MXGP #24 September 2015

#24_SEPTEMBER 2015

e r v b e F n i a m o R

k a e r t S e u l B

sen s A : n o s Focu

RACING CATCH UP

RIDER OF THE MONTH Romain Febvre

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INDEX

COOL SHOT

MONSTER GIRLS

HALL OF FAME Bill Nilsson

MXGP MAG: Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: Youthstream YOUTHSTREAM Media World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #24 September 2015 The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Youthstream.

Then content of this publication is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time the articles were written.

The copying of articles and photos even partially is forbidden unless permission has ben requested from Youthstream in advance and reference is made to the source (©Youthstream).

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EDITORIAL

Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group

Dear MXGP Friends, Congratulations to Romain Febvre and Yamaha for their fabulous MXGP victory!

Romain really deserves his World Championship title; throughout his first year in MXGP he has proven to be the fastest on every type of track and very consistent making almost no mistakes.

Considering his young age, what he has achieved is simply mind-blowing. Once again this proves the pyramid with the European Championship at the base and the MX2 with the 23 year-old age limit works perfectly; Febvre has done something exceptional but also Coldenhoff has found

his place in the major class.

The MXGP World Champion is the rider who, at the end of the season, is the fastest on 18 different types of track layouts, 18 different types of soil, 18 different climates, 15 different countries and 4 different continents; it’s extremely tough to remain concentrated and fit for the whole season without making fundamental mistakes. The bikes today are extremely fast and the tracks are technical, tough and diversified, this, together with the pressure from the teams, manufacturers, family, media, sponsors and fans are huge weight on the shoulders of these sportsmen, and managing not to make a mistake

in a situation like this is very rare but when you do finally succeed, the achievement is just awesome - I think in these days Romain knows what we are talking about. He is a wonderful ambassador for our sport; he’s young, has a clean image and is always smiling, we wish him a long and bright career in MXGP. Those watching the MXGP of The Netherlands in Assen on TV and especially those who were present in Assen witnessed an outstanding event; there were tens of thousands of fans and many VIPs creating an incredible atmosphere and a huge media coverage for the last European MXGP round held in the Cathedral

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of Motorcycling. We were lucky that the weather was good, but all the rest was down to good organization, every detail was countered for - the track was a typical Dutch track, it was near to the fans, the infrastructure was outstanding permitting all the manufacturers, teams and sponsors to expose their products in excellent conditions - it was a great success which will be repeated.

After the success of the event in Assen we had many enquiries if Youthstream wants to bring all the rounds to road racing circuits, and

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what will happen to the traditional clubs? Our vision is very clear; traditional Motocross tracks which invest in the infrastructures and the maintenance of the race tracks and which are able to welcome thousands of Motocross fans, teams, manufacturers, media, VIP and sponsors in good and comfortable conditions will for sure continue. For those who are not able to adapt their venues to the modern times we will have to find other substitutes and maybe solutions like Assen could be suitable.

Clearly we don’t see in a few years the entire MXGP se-

ries to be held on road race circuits, but I do see all the tracks will continue to upgrade their level and some GPs will be held on road race circuits. Our goal is very clear, and that is to increase the value and quality of our sport, stay close to the fans and permit all stakeholders to work in the best conditions to promote their brands, and last but no least a very big attention will be made to the construction and maintenance of the race tracks which have to permit our Champions to enjoy racing safely while offering a great show to all the fans.

COOL SHOTS

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FOX HOLESHOT Lombardia and The Netherlands

The return of Max Nagl and his righteously powerful FC450 Husqvarna to the fray at the Grand Prix of Lombardia was a sign that the MXGP class Fox Holshot award was about to be written into the history books. Leading the standings despite his enforced absence due to injury, Nagl was quick to return to race pace with a win in the qualifying race after round-

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ing the first corner in 5th, but he would need to get a full weekend of starts under his belt in order to fully recover his first turn mojo.

His lead was not threatened by the rider currently closest to him as Romain Febvre’s starting reactions failed him in Mantova, it was his team mate Jeremy Van Horebeek on the second of the

Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube machines that finally put all the pieces together to take his first Fox point of the year in race two, railing his blue bike to the outside of the first turn ahead of the 24MX Honda of Filip Bengtsson. Race one had already gone to the now 450cc mounted Jose Butron on the Marchetti KTM. The Spaniard has elected to switch up from the

HOLESHOT

350cc and the extra power of the bigger bike seemed to suit him well in the hard Italian sand as he too used the faster outside line to steal the point off the Wilvo Nestaan FC350 Husqvarna of Dean Ferris.

points in the last 4 starts has left us with a question mark over his chances of wrapping up the title over the remaining two Grand Prix.

Mantova saw a return to form for Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer who took the 5th One week later and Butron took gate both times and made it count another point on the brand new in race 1. Running inside to outside start line in Assen for MXGP race the Swiss rider cut the noses off 2 while Nagl claimed his 9th Fox those outside of him and was able point of the year in race 1. Perhaps to run enough speed to cross the it was the more open nature of the line clear of his rivals. start in Assen that made the difference, with the fast sweeping bend He was not so lucky in race two rewarding the more central gates, as his same gate pick but worse something that wasn’t so true in jump left him at the mercy of a start Mantova where the 100 degree straight crash involving Damon left hander promised much from Graulus, Valentin Guillod and his the inside, but anything less than a Suzuki stable mate and wildcard perfect jump would results in being in Italy, Brian Hsu. It should have squeezed into the inside berm. been Anstie with the point from that moment on but just outside In MX2 we leave Europe with the him was the young German Henry status quo well and truly fixed.

