So, you can’t go and spectate…

With domestic and international motocross racing resuming, it’s given a much-needed boost to the sport after lockdown. Race meetings, both amateur and professional are seeing full gates in almost every class! The MX Nationals that kicked things off in the UK had a record 337 entries at their opening round at Hawkstone Park! Races across Europe are seeing 40 riders on the gate across multiple classes, when was the last time this happened?

Sadly, this doesn’t seem good enough for some folk on social media, as currently, and when I wrote this on the morning of Sunday the 2^nd of August, many events are prohibiting spectators from attending. It’s just me but I think this is the right thing to do at this moment in time. I’d much rather see full gates with no spectators than see meetings with half full gates and a couple of hundred fans in attendance. But are some of these people fans? Comments from some on social media indicate otherwise… threatening to not attend future meetings because they can’t attend this one? Come on…

Returning to the boost for the motocross industry, racing always results with damaged bikes for some, whether it’s a simple broken lever or in extreme cases the conrod cries enough and exits the motor through the engine cases. Either way, those that race and especially those that compete in a championship will simply dig deep and get their bikes fixed, firing money directly into the industry.

I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m a bit of a practice track princess nowadays. I spent 10 years or so racing all over the country on a shoestring budget with many nights in the garage until gone midnight when the bike’s let go racing, and there’s another race the following weekend that just couldn’t be missed. It’s bloody tough, but it’s bloody brilliant.

So, let’s all just do our bit without taking chunks out of each other please. Line ups are indicating an upswing in our sport which is a great thing and when we can go and check out some racing, make sure you go - just don’t complain about the price of admission!