For Ben Mustoe, the 2026 Motocross des Nations at Ernée was a weekend he will not forget in a hurry. Making his Team GB debut at the prestigious event, the British rider faced a baptism of fire, from casing the uphill triple in practice to finishing 16th in the qualifying race.
However, when it mattered most on Sunday, Mustoe delivered. Showing impressive resilience on one of the toughest tracks he has faced in his career, the young Brit bounced back to finish 10th in the MX2 class against a stacked international field, playing his part alongside Ben Watson and Taylor Hammal as Team GB secured seventh overall — their best result at the Nations in five years.
With some GPs under his belt during the 2026 season, Mustoe believes that experience proved invaluable at Ernée, helping him feel more comfortable lining up alongside the world’s best riders. We caught up with Mustoe after the event to discuss his first Nations experience, the challenges of the brutal French track, learning from the more experienced members of Team GB, his impressive Sunday performance and what the future might hold for 2027.
GateDrop: Ben, that’s your first Motocross of the Nations, I mean wow, it’s a brilliant one to do for your first one. I’ve never experienced anything like that, so what was it like to ride it?
Mustoe: Yeah, it was a great experience to be honest. Everyone told me just to take it in, but I tried to just block it all out and just focus on myself. I am enjoying myself now the day is over. When I was watching the last race, the one that I wasn’t in, it was good, but I just tried to block everything out and just get my head down.
GateDrop: I don’t think the weekend started too well for you, I think you cased the uphill triple, so a bit of a rocky start, but it showed that you were able to bounce back from that.
Mustoe: Yeah, I cased the triple. I pulled into the pits in practice and they said, you’ve got that easy, so I just sent it. Come off a bit short, the wheel collapsed, had to push the bike back, but it’s something I can remember for years to come. Obviously in the qualifying race I didn’t do the best either finishing in 16th but we turned it around today finishing 10th in MX2, so yeah, happy with that.
GateDrop: So lessons learned, the next time don’t send it on the first lap, maybe wait for a lap two before sending it (laughs)?
Mustoe: Yeah, I’ll have to double check with Mark and everyone, I’ll have to see it for myself before I do it next time.
GateDrop: Just on the Sunday, like you said, you bounced back really well, 10th overall in MX2 against a stacked field, you must have been happy with your racing on Sunday, I think you would have proved a lot of people wrong there…
Mustoe: Yeah, a lot of people weren’t a fan of the team. Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I think we proved them wrong today, obviously with me going 10th in MX2, that’s pretty good. Obviously Ben was really good and Taylor as well so there’s a lot to be happy about.
GateDrop: I mean, 7th overall for Team GB, it’s the best in a while, are you happy with that?
Mustoe: We were just looking at the history on ChatGPT then, obviously Mark’s had quite a bit of success with a couple of podiums a few years ago. But yeah, we’ve had the best result in the last five years, so I think Mark’s pleased and happy with the result. Obviously for my first one that’s a good way to do it.
GateDrop: I mean, you don’t get tracks like that in England, that was rough, did you enjoy it at all out there? What was it like to ride?
Mustoe: Yeah, you try and prep the best you can. Paul Cook let us come down to Foxhills and ride it, but there’s no way you can recreate a track like that, it was savage. I just had to try and enjoy a lot of it, the arm pump was bad as well, but yeah, I just tried to put solid laps together and come away with a good result.
GateDrop: You did do a few GPs this year, do you think that helped you for this race? I mean, if you’d have went in there without the GP prep, the track maybe would have overwhelmed you a little…
Mustoe: 100%, and you know where you stand with a lot of the riders as well, you could easily go out there today and say, I see all these lot on TV, week in, week out, and a be out of my comfort zone. I think doing the GPs definitely helped massively obviously, with the similar type of track, similar structure, similar riders, but it’s all good experience for days like today.
GateDrop: What was the vibe like on the team? Obviously Ben Watson has so much experience, and obviously you and Taylor, it was the first time, but Taylor’s at the front of MX1 in the British Championship, were you able to learn anything from them guys this weekend?
Mustoe: Ben was really helpful, obviously he’s done this quite a few times, so he was just trying to give me and Taylor some advice on the track walks, in between sessions, which I really appreciate and it helped big time. Myself and Taylor were in this together this week, and I think we did really well to be honest, Taylor did amazing in his qualifying race, he had a bit of trouble in the last race, but yeah, I think the team are happy. like I said, Ben was a massive help.
GateDrop: Do we know what Ben Mustoe is going to do next year yet?
Mustoe: No, I can’t tell you yet.
GateDrop: But we’ll see you do a few more GPs do you think?
Mustoe: Yeah, I definitely want to try and do a few more GPs, but yeah, we’ll see.
