Will Motocross eat itself? Will kids (or parents) look at what the sport can deliver as a profession and know that it will involve hospital trips, breakages, operations and simply be turned away? It is a question for the long term and one that is certainly not new to a discipline where injury is just an accepted part of the course; as a track has a start gate, a jump, a rut and a finish line it will also have a ‘section’ where some physical problem has to be negotiated.

It does feel like the ‘the question’ has become more urgent this season with the recent speculation over the future engine capacity for the premier MXGP class and the FIM’s increased surge towards safety and quest to kill speed in Grand Prix. I put it out recently on Twitter but the voices in the paddock – from the very top to the greenest of GP rookies – seem to identify four areas why more riders seem to be getting hurt and the sport therefore suffers as a result. By ‘suffering’ I mean not only through the absence of athletes like Cairoli, Desalle, Villopoto etc but also the repercussions – riders needing to heal and seizing time-off like an unwanted reprieve. The post-injury period has repercussions on other events such as the Motocross of Nations and winter supercross; it feels like racers now want to down tools and have corrective surgery as soon as the chequered flag has fallen on their respective championship obligations. So the four factors are: 450cc engines, modern dirt bike performance, tracks and their preparation and finally the riders’ and their technique, attitudes and ways to push the physicality of manoeuvring a bike at full pelt.

Changing engine capacity to a 300 or 350 will involve a major strong-arm offensive against the Japanese and at a time when Grand Prix has a narrow philosophy that the gate is refined to mostly factory teams. MXGP has a spread of seven manufacturers submitting works efforts; it would take a battering if one or two brands decide to pull out simply because fabricating a new motorcycle does not make business sense. Then there is the discussion about whether there is actually much speed differential between MXGP and the 250s of MX2, even if the larger bikes are physical harder to throw around and find a limit. Changing MXGP to full works 250cc motorcycles could be a solution but this is still a major landscape shift for the sport.

The performance of the bikes themselves is something that can be slowed but hardly stopped. One of MXGP’s strengths is liberty towards prototypes and factories have profited from this (electric starts, and Yamaha for example ran a fuel injected 250 back in 2010 before their YZ250F came to market in 2014). Suspension has progressed significantly (2015 saw the first full air systems front and rear from WP) as have electronics. More stringent rules can be put in place (perhaps rev limiters) but this is unlikely to have much of an effect on the high levels of attrition that have sparked such debate about what is wrong with motocross.

What about the riders? Unrealistic. You cannot expect professional athletes with all their effort, dedication and sacrifice to not want to find the very edge of their possibilities and endurance. And it only takes one or two to start riding over the limit, getting lucky and enjoying some success for the bar to go up and the risks increase. I do agree with some opinions though that the riders could show a bit more respect towards each other and hold higher mutual regard for the fact that bones can break.

So that brings us to tracks and probably the first and quickest starting point to reversing the trend towards a stricken MXGP. Again the state of Grand Prix circuits is a subject as worn as some of the more antiquated venues themselves. Fingers have been pointed at the European Championship schedule (EMX250 is now at nine rounds) for the consequences of increased track time and the lack of maintenance opportunities between sessions but the argument was weakened slightly at Mantova almost two weeks ago where just MXGP and MX were in action and still three prominent riders had their seasons prematurely ended. Make no mistake: Grands Prix see the best level of prep made by respective clubs and staff at their venue during the year and Youthstream have established a good standard across the board. However the degree of knowledge of track prep and the co-operation between the parties involved varies wildly across the countries, and also involves ‘dangerous’ emotions such as pride, arrogance and, sometimes, ignorance.

The fix is expensive and perhaps not even practical; a Dirt Wurx style crew that are permanently split between pre-GP work several weeks before a meeting and then fast-acting emergency reparation at the event itself (because the European Championship is not going anywhere). This team needs unparalleled access to all tracks, from Argentina to Malaysia, and the resources they require to get the job done (this might be the biggest stumbling block). And it needs somebody to pay for it all. If we look at the tracks themselves then the proliferation of jumps is part desire to evolve the sport, partly to add that spectacular edge but also in an effort to slow the average speed. Again sound preparation of the soil (where possible; another hitch for some older, hard-packed courses) would allow more straights and the removal of excess leaps or sections. Of course Youthstream have their track staff but 2016 and beyond might need some official FIM-labelled specialists to go-to-work and really make a difference. It would require hefty investment but surely it is worth trying, even for a year, to see if it brings any results. If the level of the circuits increases to satisfy the individuals that are risking all to tackle them, then it might ease pressure on some other facets of MXGP – like those mentioned – and not put the sport near the brink of the unknown.

I’m loath to write it because it sounds like a cop-out but it is an accumulation of these talking points that is leading to the problem that motocross (Grand Prix and AMA) is simply too hazardous and is placing such a toll on Pro racers. It used to be noise, environmental and track closures as the most alarming topics threatening the base of the professional pyramid but top level competition lately seems to involve more pain than pleasure and no athlete has escaped the slings and arrows.