Jacobi on the Sarholz KTM. Jacobi Anstie is still tied at the top on 6 followed the same line as he did in with the absent duo of Herlings and race one where he was cut up and Tonkov, but his inability to pick up denied by Tim Gajser, but in race

two, with the field decimated on the inside line he had his way clear to run on the outside berm and take his debut Fox Holsehot point in his rookie MX2 campaign.

It was another rookie who dominated the most recent round in The Netherlands, as Davey Pootjes channeled his Dutch courage to produce two fantastic and almost identical Fox Holshots on his Red Bull KTM, much to the delight of the home fans. Pootjes got the better of his team mate Pauls Jonass who opted for an inside gate and it may well have been Pootjes’ use of the middle of the starting grid that gave him the advantage into turn one.

With two rounds and 4 starts to go the MXGP Fox Holeshot Award looks sure to go to Max Nagl but Anstie needs to up his game one more time to make sure he is the sole winner of the Fox Holeshot prize in 2015.

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EPIC END TO THE EUROPEAN LEG Shut your eyes for two seconds and consider that fact that we are now sixteen rounds into the eighteen round 2015 MXGP series. The last two rounds have been a momentous roller coaster with Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre, the star of 2015, making a bold statement with his domination at the MXGP of Lombardia, which led to him wrapping up the championship with two rounds remaining at the following round in The Netherlands.

MX2 has also had a dramatic time as we have seen the red plate vacate the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing tent and make its way over to the Honda pits for the first time since 2009.

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MXGP of Lombardia After a small break in the calendar we returned to Italy for the third time this year, to a track that had stepped in at the last minute to replace the MXGP of Brazil, which was cancelled due to economic struggles. Although it would have been nice to have seen the red clay of Trindade and the rowdy Brazilian fans once again, it was actually pretty cool to return to a venue that is something of an old favorite on the European scene.

Mantova, unlike Pietramurata and Maggiora, the circuits that hosted the two Italian rounds earlier in the year, is sand based, relatively flat and riddled with man made jumps.

It also had no support classes that weekend as the round was

supposed to be a fly-away race, therefore the track shaped up to be faster and more flowing than usual.

While you would have assumed that less bikes hammering the track with the absence of the European Championship classes would have made for safer racing and an easier circuit, Mantova still got the better of a few big names with the defending MX2 champion Jordi Tixier crashing out and breaking his wrist while fellow Kawasaki rider and countryman Steven Frossard was air-lifted out with a suspected, and later confirmed, back injury.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos’ season also came to an end in Mantova when he landed awkwardly off

a triple and aggravated an old injury which then required surgery, while on a positive note it was a coming of age for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre who, just when you thought he’d ease it off and cruise the rest of the championship in effort to stay safe, did the complete opposite and waxed everyone with a double race victory for the overall.

The MXGP of Lombardia also welcomed back the early season hard charger Red Bull IceOne Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl who came out swinging and impressively won the qualifying heat but came undone in the racing proper with a few too many errors and a first turn crash. Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek also made a return, so to

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speak, when he landed on the second step of the podium for the second time this year while the consistent Team HRC rider Evgeny Bobryshev rounded out the top three and moved to third in the MXGP championship standings.

turned out to be one of the most successful races of the season.

At the venue most famous for MotoGP, the Dutch TT Circuit in Assen put on a breath taking display of motocross for the fans. The construction of the circuit alone was awe-inspiring with trucks working around the clock to build something that would resemble a true sand circuit in less than five days.

the event was held at a beach.

As a pleasant change to standing on uneven embankment in the great outdoors, the thousands of fans seemed to love the grandstands where they were close to that motocross novelty of flushing toilets and sheltered Meanwhile in MX2, Monster from the rain if the weather was Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max to turn sour. They also had an Anstie continued to inch closer epic view of the track, which put to the top of the standings with on some of the best and closest yet another double moto victoPeople were skeptical as to racing of the season, and as ry while Red Bull KTM Factory how the 22,000 cubic meters of they were all packed into one Racing’s Pauls Jonass proved white sand that made up the cir- huge area, it was like there was that the red plate didn’t change cuit would handle a grand prix a wall of energy throwing good his frame of mind and he rode with the addition of four support vibes into the arena. clever for second overall ahead races, but all the skeptics were of Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser. silenced when the track shaped What added to the awesomeness up better than anyone could of the MXGP of The Netherlands MXGP of The Netherlands have imagined with it whooping in Assen were the victories for The MXGP of The Netherlands out just as it would have done if two of the nicest guys in moto-

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cross, Shaun Simpson and Romain Febvre. While Simpson, the newly dubbed ‘Sand King’, rode his now factory backed Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM to his second MXGP overall of the season and his career, Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s rookie sensation Romain Febvre wrapped up the MXGP world title with a win in the final moto and is the first French world champion since Mikael Pichon back in 2002.

ergy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie who seemed to be having a few bike problems and only became more fed up after looping out of the lead in the first race and finishing only ninth. In race two Anstie put a solid end to a relatively dismal day with an astonishing performance for the win which left him standing on the second step of the podium.

moving up to a very impressive 13th in the moto, even passing Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Valentin Guillod with a lap to go.

While Jonass and Anstie, the two expected to romp the white sand of Assen, faced their fair share of hardship, Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s rookie Brent Van Doninck shone with his milestone perforWhat of the red plate holder Red mance of third overall with two Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls 4th place finishes, to bag his first Jonass? After finishing second ever podium appearance in MX2. in race one the Latvian went Febvre later went on to celedown on the first corner in race When all was done and dusted in brate his victory with a small two and smashed his front brake Assen, there was really no faultcrowd in one of the corporate off as the pack narrowly avoided ing it. The event exceeded all boxes, while Honda Garibolthe stricken man and machine. di and the guys at HRC could expectations; the weather held celebrate their own progress as He then had to complete a lap up, as did the track and the fans with the cable in his hand before were some of the best and most Tim Gajser’s sand skills finally came to fruition to see him take he could pull into the pits for enthusiastic we’ve seen all seasome running repairs.

