Paolo Schneider is in his early-thirties; that’s a hell of an age to have the power, means, knowledge and guile to resurrect one of the most famous off-road racing circuits in Europe. Paolo looks like he could still line-up in the EMX250 European Championship but – together with business partner and friend Stefano Avandero – they are now familiar faces in the Grand Prix paddock for their entrepreneurial endeavours and success with Maggiora (now Maggiora Park).
Sitting down with Schneider, an economics graduate from the University of Milan, prompts an interesting conversation where the Italian’s smile-inducing enthusiasm for motocross shines through. The description of how Maggiora was rescued from desolation at the turn of the century to become the principal Italian home for MXGP for the last three years and now prepped to host a fence-busting thirtieth anniversary of the ’86 Motocross of Nations is a fascinating tale; particularly in a day and age where venues face widespread closure or opposition to their use for a number of environmental reasons.
Maggiora Park (around 40 minutes north of Milan Malpensa airport) is now a vibrant facility that caters for mountain bike, downhill, slopestyle, dirt jumping and freeride. Airbags, pump tracks (indoor as well) can also be found as well as the KTM E-Cross Centre; the first electric bike park in Italy. At the foot of the motocross track is ‘Boxtown’; 21 stacked containers designed in a way to house a shop, service centre, solar charging base, museum, and hospitality space.
At the top of the vast Maggiora hill (almost impossible to walk up) is the Ristorante Balmone complete with refurbished bar and outdoor swimming pool; arguably the best view of the racing course and surrounding valley area. It is a well-supported, thought-out and branded enterprise that is about so much more than just top-level motocross.
Only days before Schneider and Avandero would present the 70th Motocross of Nations in Milan we grabbed thirty minutes of Paolo’s time at Mantova and the Grand Prix of Lombardia to delve into the Maggiora story.
OK, so after three MXGP events the Nations is a now matter of months and weeks away. What’s the latest with Maggiora?
We are working on the new track now. We have a new layout on the back of the site which makes the lap fifteen seconds longer. This was a priority for us because a one minute and forty second lap was not so good. We wanted to get closer to two minutes. We have tried to modernise and give more solutions for racing lines as Maggiora was tight and known for being a bit one-line. So there has been an effort to get wider and give more possibilities for passing. Now we are pushing ahead with the organisation, that is similar in some ways to MXGP but in other ways it is more than double! It is more complicated with logistics but after three years experience with the Grand Prix we know what to do. The big difference to before – as Maggiora is a compact place and it will be more crowded for sure as we have seen the pre-sales and interest in the event – is that we’ll have a dedicated entry for paddock personnel, like there was in France [Ernee and the 2015 event], and another for VIPs and the public. It is a good solution for access. We have bought more land to enlarge the track area and make more room for spectators. Maggiora has changed from what people remember last year.
You evidently have strong roots in the sport…
Motocross is a big passion for me and my business partner Stefano. I was racing many years in the Italian and European Championship but never as a professional…so organising a big event like the Motocross of Nations is a big dream. We looked at Maggiora in the beginning as a place to make large events because when we went there it gave us a feel that we were somewhere special. To come from the small local village and into this big space full of public…it was something we believed people would want to see and be a part of. If you want to organise events then you need good attendances and Maggiora was a legendary site.
To read the rest of the story simply click HERE to see it in the latest OTOR issue
