The Couch Racer – Fins Fiasco?

TThe Couch Racer watched the Finnish GP and saw a poor turnout, both on and off the track.

After a short midsummer break of two weekends, the GP riders were back in action last weekend at the Finnish Kymiring. A new circuit on the MXGP calendar is something we've seen more often in recent years. Finland is no longer the major motocross nation it was in the 70s and 80s, but that shouldn't stop it from hosting a GP. The return of a World Championship round can act as a catalyst for a country to revitalize the sport.

From my armchair, the brand-new motocross track didn't quite convince me. It felt familiar somehow, though, reminding me of certain Dutch training tracks. Or maybe not, because those are generally more crowded. Perhaps it wasn't so much the track itself, which was actually quite physically demanding for the riders, but rather the setting. It felt a bit sparse, at least compared to the atmosphere in Arnhem and Lommel. And yes, those Finns are definitely cool, but there were also very few of them.

At times on Sunday afternoon, it looked as if Lucas Coenen was completing a Wednesday practice session at a Dutch training circuit. Or wait, that's not possible, because the track there is much busier... Photo: KTM Media Library/Juan Pablo Acevedo

And the few Finns, and hopefully a few Norwegians and Swedes as well, who were standing along the track, were at a very respectable distance from it. The days when you could simply stand on a barrier on the inside of a bend to cheer on Stefan Everts or Joël Smets in Kester or Namur, barely half a meter from your idol, are long gone. In the 90s and early 00s, safety wasn't such a priority. But it is now. Fortunately, although some old-school fans still find it a shame that even in Lommel, you're now just meters away from the actual track. In Finland, it seemed like 10 meters everywhere.

The low attendance for this Finnish GP may have been a disaster for the local organizer's coffers, but it didn't affect the viewing experience of the Belgian or Dutch fan at home in front of the TV in the slightest. The meager rider turnout, however, did. At the start of the MX2, I felt like I was watching the Inters class of a Flemish federation. Which federation that was, you can guess; there won't be much difference between them. But that, of course, is besides the point. Only the MX2 GP riders had nicer decal kits on their bikes and were much more aggressive.

The Finnish GP was certainly not a fiasco for Kay de Wolf; the world champion felt right at home in the deep sand of the Kymiring. Photo: Husqvarna Media/Full Spectrum

But seriously, with 18 riders in MX2 and 21 in MXGP, the field for the Finnish GP seemed very limited. This is partly due to the number of injuries, which are certainly felt in MXGP. In a month's time, the whole circus heads north again, this time for the Swedish GP. Wouldn't it have been better to schedule those two Scandinavian GPs on consecutive weekends? This would save teams and riders a lot of travel expenses. The "grouping" of races is currently an issue in almost every racing championship – although they certainly don't all perform equally well – so why can't it be done in MXGP? Especially in times when budgets threaten to become tighter, the World Championship promoter must dare to think along with their clients, the teams. Hopefully, this will be taken into account for next season's calendar.