Following Infront Moto Racing’s announcement on Friday with an updated calendar with countries holding more than one round this year, MXoN being moved to Great Britain and finishing later in the year than normal.
We caught up with CEO of Infront Moto Racing David Luongo to discuss the updated calendar, the move from France to UK for MXoN and the 2021 season.
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Live Motocross: Now an updated calendar has been released could we see any more changes or is the final one for the 2020 season?
David Luongo: “I hope not, we still have some reserved plan in the case something would happen, but honestly we are still depending on the evolution of the pandemic and all the decision from the government that are linked with the GP. I am positive we should be on the good road now with this calendar.“
Live Motocross: Are there any plans to reduce the number of rounds further this year to get a Championship in before the end of the year?
David Luongo: “The championship will finish before the end of the year as the last race is in November in Argentina. Our target to reach is around 18 Grand Prix in total to deliver the best season possible.“
Live Motocross: The MXoN are now TBC in the UK at Matterley Basin under Steve Dixon. Are you confident that it will be running this year and could you tell us why Ernee was removed as hosts for this year?
David Luongo: “Ernee was putting a lot of energy into the organization of the event. Unfortunately, the restrictions established by the French government and the lack of visibility regarding the number of spectators allowed onsite until September made them to give up. It was too much risk for the Moto Club given the fact that the costs of organization for a race in France are very expensive in normal time already. They preferred to ask to postpone the event in 2023, and we accepted their request. Regarding Matterley Basin, Steve is working very closely with the local authorities which showed a great interest by hosting the event again, so we are in the last days of finalization regarding the event and I am positive, it will be confirmed.“
Live Motocross: How do you see the future of the sport post COVID-19 from 2021 onwards?
David Luongo: “Everything will depend on how long stays the pandemic. If we manage to stop it before winter time, 2021 could still be very good. Up to now, I can tell you that all the GPs that have been postpone from this year, will be back next season. For sure, some companies will face challenging time, as we are facing now, but the best way for the MXGP to continue to develop and to secure the jobs is to run events. The situation will for sure give more importance to our social platform like MXGP-TV.com where we will broadcast all the races live to allow the fans that would not be able to join the GP to follow all the actions.“
Live Motocross: Looking ahead to the 2021 season are there any plans or countries which you could mention that will be included?
David Luongo: “As I mentioned above, most of the countries from this year will come back next year. Then we received some new candidates that are interested to join the championship but it is too early to talk about them. We still need to finish this season in the best way possible.“
Live Motocross: Are there any plans to increase the MXGP calendar in the future to more than 21 rounds?
David Luongo: “This is not the plan as for now, but never say never.”
Photo Credit – Ray Archer
