A chilly Dardon Gueugnon circuit welcomed the Sunday programme for the 2026 QXoN, and the riders would head out onto the circuit, split into two warm-up groups. Group 1 consisted of the trio of USA competitors who occupied the top three positions after completing four laps, whilst Christopher Tveraen and Dafydd Davies rounded off the top five. All three home riders of Sylvain Petit, Theo Gourmaud, and Gregoire Rabat would contest this session too, and posted the seventh, eighth, and 12th quickest times.
Mike van Grinsven headed the second group of riders after completing five laps, but the top five consisting of Matteo Stiller, Rillo, Straubergs, and Sona were only separated by +1.047 to set the scene for what we anticipate to be an exciting day of racing to crown the 2026 Quadcross of Nations victors.
Race 1 (A+B)
The opening race of the day would take place under great sunshine and as the gates dropped, Joel Hetrick romped into an early lead to take the holeshot from the inside gate as Karlis Neija made an early challenge for the race lead. He would then have Tadeas Rejdik mounting a challenge for second spot whilst Max Lindquist had work to do after a poor start left him in sixth position.
Over the early laps, Hetrick would maintain an incredibly quick pace to open his leading margin over Neija, who put a considerable amount of distance between himself and Rejdik. The Czech rider would start to feel the pressure of Rillo, van Grinsven, and Lindquist, as they stacked up behind him.
Lindquist soon made a pass on van Grinsven but, in his pursuit of moving further up the order, he would make a costly mistake that would see him lose a couple of seconds – thankfully, he would not lose position to van Grinsven.
Back with the battle for third position, and Rillo attempted to pass Rejdik but after almost making contact, Rillo would settle back into fourth position as Rejdik pressed on to open the gap.
After regrouping and recovering, Lindquist was back in the mix to take the fight to Rillo, but Rillo is certainly not a rider who is easily swayed by pressure. An attempt from the American to run around the outside of a 180 right-hander would not pay off as Rillo slammed the door closed to get rid of any opportunity of an attack. This would prove to be a brief scenario, however, as Lindquist carried superior speed onto the front straight to move into fourth spot and with clear track in front could hit his stride.
Karlis Neija and Tadeas Rejdik were having lonely but secure rides in second and third position, but Lindquist was a man on a mission. Not before too long, Lindquist was hot on the case of Rejdik and moved into the podium positions with a clean and slick move on the Czech. Next up was Karlis Neija, who was multiple seconds in front.
Into the last couple of laps and Hetrick had a brilliant lead, but Neija was now under some incredible pressure from Lindquist who stalked his rival and, when Neija ran slightly wide, seized the opportunity to make it a Team USA 1-2.
Results
1. Joel Hetrick
2. Max Lindquis
3. Karlis Neij
4. Tadeas Rejdi
5. Mike van Grinsven
Race 2 (B+C)
The inside gate pick certainly seemed to be the best choice as Zack Decker stormed into an early lead to claim the holeshot for Team USA. Joel Hetrick from the second row would be forced to fight his way through the pack, much like Lindquist in race one. Matthieu Wilkin for Team Belgium was well up the order inside the top five positions in the early laps, but faded as the likes of Matteo Stiller, Carl Bunce, Sylvain Petit and more came through.
Kevin Saar did not take too long before putting himself into second position, but Decker was already a good few seconds ahead of the Estonian. Joel Hetrick was slowly but surely picking off the opposition to climb further up the order and would soon be in third position to then close eight second gap between himself and Saar.
Riding for the home country, Sylvain Petit was doing a superb job and holding himself well inside the top five and it seemed as though he was unable to close the gap to Matteo Stiller in front, however, the German had a rare moment that would cost him three seconds. Petit looked to close the gap, but Stiller recovered well and was able to manage the gap at two and a half seconds all the way to the flag.
In the meantime, Hetrick was on the case of Saar and breezed by to claim second position putting Team USA in another 1-2 position, but it would not be an easy task to bring the #5 Yamaha to the chequered flag because halfway through the event, Hetrick would suffer a flat front tyre which he struggled with all the way to the flag.
Decker would cross the line to take the flag by an astounding 43 seconds over Hetrick, who was just able to fend off Saar by only one second. The question must be asked, if there was one more lap, could Saar have pounced?
Regardless of what could have been, it was Saar who confirmed himself in the final podium spot and he will have plenty of knowledge to take into the third and final race this afternoon.
Results
1. Zack Decker
2. Joel Hetrick
3. Sylvain Petit
4. Christopher Tveraen
5. Kevin Saar
Race 3 (A+C)
The gate dropped for the final time, and it seemed as though it would be another Team USA holeshot with Max Lindquist, however, a brilliant start from Dafydd Davies put Team Great Britain into a brief race lead. Lindquist would retaliate almost immediately to put himself back into the lead of the race which he would not surrender throughout the remainder of the event. Mike van Grinsven would be caught in the midfield and after slight contact, would lose drive going up the hill meaning he would have a lot of work to do to keep Netherlands in with a shout of the overall podium.
Davies would find himself in the position of having to defend from a freight train of Quadcross machines involving Matteo Stiller, Tarald Hellebust, Christopher Tveraen and Kevin Saar. Stiller would move into the podium positions at the 20-minute-to-go mark to then increase his margin over the Welshman but was not able to reduce the gap between himself and Decker who, like Lindquist in race one, had to make early decisive overtakes in order to not be left.
Saar then made his move on Tveraen to move into sixth spot, but Tveraen then came back to reclaim the position from the 26-year-old Estonian to join Hellebust in his attack of Davies. Rejdik would also make his move on Saar, to further relegate the former European champion and reigning world champion down another spot.
Further down the order, Reinis Bicans was locked in battle with his fellow countryman Karlis Straubergs but at the start of lap seven, Bicans caught the outside banking and was thrown dramatically to the dirt. Straubergs would be tagged by the machine but managed to keep it rubber-side down.
At this stage, it was looking good for Team Estonia to claim second position overall, however, both Hellebust and Tveraen would move in front of Davies to put Team Norway in perfect position to claim the silver medal.
With an incredible lead of 24 seconds over Decker, Lindquist took victory to confirm Team USA as victors of the 2026 Quadcross of Nations – their seventh title in eight appearances. Matteo Stiller completed the race three podium whilst the home country of Team France took the flag in ninth and tenth positions to steal third overall from Estonia.
Results
1. Max Lindquis
2. Zack Decke
3. Matteo Stille
4. Tarald Hellebus
5. Christopher Tveraen
Overall Results
1. Team USA
2. Team Norway 39
3. Team France 41
With the 2026 Quadcross season now complete, and Team USA reinstating themselves as champions at the nations, all eyes now turn to the winter period and, more importantly, the 2027 season.
Of course, all action can be relived on www.fim-moto.tv, and all updates throughout the off-season shall be posted on www.fimquadcross.com.
