Press Conferences and Ballot Kick off Monster Energy FIM MXoN Weekend in RedBud.
Welcome press conferences and the ballot to define the starting grid for tomorrow’s qualifying heats kicked off the media day at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in RedBud, United States.
Friday’s activities officially began with the welcome press conference with Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo, FIM President Jorge Viegas and Amy and Tim Ritchie, the organisers of the event in RedBud, sharing some words about this weekend’s events.
Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo: “On behalf of Infront Moto Racing, I would like to welcome you to the 75th Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations. It’s a big pleasure to be back here in the United States, at one of the most beautiful tracks in the world, RedBud. I think everybody is ready for a great weekend, we had a great preparation, the local organisers have done a great job of getting everything set up, the infrastructure, the track and with 34 nations are set to compete this weekend. We will have a packed weekend of spectators and it’s always a big pleasure to be in the USA for this event. I would like to thank the AMA for the support they have given to the event, to Mr Viegas and the FIM for being present and supporting us. This is the biggest offroad event of the year, a race where the riders fight for their country, it’s a very patriotic event and we are in the perfect country for it! I wish you all a good weekend and we hope to be back in the USA soon.”
FIM President Jorge Viegas: “Welcome to America! This is a wonderful place with an amazing organisation. For us at the FIM, this is one of the most important events and it’s a unique opportunity for all of the countries to race against each other and we get to see how motocross is across both sides of the Atlantic. We can’t wait to see the races on Sunday and see if the United States can come back to win this amazing trophy. I would like to highlight, that this year, for the very first time we have two teams that don’t belong to one single nation. We have the FIM Latin America Team and the FIM Europe Team, this is something we introduce this year and I am looking forward to seeing what they can achieve. I wish you all a very good Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations!”.
Organiser of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations 2022 Amy Ritchie: „Welcome everybody, we’re pretty excited to have a do-over with the sunshine this time! We’re so excited to have the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations back in RedBud. There’s so many great stories in the paddock that I am excited to hear and see and watch unfold“.
Following the welcome of the officials, a special press conference took place to present the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations Watches which will be given to the individual winners in MXGP, MX2 and Open riders at the end of the weekend. The unique time pieces were presented by legend Ricky Johnson who recalled some fond memories of his own time racing and where the idea for the award came from.
After the second press conference, the teams gathered in the media centre in RedBud for the official ballot to define the starting grid for tomorrow’s qualifying races.
The qualifying starting grid is as follows:
1. Morocco
2. Switzerland
3. Latvia
4. Netherlands
5. Estonia
6. Italy
7. Canada
8. Ecuador
9. Sweden
10. Israel
11. Belgium
12. Germany
13. FIM Europe
14. Chile
15. USA
16. Norway
17. Great Britain
18. Philippines
19. Spain
20. Finland
21. Brazil
22. Lithuania
23. Australia
24. Japan
25. Mexico
26. Ireland
27. Venezuela
28. Guam
29. FIM Latin America
30. France
31. South Africa
32. Iceland
33. New Zealand
34. Honduras
Bild/Text: Infront Moto Racing