The MXoN will come to Assen in 2019.
The Motocross of Nations, in which more than 40 participating countries compete for victory with a delegation of their best motocross riders, will be held in the Netherlands in 2019. The Youthstream Group, rights holder of the FIM MXGP World Championship, announced this today. The most important motocross competition in the world, which will be held in the United States this year, is scheduled on the provisional calendar of the world championship for September 29, 2019 at the TT Circuit Assen in Drenthe.
Top sports calendar NOC/NSF
For the organization of the Motocross of Nations, the Youthstream Group concludes an agreement with the MXGP Assen Foundation, organizer of the current Motocross Grand Prix Assen. The national motorcycle association, the Royal Dutch Motorcyclists Association, already submitted a request to NOC / NSF at the end of 2016 for the Motocross of Nations to be included on the top sports calendar. The event is listed there for 2019 and with that status it is eligible for national subsidies. The Province of Drenthe and the Municipality of Assen also support the event, which makes the Circuit van Drenthe the only current circuit facility in the world with both a World Motorcycle Road Race and a Motocross World Championship on the same site.
Patrice Assendelft, director of the KNMV: “As a motorcycle association, we are delighted with the confirmation that the most prestigious motocross competition in the world can be organized in the Netherlands. I am also proud of the way in which we have worked together with organizers and governments in lobbying for NOC / NSF and Youthstream. The Netherlands plays an important role in the history of the sport and when I look at the current level of our athletes I can say that I believe in the very first victory for the Netherlands.”
Lee van Dam and Theo Verdegem, on behalf of the organizing foundation MXGP Assen: “We see the Motocross of Nations as the Olympic Games of motocross. Fans from all over the world travel to support their country, the atmosphere is unprecedented! After four years of the Motocross World Championship in 'the cathedral of motorsport', this will be the proverbial icing on the cake for our visitors, our sponsors and for us as organizers.”
Rare showdown
The Motocross of Nations, or MXoN, is a rare showdown for motocross fans between the newly crowned world championship champions and the superstars from another great motocross nation, the United States. Since 2013, an average of 40 different countries have participated, with a delegation of three riders each. France has won the last four MXoN events. In 2016, the Netherlands finished on the MXoN podium for the first time in 15 years at the expense of Belgium (fourth) and repeated that podium finish a year later during the MXoN in England. The most successful countries in the history of the MXoN are Great Britain, Belgium and the United States.
Strongest Dutch team in history
In the 70-year history of the event, the Netherlands has been on the podium 12 times, but never on the highest step. The chances of a very first national victory increase as Jeffrey Herlings' star rises. With 3 world titles and a rapidly growing number of GP victories in the premier class, the Brabander is the most successful motocross rider the Netherlands has ever known. Herlings immediately became vice world champion in his debut year in the 'king class, MXGP' in 2017 and this year even the Italian great Antonio Cairoli (9 world titles) has to recognize his superiority in the Dutchman. The 2019 MXoN will most likely mark the very first time that a Dutch MXGP world champion will defend the country's colours.
85 years since the first motocross competition in the Netherlands
Drenthe has a rich past when it comes to organizing the Motocross World Championships. The Motor Club Assen and surroundings, which is part of the Foundation that will organize the MXoN, is the oldest motorcycle club in the Netherlands and in 2019 it will be exactly 85 years ago (1934) that the same motorcycle club organized the very first official international motocross competition in the Netherlands in Norg, Drenthe. .
Posted: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Photo: Paul Weyten
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