GIUSEPPE LUONGO TO BAN DIRT IN MXGP IN 2017

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The wire mesh at the Monster Cup in October. It was wire mesh over plywood over concrete—so its not the same as replacing dirt is wire mesh.

According to Youthstream’s Giuseppe Luongo (in Youthstream’s MXGP Mag), the dirt starts on the Grand Prix tracks will be replaced with wire mesh that “will be placed giving good grip and an equal chance to all the riders in all types of weather conditions.” This idea germinated from this year’s Monster Cup, where they used wire mesh behind and in front of their elevated start in Las Vegas. This rule will go into effect for this coming year’s World Motocross Championships.

This very reminiscent of when the AMA asked the AMA National tracks to put in concrete starting lines to insure that every rider started on the exact same surface. Then, after four of the 12 tracks, most notably Broome-Tioga, Southwick and Glen Helen, spend the money to pour the concrete, the AMA passed a rule that mandated that all starts had to be dirt. Will they be mandating wire mesh soon?

The idea is that the 100% traction of wire mesh will eliminate human error, good luck with that, and insure that every rider has the same amount of traction regardless of the condition of his starting spot. The purist are going to howl that this is another example to the sport of motocross being gentrified into a milquetoast version of what it originally was. Of course they will be right, but don’t be surprised if the AMA Supercross promoters show up with wire mesh in the future (after all, they already bought the mesh).