VILLA LA ANGOSTURA (Argentina) 10 March 2023 – The 2023 season is ready to kickstart racing action following a day full of activities which welcomed the start of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship in Villa La Angostura for the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina.

The inaugural Opening Press Conference of the 2023 season took place today with Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo, FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela, and Organiser of the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina David Eli who all welcomed everyone to Villa La Angostura.

The press conference started with a presentation that looked at statistics from last year, showcasing the success and increase of TV Broadcasting along with the growing MXGP presence on social media and the overall coverage of MXGP.com, MXGP-TV and the MXGP Magazine. The presentation also mentioned some novelties for the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship and was followed by the teaser of the 2023 season.

Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo: On behalf of Infront Moto Racing I would like to welcome everybody for this new season and it is great to see many familiar faces here in Villa La Angostura. Coming back a bit on last season, it was the first complete season after the Covid time where we were able to have a full crowd back and we had a fantastic final with the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in the RedBud, USA. Of course even on the back of a great season we always need to innovate, modernise and develop the Championship and for that, we have some novelties to announce. Some are in the paddock with the Paddock Show that will start in Europe in Sardinia as it is very important to maintain this very unique link between motocross and the fans, which is very rare in motorsports. To see riders, teams and managers exchange with spectators is a strong point that we really want to keep for a long time. Therefore this year on Saturday, the usual press conference taking place after the RAM Qualifying Races will be held in the Paddock Show with the spectators for a direct exchange and is something that will increase interactions with our fans. Another big change is for the MXGP class, first with the New Point System for the RAM Qualifying Races but also the MXGP class will be open to more than 40 riders who can attend as wildcards, this will allow also local and national riders to participate to the MXGP World Championship, like this weekend in Argentina. Then about the calendar we are very happy to see important Grand Prix coming back like Switzerland held in Frauenfeld, the comeback of The Netherlands  Villars Sous Ecot in France with a brand-new circuit and of course the MXoN in Ernée that promised to be spectacular.

We strongly believe that these changes will offer a fantastic championship, with the return of Jeffrey Herlings, Romain Febvre and many great riders even if unfortunately, we will miss Tim Gajser but he will be back soon while MX2 will be more open than ever. I am very confident that this year again the show will be fantastic and we will keep working hard and collaborating together with the FIM to give the best conditions possible for the riders. We are very excited to start again and we want to thank the FIM, the manufacturers for the amazing cooperation and last but not least I would like to thank David Eli for the great work done for this event. All the best to everyone for this exciting season ahead! “

FIM/CMS Director Antonio Alia Portela: “On behalf of the FIM I wish to welcome everyone to the opening press conference of the 2023 season. This winter we made the necessary changes to give new opportunities and offer these moments to local riders making the series even bigger than before. Attributing points in Qualifying will open the Championship, while they will only count toward the Championship and not the GP itself, we are convinced that these updates will make the season even more attractive. There is also no better place to begin the season than in Villa La Angostura as it is a very special and magnificent location. Every rider is also very excited about this track and venue. This will be a fantastic start and what Infront Moto Racing has prepared for the season in different locations around the world means that we are alive more than ever. I would like to thank Infront Moto Racing and the collaboration that always goes both ways and I also would like to congratulate David Eli, the organizer of the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina to put up an event like that, at this level, the amount of work from this group of people is incredible. I wish you all the best for the season, I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic”.

Organizer of the MXGP of Patagonia – Argentina David Eli: “I wish to welcome everyone for the 7^th Edition of the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina. Thanks to Infront Moto Racing and the FIM for the trust they have in us which makes us able to continue to organise this magnificent event. This is a magic place and there is always so much atmosphere which show how much people here in Argentina love this race. I wish all the best to everybody for being here and we will do our best for everyone to continue to enjoy motocross, hopefully we will continue this partnership for long time.”

The opening press conference then continued with a special riders presentation featuring RedBull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, RedBull GasGas Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre, as well as Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and MRT Racing Team’s Ben Watson along with vice MX2 World Champion Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen, and Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Tom Guyon.

Following the press conference, the usual FIM briefing took place with the Team Managers of the Motocross World Championship teams, to go through the new rules and regulations for the upcoming season.

The day ended with the amazing event held in the city centre of Villa La Angostura where the crowd was so excited to meet the MXGP and MX2 riders, with the Monster Girls joining the party and the Monster Athletes for a sensational atmosphere full of local spectators. To add to the joyful moment there was also a free style show that kept the fans excited. Legendary guests Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli also joined the festivities to take photos and make autographs which only added to the effervescence present in the town.

Now with the opening events complete, fans super excited, riders will now focus on tomorrow’s RAM Qualifying Races to kickstart this thrilling season!

Click HERE to watch the Welcome Press Conference while clicking HERE you can watch the Opening Press Conference featuring MXGP and MX2 riders.

Copyright photos: Lucas Bylo – MXGP

TIMETABLE (Local Timing UTC-3)

SATURDAY: 10:45 MX2 Free Practice, 11:15 MXGP OAT Free Practice, 12:10 MXGP Wildcard Free/Qualifying Practice 13:20 MX2 Time Practice, 14:00 MXGP OAT Time Practice, 15:25 MX2 Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP Qualifying Race.

SUNDAY: 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.

GP of PATAGONIA-ARGENTINA 2023 – Kick-Starts the Season

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