Excitement is building for everyone involved with the 2024 MXGP World Championship season as the flight cases have been unpacked, the bikes assembled, and the initial Press Conferences held at the Villa La Angostura circuit in Patagonia, Argentina.
The first Opening Press Conference of the 2024 season was held today with Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo, FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela, and Organiser of the YPF INFINIA MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina David Eli who all welcomed everyone to Villa La Angostura.
The Press Conference began with an acknowledgement of the work carried out by the organizers of YPF Infinia MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina as well as an expression of how exciting it is to have so many leading contenders fit and ready for the start of what should be an incredible season.
Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo: “We had a fantastic season last year with a great World Champion in each of the classes, and an amazing Motocross of Nations that will stay in the memory of everyone for decades. We reached the record of spectators at a single event in the history of the sport. MXGP reached 700,000 spectators in the full season, which was also a record of attendance for a season of MXGP. But this is not the end of our target or our will of developing the sport. We will have a very long and demanding season of 21 events, across the nations of the EU but also seeing China back on the calendar, which is very good news for the globality of this World Championship. Our figures show that Europe is still with us but many more big countries are now following the sport. For sure Argentina and Brazil but also Australia, India, Indonesia, and China, so we have to go to these countries for the fans and in terms of the sport’s development, and in terms of the markets for the manufacturers also.”
Mr Luongo then made an announcement to include an exciting new addition to the series in the very near future:
“We saw in the last few months and years that have been many developments into the electrification of bikes, so I think that it’s a good moment to put down the base of a new support class that will be fully dedicated to electric bikes. We don’t want to mix things [with regular machines], but to create a path for this technology to develop and continue to grow, and we will see how it develops. In the last few months many things have started without clear guidance on where it will go. I think that as the best and most modern platform for Motocross in the world, that MXGP should also embrace this new technology.
So we want to announce that in 2026 we want to create a new support race, in collaboration with the FIM and with the manufacturers, for a fully dedicated Electric World Championship that will be held alongside MXGP. We aim to run five or six races in Europe for this, so we have two years to work with the FIM and the manufacturers on the rules for the bikes and to define exactly what it shall be. It will help to complete the package of an MXGP weekend, and also help the manufacturers with a very professional platform to help develop these products which are already on the market to complete the portfolio for a manufacturer.”
FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela: “I wish to welcome everybody once again to Argentina and really thank everybody who has put in a lot of work to enable us to be here. As David said, we are working towards a new class for electric bikes to run alongside MXGP, and this shows the interest of new manufacturers who will have an opportunity to join the paddock, which is very important. This will also create new opportunities for riders, it will create new jobs and allow them to develop their products. We are reaching higher levels, which without the organisation that David puts into place would be very, very difficult to do. It’s very demanding to reach the standards we have achieved, and we ask the organisers to go beyond, to better the product and to offer us better facilities. It all goes in a flash, and on Monday most of us will be flying home again. It’s a pleasure to be back here again and I would like to wish you all the best for the season.”.
The Rider’s Press Conference then took place, featuring Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre, and Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP rider Maxime Renaux in the first group, as they spoke about the challenges of the new season with such a deep pool of talent to compete with. Then the table was taken by MX2 World ChampionAndrea Adamo of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, MRT Beta Racing Team’s Ben Watson,Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team rookie Jago Geerts, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf, Fantic Factory Racing’s new rider Glenn Coldenhoff, and Monster Energy Triumph racing’s Camden McLellan.
Following the Press Conference, the usual FIM briefing took place with the Team Managers of the Motocross World Championship teams, to go through the new rules and regulations for the upcoming season. This included the new Start Practice session which will take place on Friday afternoon at each round, and today was appreciated by the teams as a chance to fine-tune their machines on the actual ground that they will be racing on come the weekend.
The day ended with the amazing event held in the city centre of Villa La Angostura where the crowd was very excited to meet the MXGP and MX2 riders, with the Monster Girls joining the party and the Monster Athletes for a sensational atmosphere full of local spectators.
Now with the opening events complete, fans super excited, riders will now focus on tomorrow’s RAM Qualifying Races to kickstart this enthralling season! Let the fight begin!
TIMETABLE (Local Timing UTC-3)
SATURDAY: 10:45 MX2 Free Practice, 11:15 MXGP Free Practice, 13:20 MX2 Time Practice, 14:00 MXGP Time Practice, 15:25 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY: 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.
words and images by Infront Moto Racing