The young the overall and the priceless red son. The energy in and around Latvian returned to the track al- the paddock was second to none plate. most a lap later minus his front and judging from the hype on brake to put in one of the rides While it was smiles all round in social media, Assen is one locaof the season, unlapping himself the Honda camp, it was a day of tion the fans and the riders will from 4th to 2nd on the track and all look forward to returning to. mixed emotion for Monster En-

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FIM Motocross World Championship

Standings MXGP CHAMP. STANDINGS

MX2 CHAMP. STANDINGS

1. R. Febvre (FRA,YAM), 638 points 2. G. Paulin (FRA, HON) ), 536 p.

3. E. Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 499 p.

4. S. Simpson (GBR,KTM) , 437 p.

5. A.Cairoli (ITA, KTM) , 416 p.

6. M. Nagl (GER, HUS), 414 p.

7. J. VanHorebeek (BEL, YAM),394.

8. G. Coldenhoff(NED, SUZ) 361 p.

9. C. Desalle (BEL, SUZ) , 331 p.

10. T. Waters (AUS, HUS), 324 p.

1. T. Gajser (SLO, HON) ,518 points 2. P. Jonass (LAT, KTM), 505 p.

3. M. Anstie (GBR, KAW) , 474 p.

4. V. Guillod (SUI, YAM), 446 p.

5. J. Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 440 p.

6. J.Herlings (NED, KTM) , 423 p.

7. J. Tixier (FRA, KAW), 393 p.

8. J. Lieber (BEL, YAM), 391 p.

9. B. Paturel (FRA, YAM) , 320 p.

10. P. Petrov (BUL, KAW) , 301.

MXGP MANUFACTUERS 1. Yamaha 2. KTM 3. Suzuki 4. Honda 5. Husqvarna 6. Kawasaki 7. TM

646 628 616 609 574 369 126

points points points points points points points

MX2 MANUFACTUERS 1. KTM 2. Kawasaki 3. Yamaha 4. Honda 5. Suzuki 6. Husqvarna 7. TM

689 points 673 points 569 points 559 points 441 points 388 points 85 points

2015 MXGP-TV Insights Pages Views

5.305.000 Numbers of visits

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TOP 3 Countries: 1. United States 2. Argentina 3.Italy

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MXGP SOCIAL

TWITTER, FACEB IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP @monsterenergybe An epic race, insane crowd & incredible finish for 2015 @ mxgpworld champion @RFebvre461 #Assen #461the1 @maicoboy41 ‬ @mxgp One of the greatest seasons ever ! Great coverage MXGP @amylouisedargan And catchin glimpses of @mxgp Assen looked incredible... Good on ya @ shaunsimpson24 ...always a super awesome person to see do so well @ryan_villopoto2 Big congrats to @RFebvre461 on his first @mxgp world title. Enjoy man!!! @mxgp #MXGP @allardkalff‬ ‬‬ Had a great weekend @ ttcircuitassen@mxgp See you next year @cuocinr1 My 10.000th tweet to wish @StevenFrossard a fast recover!#KeepFightingSteven #183 @mxgpph @jeaninebijker @mxgp super cool! #Assen#ttcircuitassen

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@trevorduck2 What a day at silverstone watching @ValeYellow46 win and then hearing @ shaunsimpson24 has won first race in @mxgp assen You can WIN some awesome prizes this year by participating in the GET, ATHENA Photo Competition.

All you have to do to go into the draw to win one of three sweet prizes is: 1.Find any ATHENA or GET Logo at any round of MXGP this year.

2.Take a photo of it.

3.Upload it to the Athena GET Photo Competition app on MXGP’s Facebook page with the hashtag #MXGP #Athenalive.

Logo’s can be found on the rider’s gear, on the bikes, on the team trucks, and around the paddock of MXGP on various other banners and advertising panels.

The prizes up for grabs are: •Two VIP passes to any 2016 MXGP round of your choice •Go Pro prize pack •Ogio Prize The picture VOTED the best, will win.

Sound easy enough? Find an Athena or GET logo, snap a pic and upload it to Facebook.

Click HERE To go to the competition page.

Did you see the MASSIVE crash on the start of MX2 in Mantova?

The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations will take place at the end of this month. Check out last years Highlights:

BOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE

@sid de Bruyn Thanks to Athena and MXGP for this fantastic Ogio

@jefro98 Awesome weekend at the @mxgpin Assen.

@annowever mxgp @ttcircuitassen en @PreuvAssen @gouverneurstuin #TrotsOpAssen @ditisassen

@veronicadea75 Here we are, follow us @ mxgp #mxgp #mxgpmantova #giadaenicolo’

@timcoronel Was fun @mxgp @ttcircuitassen Flying with my #dakar2016 buggy thanks

@toddwaters47 This turn at the Assen @mxgp was like a sand bunker

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Romain Febvre: Blue Streak

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U Rider of the Month

This year in MXGP we’ve seen the end of an era, the end of a winning streak for the boys in Orange as KTM and Antonio Cairoli relinquished the MXGP title to a new kid on the block. And not just new because he is a rookie, but new as in, almost nobody would have tipped Romain Febvre to win the MXGP World Championship because he’s not dominated on his way up the ranks. He has the 2011 European MX2 title to his name plus a certain discreet fan club within the paddock for his legendary elastic moves on a motorcycle, but a rookie year that ends as him as World Champion? That’s not in the playbook.

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Yamaha saw things differently and consistent with their history of dramatic 450cc signings Febvre went and delivered the goods, but one better than those before him, to grow into a rider that right now appears to have no equal in terms of race speed on the World Championship stage.

