The World’s largest motocross event has kicked off at the famous RedBud circuit in the hills of Michigan! The Monster Energy Motocross of Nations is the most unique event of the season and today hosted an already massive crowd. The rowdy American fans were joined by the always passionate athletes from around the world today. With countless events throughout the weekend RedBud hosted the first two this afternoon with the Official Opening Press conference and the Teams Presentation to the crowd.
The Opening press conference was the first of the two which started with Youthstream Vice President David Luongo, FIM/CMS Director Tony Skillington, and the 2018 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations Organizer’s Amy & Tim Ritchie sharing some words about this weekend’s event.
Youthstream Vice President Mr. David Luongo: “It is a great honor to be back in the USA with the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, we have not been here in many years and the fans have high expectations, the American fans are amazing! We are sure it will be a fantastic weekend and on the sporting side it will be one of the most exciting Motocross of Nations in years. We really have the best riders in the world with many top riders in all the classes so it is very exciting and we hope to have good racing. We just cannot wait for tomorrow morning with the engines start!”
FIM/CMS Director Tony Skillington: “I would like to thank all of those who made this event possible especially Youthstream for the foresight to return to the USA again and also to find the great partnership with the Amy and Tim Ritchie, MXSports, and the AMA. The Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations is a very unique event, year after year it creates the best atmosphere that our sport can provide. We have the very best of the best here and like the fans we look forward to a great racing weekend.”
2018 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations Organizer Amy Ritchie: “Our dad went to this race 40 years ago in Germany and this was his dream, to host the Motocross of Nations.” Then Tim Ritchie continued: “We are very excited to host this event, we have been working on it for a very long time. We have had a very good time working with the Youthstream crew and they have been good to work with, other than that I just want to say welcome everyone.”
Following the words from the officials the teams of the USA, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, and Italy shared their expectations in front of national and international media before concluding with the popular team Puerto Rico!
With the conclusion of the opening press conference the teams and media took a small break before heading to the starting area where thousands of fans lined the fences as the teams of 30 nations were presented to the crowd one by one. Each team hopped in the back of a Dodge Ram truck starting with the 30th team on the entry list, Guatemala, and working up the list to defending champions France before ending with a bang as the home team USA of both present and past editions brought the crowd to a massive roar.
The amazing Friday moments only further raised the level of an enthusiasm for both the fans and competitors. While celebrations at the track continue the riders and teams have set their focus to tomorrow’s Qualifying day.