Joerg Teuchert
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Main image courtesy of Feld Motor Sports.
Yeah! Look, we’re posting Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations and in what should be the start of an idle spot in the motorcycle news cycle. Instead, we have an explosion of information. There’s the usual October 1 driver signing news, but on top of that we have the first round of the new FIM Supercross World Championship this weekend in Wales, new details on the new FIM Supercross Championship World of SuperMotocross, and even Red Bull Straight Rhythm is set for a comeback in two weeks!
It’s enough to make your head spin. We posted the silly news of the season here on this site, probably the biggest story is Christian Craig moving to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna on a two-year 450 deal. Congratulations to Christian and his management team for finally securing this 450 contract.
The racing stuff probably gets confusing, well, except Straight Rhythm, which is the simplest event of all. No bends, all two strokes. But what about those other races and series? Let me try to break it down.
Last summer, Feld Motorsports, producers of what was then called Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, were working on a plan to align more closely with MX Sports Pro Racing, which promotes the Lucas Oil AMA Championship. Pro Motocross. The motocross series has no FIM sanction. Feld did not renew his long-standing FIM sanction agreement. Monster Energy Supercross lost the “FIM World Championship” tag and reverted to the Monster Energy AMA Supercross brand. The FIM immediately released a statement thanking Feld for the 20-year relationship while saying it would begin looking for new partners to maintain a supercross world championship. It was a hallelujah moment for the American motorcycle industry, which has never been too pumped about the FIM (and, in particular, its AMA drug tests) and has never been too pumped that Feld and MX Sports never seemed to get along. Feld and MX Sports have been working on their roster plans, including buying a TV package together. The hardest part was the timing. Previously, the MX and SX series here in the US had TV deals that expired in opposite years. The goal was to let the deals expire together so they could shop together for the 2023 season. MX Sports, then, would have to let their Peacock deal expire for 2022 and buy a one-year deal just to get to 2023. , when Feld’s deal was also due for renewal. Peacock was unwilling to enter into a one-year motocross contract, but MAVTV was willing. It was a promising move, but MAV’s streaming service wasn’t ready for the kind of numbers that motocross would generate.
