British Motocross GP cancelled

Dorna, the FIM-appointed promoter of the Motocross GP, has announced that it is axing the 2003 British Motocross GP at Rushmoor Arena because event promoter Andy Nicholls has failed to meet the deadline for signing the contract.

The delay was caused by the MoD, the owners of Rushmoor Arena, having to postpone talks about the event in order to prepare for operations in Iraq. The ACU said that the contract is now ready to be signed and with five months to go it sees no reason why the GP should be cancelled.

ACU Chairman, Ted Bartlett, went to Geneva to discuss the matter with the FIM President, but neither the ACU nor the FIM could convince Dorna to reconsider its decision.

The chances of a GP coming to Britain in the near future are severely hit by this decision. The MoD said that if the event was not held this year they would not be able to consider holding it in 2004.

It seems that Dorna’s resistance to pressure from the FIM has ruffled a few feathers. Bartlett was told at the Geneva meeting that the FIM was considering prematurely ending Dorna’s involvement with Motocross GP at the end of 2003.

The ACU has put a lot of backing behind Nicholls to try and get the event staged and has said that it will continue to back any club or promoter that tries to bring the event to the UK for 2004.

Don’t forget to check out next week’s MCN, out March 12, for a full run-down of all the off road events at Daytona bike week.

To comment on this story click on the link on the right to go to our Off Road discussion board.