The motocross World Championship calendar culminates this weekend with the annual FIM Motocross of Nations. This year's event - the 79th edition since it was instigated in 1947 - takes place at Ernée in north-western France and Kawasaki riders will play a prominent role in the destiny of the Peter Chamberlain Trophy and the national pride which the event awakes.

The Circuit Raymond Demy on the outskirts of the French town will be hosting the event for the fourth time during the last twenty-one years and welcomes fans from all over the world for a weekend of pulsating race action with effervescent support for teams of three riders - one each in the MXGP and MX2 category and a third rider in the MX Open class in which the nominated rider may race a bike from either class - in their national colours.

Many of the leading teams in search of glory feature Kawasaki riders, first and foremost the French hosts; Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP's Romain Febvre, four times a member of the winning French team, has been nominated as captain of the trio which will proudly seek an eighth victory this century for the Tricolour and is joined by young KRT teammate Mathis Valin, making his second appearance in national colours in the MX2 category.

KRT colleague Pauls Jonass steps up to represent Latvia for the sixth time, while Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki's European EMX250 champion Francisco Garcia, who will join the factory KRT squad for his rookie world championship campaign next season, will fly the MX Open colours for Spain for the second consecutive year.

Pro-Circuit Kawasaki's Levi Kitchen, crowned Supermotocross 250 World Champion last weekend, will carry the MX2 colours for record Nations winners USA and further Kawasaki riders at the event include two times All Japan champion Haruki Yokoyama, Taylor Hammal for Great Britain, Guilherme Bresolin for Brazil, Joaquin Poli for Team Latin America, Noam Jayal for Morocco and Matej Jaros for Croatia.

The first racing action of the weekend will take place on Saturday afternoon as thirty-two teams dispute Qualifying for the right to be amongst the twenty nations which will contest the three motos of the main programme on Sunday afternoon. However the festivities have already been in full swing today as the teams were ceremoniously presented to the fans.

Earlier in the day starting positions for Qualifying had been decided; unlike GPs, where grid positions for Qualifying are based on lap times during Timed Practice, grid positions at the Nations are decided by ballot. The French team members will each start their respective Qualifying heats from gate 22, between Austria and the Czech Republic. Brazil has ninth gate pick, Japan has gate 14, Latvia gate 16, USA gate 26 and Spain gate 31. This afternoon the leading Lime Green contenders gave us their impressions of the action to come.

Romain Febvre (France, MXGP): "It's a special occasion to have my final race with Kawasaki at the Nations; it ends a huge chapter in my career. It would be nice to win this weekend - probably my last Nations in France - for me, for Kawasaki and for France and the atmosphere here at Ernée is always very special. I have good memories here in Ernée, we have a good team and we have a good atmosphere together, but we still have to perform on track; these moments don't come without!"

Mathis Valin (France, MX2): "It feels good to be back at the race after three months away ... and it's even more exciting for it to be here at the Nations for Team France ... in France ! You cannot find your speed immediately after a long break but I have been riding again four or five days each week for six weeks and I can feel the progress; I didn't think I could be this strong so quickly but we did a good job with the team and with my coach. It's already a crazy atmosphere here on Friday; I love the crowds and it's going to be an amazing weekend. I'm ready for it."

Pauls Jonass (Latvia, MX Open): "The Nations brings a lot of pressure and Ernée is always spectacular but the first goal is for everybody to have fun this weekend. I personally had a strong end to the season so I'm happy to be part of the team with two young guys who have also performed this season; hopefully we can put it all together to achieve the best-ever result for Team Latvia."

Francisco Garcia (Spain, MX Open): "I race 250 all summer but riding the 450 is nothing new for me; my first Nations last year at Ironman was also on the 450 in the Open class and I actually practice a lot on the 450 during the winter. My feeling on the big bike is amazing and I feel sure Spain can be on the podium this year."

Levi Kitchen (USA, MX2): "We already started talking about being on the US team several months ago and I was up for it right away; I'm very grateful for the opportunity to represent my country and am taking in all the experience. This is my first time in Europe and I'm really enjoying it; the food over here is amazing and everybody has made us so welcome. I was a tourist for a few days at the start of the week but it was back to business yesterday, getting a few laps in at a track near here. I feel very comfortable on the bike and the track here looks great - very technical and with hills - so I'm excited for the racing this weekend."

Haruki Yokoyama (Japan, MX2): "This is my first time in Ernée but I'm looking forward to it. The track looks really good but it's much tighter in places than it looks on TV. It's a much longer weekend than we are used to but if we all ride like we know I feel we can produce a good result again."

Guilherme Bresolin (Brazil, MX2): "I'm proud to be here for my second appearance at the Nations - I raced here in Ernée already in 2023 and I really enjoyed that weekend too."

Steve Guttridge (KME Race Planning Manager): "It’s the Grande Finale to the motocross season, so it’s with great pleasure to wish a very warm welcome to the many Team Green racers selected to represent their respective countries here and of course wish them all the very best of luck. Let the battles commence!"