Matterley Basin lands '17 MXoN
By Sean Lawless on 5th Oct 16
The 2017 Motocross of Nations will be held in England at Matterley Basin following last weeks shock withdrawal of Glen Helen Raceway.
The Californian circuit had been confirmed as next year's MXoN venue but a meeting at Maggiora between Youthstream President Giuseppe Luongo and Glen Helen's Bud Feldkamp resulted in the joint decision to cancel the American event amid fears of a low fan turn-out.
A short statement on the MXGP.com website confirmed the reason.
‘For such a prestigious event which deserves and needs an outstanding fan participation the risk is too high and this is the main reason why it has been decided in common agreement to not organise the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in 2017 in Glen Helen.'
It will be the first time since 2008 that the Motocross of Nations has been held in Great Britain and 11 years since Matterley Basin – which was in line for the event in either 2018 or 2019 – last staged the MXoN in its first season on the world calendar.
Steve Dixon was the promoter in 2006 and has taken control of the last six British GPs at the Hampshire venue. With his accumulated experience he's confident that the 2017 event will be a huge success.
"Obviously I was interested to have it for 2018 or '19,” he said, "so I went into my meeting to see which year it would be and Giuseppe Luongo asked me what I thought about 2017 and I said ‘yes'. We're proud to have it.”
The 2006 event was a big success on many levels with a huge turn-out of fans witnessing Stefan Everts finish his professional career by running 1-1 and twice beating Team USA's James Stewart. But bad weather and the sheer size of the crowd resulted in long delays for people leaving the site on Sunday evening.
"It's time,” said Dixon. "The wounds of 2006 traffic wise and weather wise have healed. That was a learning experience for everyone.
"We know we'll get 120 tons of litter. We know we'll need 300 toilets. We have a lot more knowledge and we'll be dealing with a lot less unknowns so we can make it a great experience for everyone.
"It was a fantastic event in 2006 but the amount of fans who came caught everyone by surprise. This time we know what we can potentially expect – hopefully we'll get the same size crowd again.”
With the event scheduled for either late September or early October the possibility of bad weather will be figured into plans and with the support of the local authorities and the MX community Dixon's happy to forge ahead.
"The police and the council are excited about it and want it back – they think we have a good track record,” he added. "The police know the dynamics of the Nations now and what we need to do to make everything fluid getting in and out.
"The ACU are behind it and already I've had people ringing up and offering support. The reaction has been very positive.”
