MX des Nations in UK

The FIM has announced that the most prestigious race in the motocross calendar will return to the UK in September.

The Red Bull Motocross of Nations is an annual event frequently labelled the Olympics of Motocross, where riders compete for their countries rather than for individual glory, and it’s a major feather in the cap of the ACU that the event is to be hosted by Britain on the 27th and 28th of September.

Originally the event had been scheduled to take place in Northern Ireland, but doubts over the capability of the proposed site to handle the size of crowd that an MXoN typically attracts led to a rethink and a search for an alternative venue – the search ended when Donington Park stepped forward.

The Leicestershire circuit had a successful debut run at hosting an International motocross event when the British Motocross Grand Prix was held there last August, but was not listed as the venue for the same event this year – there’s little doubt, however, that Donington is the only circuit in the UK currently capable of holding a motocross race of this size.

In a press release from Donington Park Leisure, circuit director Robert Fearnall said “It was always our intention to host more top motocross events, and now we will be working extremely hard to build a larger fan base for motocross by taking it to our large road-racing audiences in putting together exhibition races at both the British Motorcycle Grand Prix, and the World Superbike Championship meeting.”

Unusually, the event was last held in the UK only 18 months ago, at Matterly Basin near Winchester – it is unlikely, however, that British fans will be upset at the event returning to the UK so soon.

First run in 1947, the event has been most recently dominated by Team USA since their first victory in 1981 – the Americans currently have the most victories, with 17, ahead of Great Britain on 16 and Belgium on 14.