Australia 'loses' world MX GP

Australia won't be rejoining the world motocross family in 2011 after all, but there's now a chance it could happen in 2012.

After a meeting in Belgium last week between manufacturers, the championship promoter Youthstream and the FIM, it was declared that there will only be two 'overseas' (outside of Europe) events in 2011, to be held in America and Brazil.

In 2012 that will increase to three, followed by four in 2013, with Japan and Australia both pencilled in to claim those spots on the calendar.

Recently, in an interview with an Australian motocross magazine, the boss of KTM, Stefan Everts (who was at the meeting in Belgium), said that while an expansion of the championship outside of Europe had his support, it was a huge cost imposition in a sport with little outside sponsorship.

"On one hand, it's a world championship and we need to go outside of Europe," said Everts. "On the other hand, the plans are four or five overseas races, and it's a very big cost for the teams.

"We don't get so many outside sponsors like Formula One or MotoGP, even our budgets aren't that big. It has a lot to do with the popularity of the series and the media coverage including television. It's not strong enough to attract outsides and to get that extra money.

"I don't know what will happen if we have two or three overseas races next year and how many teams can back that up; it could be a big financial problem.

"Hopefully we can get some support from Youthstream or the organiser. The money needs to come from somewhere."

The State Motorcycle Complex in Broadford (Vic) hosted the 2000 and 2001 rounds of the Motocross World Championship, but the massive cost of acquiring the rights and then running a successful event far outweighed the income generated."