Just days after wrapping up third place in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Chad Reed is pulling on the green and gold jersey in readiness to represent Australia at the weekend’s FIM Motocross of Nations.

Hosted by France for its 65th instalment, the annual event is an important one for the proudly patriotic Reed, who will race his TwoTwo Motorsports/Bel-Ray Racing machine in the MX1 class.

Fellow AMA frontrunner Brett Metcalfe will join Reed in the 450cc class, with Australian MX Nationals Pro Lites champion Matt Moss flying the flag on his 250.

Despite its close proximity to the final round of a grueling outdoors campaign, Reed said he felt prepared and was ready to go racing on what he declared as Australia’s strongest team yet.

“We have all the ingredients to get a really good result in France,” said Reed. “In the past we’ve had what it takes on paper but got caught up in slow starts or other incidents.

“It really is a team event and we all need to be focused on getting away from the gates cleanly.

“We’ve gone from racing against guys we know so well to a field that we are not familiar with – there’s different styles and team tactics to consider.

“Metty has really risen to the occasion in the second half of the AMA Motocross season and Matt Moss is in championship-winning form – this gives us good confidence.

“We’ll give it everything and race hard and fast and let the rest just fall into place.”

The two-day event will be held in St Jean d’Angely, France.