2 days after being crowned World Champion at the MXGP of the Netherlands, Romain Febvre was back on the road in Italy, his feet had barely touched the ground since crossing the finish line at the Assen track and the whirlwind that always accompanies an MXGP championship victory was only just getting into gear for the 461.

MXGP Mag caught a few minutes with the Yamaha man to see how the idea of being the 2015 champion was settling in.

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MXGP Mag: So what was Monday morning like, that’s always the acid test of a championship, did it feel real in the morning?

Romain Febvre: Yeah, Monday morning when I woke up it was a good feeling again, we had some party on Sunday night with all the Yamaha crew and it was really nice, even today it is difficult to realise that but day after day I am thinking a little bit more about what happened, it’s just an amazing feeling, it’s my first time and I hope it will be not the last.

MXGP Mag: As the year progressed and your speed improved and the results came, did you change anything in your training pattern, because it can be tempting to push harder when the results come?

Febvre: No, I didn’t change anything. We were just doing the same and I just wanted to keep the same pace just

riding during the week and training during the week, I didn’t want to change anything because it was working and anything can happen.

For sure when you win some races and you know you can battle for the championship you think differently, I remember that I told myself that I should ride less and train more on the physical side, but you need to ride on the bike for sure, so I spoke with the team and we didn’t change anything and we just hoped to have some luck for injury, and after all the work we did it came together, we didn’t change anything.

MXGP Mag: You said in the post race press conference on Sunday night that you had learnt a lot about yourself physically, what does that mean?

Febvre: I mean that at the beginning of the season I had a bad injury two times (Broken arm and a hernia) so af-

ter that I started again from nothing and I started with what I needed to do, because before I had 2 trainers in the previous years, two different trainers, and I learnt a lot from then and I knew what I needed to do to progress myself and with my body, so I just made a plan of what I needed to do and started it. After that with the riding on the bike getting better I carried on that way and just when I saw that I needed to work on some muscle or something, I just looked at it and asked some doctors what to do to improve that part of the muscle. It worked like this and also I learnt a lot about the pressure and how to hold the pressure. For the pressure I didn’t feel anything and that’s a bit strange because I am not used to all the pressure at the end, but this year I felt no pressure at all.

MXGP Mag: So no trainer then, you did your entire plan yourself? That’s very unusual at this level.

Febvre: No trainer, but also the team helped me a lot with that and with the experience of the team when I have some problem on my body or also on the bike they could help me work out a solution.

MXGP Mag: A lot is often said about the time it takes to transition from the 250cc to the 450cc, but you seemed to take to it very quickly, in fact it seemed like you were a different rider, much looser and less front end shy than before, what changed?

Febvre: Already the first time I went on the Yamaha I felt really comfortable, even on the standard bike. When I signed with Yamaha I knew that the engine of the Japanese bikes are really nice, it’s more for my style of riding so I knew that it would be good,

and so we just set it up for me and we didn’t change, or I didn’t change anything on the bike. That is strange from the last two years, we just made the engine only for me, we made some special things for the power because the 450cc power is really aggressive, so we changed something on the engine and it’s just a little bit smoother and I think that is the biggest change we made on the bike. But after for my riding style I don’t think it changed anything, because last year with the Husqvarna team I just had some problems to make some tests on the bike and to improve a lot the bike so, more the front forks, so I think that was a problem, this year we didn’t work much on the setting of the bike only the engine and so for my riding style I didn’t change anything.”

MXGP Mag: Do you understand the wider impact and

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responsibility that comes with being MXGP World Champion, it’s not just about being the guy who wins the most points in a season, the world will now see you in a different light?

Febvre: Yeah, I need to understand now, but I think I understand. When I look around me for sure I can see that the people and all of the fans they look different when they look at me but like last weekend they said, “if you get the title you will change a bit” and the thing is I don’t want to change anything. I think it’s just the people around me who I think they change but I hope I will not change because I don’t need to do that. But for sure for the media, for all kinds of things, like the tracks for everything for sure I saw many people who came to me

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and asked me some questions about something and I think it’s really nice and also a part of the job when you get the title for sure to work on that way with the relation to the public and people, and it’s a bit hard for me but I’ll get used to it.

MXGP Mag: Back in the April issue of the MXGP Mag you mentioned that Ricky Carmichael was your idol when you were young but he probably didn’t know who you were, he probably knows who you are now!

Febvre: Yeah, I hope so! Yeah he was my idol, and I saw he put something on the internet on Instagram for that title for myself, so that’s nice. Also to already have some words with Villopoto on Sunday night was pretty nice, it’s like a dream. I won the title and to have these guys who were

my idols around me is very special.

MXGP Mag: Do you think that your story might serve as an example to some who might think at 15 that their time in the sport is over if they don’t have the results?

The fact that you took some time away from motocross and now being only 3 years out of European and into MXGP could be an example to people that you don’t just have to ride constantly from the age of 4 to be good in the sport, that you can look at the wider things in life and look at other things and come back to it?

Febvre: It’s difficult to say, for sure since I was 3 years old I rode motocross bikes, for sure I went to Supermoto because of injury but still I was riding MX on the side a bit, the biggest part was

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when I came back in motocross my motivation was 100%, it was full and it is still full and so I think it’s the biggest part that has changed since before, because when I was young I rode a lot of Motocross, I was always on the track and I think the motivation and the results were not good. For sure now when you look at Paulin also he was BMXing before and he was World Champion and did just nothing of motocross and he came at maybe 14 or 15 years old onto motocross and now he is really successful for many years. I think when you first have the talent and then put the work in you also need to have good motivation so that you can do everything for the sport and when you have that I think you have

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all the keys to do something good in the sport MXGP Mag: Finally, when you picked up the gold plate from the FIM CMS Director Tony Skillington what was that like?

