Image: Postmoto.

A damaged throttle was the cause of Aaron Tanti’s non-finish in race two of the 2026 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations (MXoN) in France on Sunday, before pressing on in the final outing to play his role in Team Australia earning ninth overall at Ernee.

Tanti – who represented Australia alongside Monster Energy CDR Yamaha teammate Jed Beaton and Honda Racing’s Alex Larwood – began the weekend by recording 12th in the Open class qualification heat, before damage to his YZ450F brought his opening race to an early end.

The current national motocross number two rebounded to a 24th-place finish in the MXGP and Open race to complete his weekend, contributing to Australia’s ninth-place result at the 2026 edition.

“It was a tough day for me,” Tanti recalled. “The first race, unfortunately, I just had a small tip-over on the first lap. I was kind of in a good position and my throttle cable just pulled out of the throttle body, just as my bike landed on that side – unfortunately, that was a DNF for me.

“A little frustrating because I wanted to race that race, but yeah, I came out for the second one and got the second gate pick, so I was pretty far out. 
An average start, I didn’t make it easy for myself – I probably went around the first corner in like 38th, but yeah, I fought my way up.

“I was running just outside the top-20 for a while, until pretty much the last lap or two when the leaders came through. I just got nipped by a few with the blue flag – people that took advantage of it – but overall, an unreal event, and I was stoked to do it.”

Team captain Beaton achieved 11-10 moto results and was sixth overall in the MXGP class, while Larwood finished eighth in the MX2 division with a pair of 21st-place finishes against a mixed 250 and 450 field.

The result brings an end to Team Australia’s four-year podium streak at the iconic teams event, highlighted by back-to-back victories in 2024 and 2025 with Jett and Hunter Lawrence alongside Kyle Webster.

Beaton, Tanti and Larwood will now shift their focus to round one of the Australian Supercross Championship – the second Boost Mobile AUSX Supercross event of the series – inside Auckland’s North Harbour Stadium on October 31.