At the tail end of 2013 an announcement from Youthstream, rights holders of the FIM Motocross World Championship, revealed that an exciting date for the annual Motocross of Nations at Glen Helen in 2015 would be pushed back two years to 2017. There was not much explanation for the move at the time but in an exclusive correspondence with Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo the Italian said the reason for the Nations switch to Ernee in 2015 was down to the French Federation (FFM) activating a contract clause to run the motocross spectacle for the third time in ten years.
“France had an option for the 2015 MXoN, and we were also in negotiation with USA for this date,” he commented. “In the end France decided to take the option and we found an agreement for the venue, the organization and infrastructure with FFM. Therefore the MXoN will go to France in 2015 and then to Glen Helen in USA in 2017.”
Reaching average crowds of 50-60,000+ the Motocross of Nations has become a mammoth event and the biggest single international draw for the sport. The revival of the Nations after a few lean years at the beginning of the century could be said to have begun at Ernee in 2005 where a sold-out circuit west of Le Mans saw Ricky Carmichael lead Team USA to victory. It seems there was some enthusiasm to mark the tenth anniversary of the occasion among the club and especially after a fruitful 2013 Grand Prix event last summer in which the crowds again flocked to the hillside venue. The official weekend attendance for the GP was 39,000 and the race was considered a success.
The 2014 French Grand Prix will occur at St Jean D’Angely, site of the 2011 Motocross of Nations, and likely to be host to the world championship round again in 2015 as Ernee prepares itself for that vital September fixture.
While this instigates a twenty-four month wait for the Americans, who have not seen Nations action since the 2010 edition at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado, it does mean that the contest has a mouth-watering run of locations for the coming years. After Latvia (Kegums) have their turn this summer the Nations travels to Ernee, then to Maggiora in Italy (on the thirtieth anniversary of the iconic 1986 event) before finally heading over to California. Of the prospect of the Nations at the latter two circuits Luongo was forced to admit “they are two of my favorite tracks where we can demonstrate modern MX at an historical venue…success will be 100% guaranteed.”
So how does the maneuvering of dates and places affect plans and relationships at Glen Helen? In 2010 and 2011 the U.S. Grand Prix was a slick and well-organised event but the lack of top name AMA participants hurt crowd numbers. Owner Bud Feldkamp talked publicly several times about the positive link with Youthstream and then during 2013 ‘repaired a bridge’ with Davey Coombs and MX Sports to welcome the AMA Pro Nationals back to the San Bernardino racing mecca. Luongo is adamant that Glen Helen is still willing and enthusiastic to entertain events on an international level: “[the relationship is] Fantastic. Bud Feldkamp, Lori Bryant [circuit manager] and all the staff are very good and professional people who have become our friends. When we go there they make us feel at home and we are eager to be working with them again.”
Photo by Ray Archer