Febvre: I don’t know how to describe it, it’s so different.

It was amazing, I waited all my life to have this gold plate, the dream came true, and it’s difficult, when I was looking at the plate I was looking to see if it was gold and not red any more. It’s just great that all the work has paid off, it’s unbelievable, it came so fast that for sure I don’t have the time to enjoy all the moments but I hope that I will still enjoy the next two races and all the things to come.

Many in the paddock, including the Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube boss Michele Rinaldi, believe that this title is not just a flash in the pan, that Romain Febvre may be about to start a new dynasty in MXGP. We will wait and see who steps up to challenge him in 2016 but for now Romain Febvre is without a doubt a hugely deserving World Champion and also a massively popular one. With two rounds left to race let’s see what he can do now the championship title is his, perhaps we will get an idea of just what more is left to come from the happy and electrifying Frenchman.

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Buzzing for M

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MXoN

It’s almost that time again. The time of year when the battle of individual supremacy goes out the window and instead the warzone becomes just threes and the fight is not for an individual name, but for an entire nation.

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This year, the teams selected to race the most prestigious event in motocross, the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, will travel to the home of the defending champions, Team France, where the epic event is set to take place at the iconic venue of Ernée. In addition to the buzz that the MXoN already creates, this year will be the ten-year anniversary since the MXoN had its turning point in Ernée where it became the firm summit of the year for every racer regardless of their nationality.

It almost goes without saying that the strongest

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line-up this year is without a doubt the defending champions, Team France.

Last year’s dominator and the man likely to be crowned the MXGP vice world champion, Gautier Paulin, will lead the way with the number 1 plate and will be joined by the newly crowned FIM Motocross World Champion Romain Febvre and the AMA Motocross 250cc runner-up Marvin Musquin.

While some of you may think it seems a little odd that Paulin will be running the number 1 plate considering Febvre is the MXGP world champion, don’t worry, it is actually no skin off Febvre’s nose with the

champ saying “I don’t like the number 1” during the press conference at the MXGP of The Netherlands.

Putting the numbers aside, this is the fastest line-up that France have ever put forth and if they manage to retain the coveted Chamberlain Cup, it will be the first time that they have ever done so.

It’s been a tough year for last year’s runner-up Team Belgium who have been ravaged by injury with Clement Desalle out with a shoulder and knee injury and he was recently joined on the sidelines

by Kevin Strijbos who has just had an operation to

repair a damaged ligament in his thumb. Ken De Dycker has spent most of this season recovering from a shoulder injury, but he has just recently started riding again and it seems that he will be fit to race, even though he will be rusty, on the team led by Jeremy Van Horebeek with young Julien Lieber having his second ride out at the Nations as the MX2 rider.

A good chunk of the success that the 2005 Motocross of Nations in Ernée saw can be attributed to the attendance and performance of the USA’s mecca of a team which was led to victory by Ricky Carmi-

Photo: Ortiz

chael, who was at the peak of his legendary career.

At the time the USA hadn’t won a Motocross of Nations since 2000, so for the team of Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham and Ivan Tedesco to re-claim the title of the fastest motocross nation and take the Chamberlin Trophy back to the other-side of the Atlantic was one of the most memorable moments in the history of our sport and one that catapulted the status of the MXoN back to where it should be.

While a lot of commotion leading into ‘The Nations’ typically surrounds Team USA, this year it is for the

wrong reasons with a lot of race fans disappointed to learn that the fastest American at the moment, Ryan Dungey, will not be racing. With Dungey out, Eli Tomac injured, James Stewart off the radar and Ryan Villopoto retired, the stars and stripes will be represented by Justin Barcia, Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb. Fans will argue until the cows came home whether this is America’s strongest team, but regardless we are still picking them for a podium, possibly a victory even, hey! It’s motocross, anything can happen!

Another team to watch will

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be Great Britain as the Brits are sending a super strong line up with Shaun Simpson and Max Anstie at the top of their game at the moment. If the MXoN was to be in sand this year, the rest of the world would be in trouble for sure, but it’s not, so we will see how the duo and Dean Wilson’s hard pack skills add up.

As for the Germans, Ken Roczen won’t race for yet another year in order to have back surgery so they will enter the battle with Max Nagl, Dennis Ullrich and young Henry Jacobi while Australia will join the show-down with Todd Waters, Dean Ferris and Aussie MX2 champion Jay Wilson.

Also adding to the buzz that the nations seems to manifest is Team Switzerland, who up

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until the MXGP of The Netherlands looked to have one of the strongest line ups on the gate with Valentin Guillod, Arnaud Tonus and Jeremy Seewer.

Unfortunately at the last grand prix Guillod crashed huge and injured his shoulder while a question mark still hovers over the health and fitness of Tonus.

Perhaps there will be a stroke of luck and Guillod and Tonus will both be fit and ready to race.

There is always some sort of controversy leading into the nations and this year it belongs to the Italians with the federation opting to take a different approach to their team selection process. Rather than sending their fastest riders, Team Italy have decided to send a development squad which is made up of

Ivo Monticelli, Michele Cervellin and Samuele Bernardini to give the youngsters some experience ahead of the 2016 Nations at Maggiora.

That about wraps up the list of teams expected to make a big splash at the 69th edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, which will take place at the end of this month on September 26th and 27th, in Ernée, France. We look forward to seeing you all there adding to the energy, which is expected to be thicker than a chocolate lovers spread of Nutella on their bread in the morning.

MONSTER GIRLS

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Focus on: Assen

On a normal day in the north of the Netherlands the 4.5 km long stretch of silvery grey tarmac that is the Assen TT Circuit plays host to track days, riding schools and events in its relatively new and rather huge events hall and amusement park on the outside of turn one. It has turned its history into its future with changes that many decried as sacrilegious as it gradually chopped back the original 8

kilometer track in a series of drastic measures to its current form, while still managing to maintain the beating heart of the venue.

