MEMORABLE PHOTOGRAPHIC MOMENTS FROM THE 2016 MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS

Jason Anderson unquestionably left his mark on the 2016 Motocross of Nations by securing a dominant start-to-finish victory in the combined Open and MX2 class moto at Maggiora, Italy. However, a bigger mark was left on Jason Anderson’s back moments after raising his arm in joy of winning the Open/250 moto Jason raised his arms in celebration not knowing that a Team Japan rider, Chihiro Notsuka, who had been lapped was blindly jumping the finish line jump behind him. Without warning the rider landed on Jason’s back and sent him spiraling into the ground—which resulted in him having to sit out the final race of the day.

Jason raises his arms in celebration after dominating the Open/250 moto at the 2016 Motocross des Nations at Maggiora, Italy. Photo by Debbi Tamietti.

Unbeknowst to Jason, a lapped rider, Chihiro Notsuka, was going to land on his back as Jason rides down the track. Photo by Debbi Tamietti (who dropped her camera to yell at Jason to duck).

Jason Anderson said: “I was really excited coming to this race to represent the US. After posting the fastest time in free practice I had a bit of bad luck in qualifying. I got hit from behind in the first turn and ended up hurting my leg. I decided to race on Sunday despite this injury. My first race went pretty well from the get go. I got the holeshot and started pulling away from the field. Midway through the race Herlings caught up and we had a pretty good battle for a couple of laps before he went down. After that I was just coasting to the finish to get the win. I was really excited to cross the line first but right after that I felt another bike landing on me. We’ve got everything checked out and I’m going to be kay. It’s just a bit of a bummer I couldn’t get out there in the last moto to help Team USA battle for the win.”

JASON ANDERSON’S MOMENT OF IMPACT