DIRT NEWS
WHERE NEXT FOR OUR BELOVED MXGP
A recent Skype video chat with Belgian motocross journalist and photographer Stefan Geukens
has offered us some interesting thoughts on the current state of the sport.
Words: Andy McGechan/bikesportnz.com
A
s a knowledgeable, long-standing observer
of the sport, Stefan Geukens knows more
than most what makes this sport tick and his
insight was interesting, to say the least. Our two-
hour conversation touched on many points...
The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has been
forcing InFront Moto Racing, the organising body
for the Grand Prix scene, to announce tweaks and
date changes to the MXGP calendar on an almost
daily basis, so it’s hard for any of the many teams
or riders (or fans and sponsors for that matter) to
make concrete plans for the near future.
EUROPE HAS BEEN HIT HARD
And how hard can riders train to maintain
their fitness? Do they do anything that might
risk injury and possibly the need for medical
treatment and/or hospitalisation in these
times when health resources are stretched and
94 KIWI RIDER
the COVID-19 virus lurks around every corner?
Europe has been hit particularly hard by the
virus outbreak – Italy and Spain more than
most – and Grand Prix motocross (along with
every other sport on the planet actually) has
been put on ice.
Stefan believes, with different countries
imposing their own separate deadlines for
their population lockdowns to end, the state of
the world motocross championship series has
never been more uncertain.
For example, it could be late August before
the governments of France, Germany and
Belgium free up their sportsmen and women
for any kind of activities, let alone risky bike
racing; Italy and Spain might be later than
all of them, with Spain announcing a further
extension to their lockdown.