Across the world sports venues and circuits in 2015 have moved past the traditional “one purpose� role that they were built for, no longer can a track survive in a world where demand for new experiences is higher than ever without

experimenting with how to host new and engaging events, perhaps ones that tap into their non traditional market.

Concerts and festivals are the obvious answer, for years Donnington Park in the UK - a venue that hosted MXGP in the past - has held the Download Festival that brings tens of thousands of Metal fans together for 3 days in June, while the Sachsenring in Germany was the focal point of the

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2012 International Six Days of Enduro with great success.

The TT circuit Assen has been one of the fastest adopters of the a multiple event schedule, just one month ago it hosted the Gamma Race Day to a full house of over 110,000 fans and October will see more diverse racing on the track to round out the summer schedule. Yet these all have one thing in common, they all use the top class facilities that are already in place, so why then spend years and hundreds of thousands of Euros on creating a new track for a different sport?

Event promoter and all round racing nut Lee Van Dam has an answer to that: “The idea of bringing motocross to a permanent race track is very good because motocross tracks have no facilities, they have only the sand and all the facilities you have to rent, the toilets the press

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office, the electricity, you name it, here this is one of the most perfect accommodation in Europe, the only thing you need is sand!”

Therein lies the crux of the situation, and the fuel of the debate, what is it that makes motocross a great sport to watch and what is it that will make it a great sport to watch for years to come? Is it the natural tracks and the idea of being able to race anywhere or is it providing a customer friendly and atmospheric venue that can be an attractive proposition to a family for a weekend trip?

Before any sand had been moved from the nearby military base, the Dutch army kindly got involved and loaned out the sand from their next door training facility for 2 weeks, MXGP Mag caught up with Youthstream president Giuseppe Luongo for his

thoughts on the process: “I am curious, it is something which we are working a lot for.

I am very curious to see the results, I am very optimistic and I think we will succeed, but like I said curious because we are putting a lot of effort into it, the track is very ice. We have learnt a lot from the mistakes in the Lausitzring, where the track was a little bit far from the Grandstand, but the track was nice. Now we have optimized all this and now our partners are very professional which is important and I think it will be a success.”

There was good reason for the optimism, with the local promoter well used to hosting big sporting events and putting in a big drive to publicise the event in the months beforehand. The MXGP of the Netherlands was officially launched during the MotoGP race weekend in June and heavily promot-

ed to the packed house at that race and at all the subsequent events between then and the August race. That advertising and fan engagement led to very encouraging ticket sales in the run up to race day and a total event figure of 37,000 spectators that completely filled the main grandstands that butted up alongside the first half of the race track.

The track itself was always going to be a bit of an enigma. Sand is a very interesting material to work with, with an ever-changing surface that rides differently from lap to lap, cutting up into chops and waves depending on water content and how much it has been compacted by machinery and other bikes. It’s a difficult beasty to predict and many were concerned that the track would be too shallow to support race action over a two day weekend.

Far from it in the end, the initial compacting of the sand in the first few practice sessions set a good precedent for the weekend with lines developing fast and deep but not getting anywhere near to going through to the protective layer of boards underneath, the 22,000 tons of sand very much did their job.

Laying it down is one thing but the circuit had to be more than just a racing surface, it had to explore the facility and use the space provided in the correct way in order to be called a success, Lee Van Dam again: “The main problem we had was the part between the buildings, and Greg (Atkins, the track builder) said it was almost impossible to do it, so then I was not interested, because these are VIP lounges and we needed to go outside them, so the FIM measured everything and said “give it a go”. So then we could

go along all the boxes and come back, without that it wouldn’t be interesting, it’s like an arena in Rome and you can see everything.”

That the arena layout worked is in no doubt, each of the riders in the post race press conference mentioned just how good the atmosphere was as they raced in front of the full grandstands every lap with the fans going especially wild at the strong performances of their native riders, Davey Pootjes, who led laps in both MX2 motos and Glenn Coldenhoff who stood on the MXGP podium on Sunday. Condensing the most dynamic part of the course into the 600 meters of grandstand

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was a risky choice in terms of lap time and rider satisfaction but the proximity of the crowd coupled with the inherent unpredictability of sand racing meant that it paid off in a big way.

Before the race many wondered if it would be a one off experiment, similar in shape and scope to the Lausitzring experience of 2013 or if the lessons had been learned from that roasting hot weekend in the east of Germany and motocross might find a permanent home at the legendary TT venue, both Lee Van Dam and Giuseppe Luongo are confident in the events strengths.

Lee Van Dam: “If people want something then they will go for it and I think motocross with the promotion that we had has made a dif-

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ference, people want to go for quality. This is new for us and of course we make mistakes that we can change, I must say that the cooperation with Youthstream has been excellent; they acknowledge the difficulties that we have because this is an expensive project, but I think motocross needs this upgrade, motocross is one of the best sports but it needs an upgrade and the only one they can have is going to a circuit like this.”

Giuseppe Luongo: “It’s a part of Holland where we don’t’ normally race, maybe there will be more (people) than normal maybe more because it’s the north, maybe it will be less because they are too much orientated to road racing, this is my curiosity as it’s clear that the spectators are a very important part of

the event, if you don’t have spectators then it’s not a good way to present a new project.”

The fans gave the event a big thumbs up with a whole series of Mexican waves, which are a new thing for motocross in Europe, that shook across the tribunes before each race.

