Canada) and Jeffrey Herlings (Netherlands) decided this was their best option. Although this may be their first pro race, the two's careers couldn't be further apart. Herlings has only just turned 15 and is already signed for Factory KTM in Europe. He won the Junior World Championship in 2008 and is known as a sand master. On the other hand, Dean is a product of the amateur system, winning numerous Loretta Lynn titles, after moving from Scotland to Canada and finally to California. It's believed that he will sign for Pro Circuit but at this time, nothing is confirmed. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the two prospects stack up against some much more experienced opposition. First blood went to Herlings in the qualifying races, as he finished 7th to Wilson's 11th.

Tanel Leok

Like Barragan, Tanel is a class act, and although teamed with his cousin Aigar, Estonia won't be in the running for the Chamberlain Trophy (although Lommel may be a different story). This doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep an eye on the #36 machine because he had the fastest practice time of the day and then closed rapidly on Tedesco in the qualifying race after a bad start. He almost won the 3rd race last year at Donington and it wouldn't surprise us if he put in a strong showing this weekend.

Jonathan Barragan

There is no question that on his day, Barragan is one of the fastest riders in the world, but for whatever reason, he hasn't been able to put it all together on a regular basis. However with the MXoN just a one-off event, the stage almost seems set for the Spanish hero to upset a partisan crowd and pull off a race win.

Ben Evans

Unfortunately Puerto Rico's hero from last year, Zach Osborne wasn't able to race this weekend, so this small island drafted in Ben Evans from the AMA circuit. Evans had a pretty decent rookie year, riding for the majority of the time as a privateer and although he wasn't able to break to the top 10, he put in plenty of impressive rides. PR didn't make the main final, but we expect Evans to get a top five in the B Final.

Rui Goncalves

If this guy was French, Belgian or Italian, we are sure Rui Goncalves would get a tonne more respect and exposure. Riding out of Factory KTM, Goncalves had a break-out year in 2009, coming in 2nd place in the World Championships behind his teammate, Marvin Musquin. It wouldn't surprise us at all if Goncalves got a podium here in Italy, but don't expect to read about it anywhere if he does.

Antonio Balbi Jr.

Getting 18th position in the AMA series, it'll be interesting to see how Balbi does when riding against a majority of GP opposition. In the last few years, he's had to resign himself to racing in the B Final, but this year, Brazil squeezed into the main event by a single point so he'll be alongside the big names of world motocross.