For those in the paddock who have witnessed the temporary grandstands that fringe the MXGP races in Brazil the noise and atmosphere did not come as a surprise but that the fans so clearly appreciated the seating arrangements and their unobstructed view of the circuit and the racing was a joy to watch. If the numbers add up and all the parties involved in making this race happen agree, then it seems that MXGP may have found itself a permanent addition to the calendar for the future.

MXGP Academy students are award

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MXGP ACADEMY

ded

The European leg of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship was bought to a close at the dramatic round of The Netherlands, which was held at the famed TT circuit of Assen. Making the event extra special, particularly for the young aspiring motocross stars that attend the MXGP Academy, was the first ever awarding of the MXGP Academy Certificates.

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As you know, the MXGP Academy is the number one training and guidance school for young riders aspiring to be professional motocross riders. The Academy focuses on all areas of the sport, from safety through to on-the-bike skills, good health and physical condition as well as self-presentation and attitude.

After the qualifying race press conference at the MXGP of The Netherlands the group of determined young athletes that listened well and demonstrated a good willingness to learn and grow within the sport over their training weekend were awarded a MXGP Academy certificate.

All the people involved in the structure and development of the MXGP Academy were in Assen for the presentation, FIM Europe President Dr. Wolfgang Srb was accompanied by the first ever FIM Europe Deputy President Mr. Martin de Graff, Youthstream

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President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo, the MXGP Academy Co-ordinator and trainer, Mr. Martin van Genderen and former FIM Motocross World Champion and MXGP Academy trainer Mr. John Van Den Berk.

Dr. Srb expressed his satisfaction with the program and the way it works: “We are very happy about what this fantastic team does”, he said. “I want to keep this fantastic sport clean, stay away from doping.” He also mentioned the importance of education and thanked the parents for all that they do for their children.

Mr. Luongo followed in saying “Our goal is to grow our sport. It’s important that the young riders learn from the best and follow the steps of the pyramid in order to reach the goal and race MXGP.” “I really want to thank the staff from the MXGP Academy as they are working hard and very profes-

sionally. I also want to thank the families that give their children the opportunity to race motocross and we look forward to seeing some of these riders competing in MX2 or MXGP.” When awarding the certificates to the young racers in front of the media Mr. Van Genderen and Mr. Van Den Berk encouraged the kids to stick to the program and expressed how much they look forward to giving the next certificates out as the academy continues to grow and help you talent develop in a structured year on year system.

With the last of the MXGP Academy Master Classes done for 2015, the team at the MXGP Academy will return to the round table where they have some new projects in the pipe-line. Keep an eye out for the next edition of the MXGP Mag where more information about new and exciting MXGP Academy projects will be released.

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HALL OF FAME

Bill Nilsson The First Champion Two-time Motocross World champion Bill Nilsson was a rider who took no prisoners in a career that saw him win the first official Motocross World championship way back in 1957. Despite measuring a relatively diminutive 5 feet 7 inches the Swedish legend brushed aside the might of the British BSA riders in an era which saw the European motocross scene rise from the farmer type events to true World Championship caliber.

Nilsson didn’t hold back on the track, and still talked of his like for putting fear into his rivals long after he had retired. For Nilsson the sport he loved gave him not only success, but sadly also major disappoint-

ment and heartache.

Nilsson had two sons, one of whom would go on to win the Enduro World Championship on two occasions, and the other would die tragically in a motocross accident, it was a blow that the famous father would never fully recovered from.

then again most of the AJS and BSA riders in that era rode on sheer guts, fighting their machines into corners, and never accepting defeat.

“I was young when I first came into Motorcycle racing, I think it was 1950 and I was 18-years-old, I was interested and I had a talent. I was very If Motocross was fought inside young when I began, just doing the four corners of a boxing Speedway, then I didn’t get ring you can bet Bill Nilsson a ride in Speedway so I tried would still be punching away Motocross. After two years I when the bell rang to end the was in the national motocross final round, in fact the first team, I rode the Motocross ever Motocross World Champi- of Nations in 1952 and then on didn’t need a boxing ring to I got a factory ride with AMC vent his anger. in London. Then I rode BSA, Nilsson was one of the tough- Husqvarna, a lot of bikes, I est, roughest riders in the was also a World Champion world back in the 1950’s but on AJS in 1957, I was only

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a power band, while the older bikes like BSA and AJS were just full-on power and pushing hard.”

Nilsson caused his share of accidents, and was known for riding hard into his rivals, he never gave an inch on the track.

He knew he was feared and his rivals knew not to mess with the dangerous Swede. He was also lucky enough to have crowd “I got sacked by BSA because support and we are not talking about just a few friends here.

I was too dirty, I wasn’t the cleanest rider. They sacked me, “I liked to ride hard, push the and they thought they could cut my wings, but then I went other riders around, you know, because of my speedway backto AJS and won the World ground I like to slide the bike championship.” and that helped a lot. If it had a “In 1960 I went to Husqvarna, it was so different. Unlike long start I was good, it was like speedway, it was easy for me to the old BSA and AJS bikes it was difficult because you had get to the first corner and slide to have the bike on a rev lev- the bike into the corner.”

“I could race on any track, sand el, you needed to have it on 25-years-old then.”

“Back then you didn’t start riding until you were 18-years-old. I was a professional at a very early age for that time. I rode with guys like Sten Lundin, Rene Baeten, Leslie Archer, Jeff Smith, those guys were tough, factory riders for BSA and I spent many years on BSA.”

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is very heavy, but I could fly on it. I like to warm the competition up, make some dirty moves and get my competition fired up.

Back in my day you could go to a Motocross race in my village, on a day when it was raining and we would get around 10.000 people watching. It was amazing and the crowd always supported me in Sweden, they like it when I would ride hard. Now you only get a big crowd to a race if it’s a World Championship event.”

Nilsson didn’t have everything his own way though when it came to dirty riding, he also found the Belgian riders and fans could mess with your head if you dare challenge them. Back in the summer of 1958 Nilsson came across a very determined Rene Baeten.

The two were fighting for the 500cc Motocross World Cham-

pionship around the Namur circuit in Belgium. To this day Nilsson feels the crowd gave the championship to Baeten, of course we don’t have Baeten’s side of the story, although Nilsson’s version is entertaining enough: “I think the best moment in my career was spent over a long period, it wasn’t one moment, and it was so many. I hated losing and we had so many big battles in Belgium. I lost a World championship at Namur it’s a funny story. I was racing against Sten Lundin and Rene Baeten. I was 35 second behind the leader after the first lap, I had crashed and was a long way back. With three laps to go I caught him, I tried everything, I tried to over jump him, I tried everything, but I

couldn’t get him. Then on the last lap I decided to crash into him, take him from the track.

We went down a steep hill and I pushed my bike up against his and crashed him out, I had a lot of experience you know.

My big problem was that I also crashed and the people broke onto the track and grabbed my bike, they helped Baeten get going, but would not let me have my bike. Anyway one of the crowd lost his front teeth, I wanted my bike back, and they wouldn’t give it back. In the heat of battle I lost it a little.”

Nilsson was proud of the fact he remained in contention for so many 500cc World Championships, winning a magnificent 15 Grands Prix. After retire-

ment Nilsson still worked hard, played hard and enjoyed being around Motorcycles.

“I was good for ten years, I even went to America in the early 1970’s, showing the Husqvarna bikes. I never raced in America, just did Enduro racing after I stopped racing Motocross, and I helped out sometimes with the Husqvarna bikes. I also got back into Speedway. I made the motors for Grand Prix competitor Greg Hancock, he had seven engines, and I went to many of the World Speedway Grand Prix races. I had always been involved with Motorcycle racing all my life, my son was the World Enduro champion in 1991 and 1992.”

Nilsson retired from racing at the age of 35 and began to

help the younger Swedish riders. Having worked on and off with Husqvarna in his career saw the 1957 and 1960 World champion pass on his experience to two other legends of the sport.

“I had a lot of contact with Bengt Aberg and Torsten Hallman, I was at Husqvarna from time to time and I would help Aberg sometimes, I was like a mentor and sometimes I would help Hallman with frame building and suspension. I never got the chance to work with Husqvarna as I would have liked. I was tough to work with, I was very demanding.”

Despite being one of the legends of the sport Nilsson did not attend Motocross events anymore, whether it was from the sad-

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ness of losing a son to the sport or lack of time nobody would ever know.

“I stopped going to Motocross.

When one of my sons got killed in Motocross, it was a terrible experience. It was 1980 when my son passed away, he was 20-yearsold. In that type of situation you just have to carry on, it’s important to not stop and think too much about what happens when one of your children are killed.”

lenge of Edmondson and doubled his championship tally in 1992, again leading home the British rider.

“He was a good rider, rode for an Italian KTM team, I went to some races, it wasn’t like the motocross days but it was very enjoyable to see one of your children take a World Championship, something I had done so many years before.”

Unfortunately on August 25 in 2013 Bill Nilsson passed away at 80 years of age and with a long list of success to his name.

Nilsson will always be remembered for being the first ever Motocross World Champion and a member of the legendary era of Swedish Motocross.

Ten years after losing one of his sons to the sport his other son Jeff Nilsson took the 1991 125cc Enduro World championship after a season long battle with England’s Paul Edmondson. The young Nilsson, who also raced Supercross in Australia in the 1980’s, showed all the courage of his father as he took up the chal- Text: Geoff Meyer

PADDOCK TALKS

Paddock Talks

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01/Alberto Porta from Mediaset covering the MXGP of Lombardia from the paddock.

02/24MX has got game!

03/ Downhill mountain biker specialist Danny Hart visited the MXGP of Lombardia.

04/ MXGP gets the thumbs up from MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso.

05/Monster Energy and Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube reunite 06/VIP views in Assen, MXGP of The Netherlands, were top of the line.

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Paddock Talks

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07/ First every Yamaha Junior Experience in Assen.

08/Villopoto & Bobryshev lighten the atmosphere on the start line 09/ Nothing like a good ol’ Mexican Wave to get the crowd on their feet 10/ Tony is really full factory now with his customized clogs 11/. Lisa Leyland caught up with Max Nagl at his comeback in Mantova.

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QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR Hi MXGP team, Do you have a VIP set up at every round? Even at the US GP? Thanks, Jon Hello Jon, We have our VIP GOLD Skybox packages available in all the European rounds and you can purchase them on mxgp. com. Unfortunately, we do not have the full package in the overseas, but in the Monster Energy MXGP of USA we will have the Skybox as we have in Europe.

All the best, MXGP Hello MXGP, Is it possible for spectators to walk around the track?

Thanks, Jacqui Dear Jacqui, For security reasons the public cannot walk around the track. In fact, very limited number of people can do so.

Regards MXGP

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Hi MXGP How much does it cost to be a VIP? Thanks, Nathan Hi Nathan, Thank you very much for your interest in the VIP packages. You can check all the different options on www.mxgp.com We hope to see you in the paddock!

Regards MXGP Hi MXGP Can I buy tickets at the track?

Thanks, Sjoerd Hi Sjoerd, Yes, you can buy tickets at the entry point of the track.

We hope to see you around!

Best Regards, Regards MXGP

Hi MXGP Will there be a beer tent at the MXoN? Thanks, Dean Hello Dean, As you know the atmosphere at the MXoN is unique. At the paddock of the MXoN you will find the Italian well-known bar KOVO 3, as well as the Monster Rig were loads of fun is guaranteed!

We hope you enjoy the experience!

Best Regards MXGP

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