SMX press conference quotes

A press conference that featured all the people that are making the first ever Monster Energy SMX Riders’ and Manufacturers’ Cup possible, Youthstream President Mr. Giuseppe Luongo and FIM Europe President Dr. Wolfgang Srb, and of course, the six manufacturers’ KTM, Husqvarna, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki, and their riders, has set the wheels in motion for what is bound to be a great night of racing here at the VELTINS-Arena, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Mr. Giuseppe Luongo got the ball rolling with some insight to his vision, “First of all thanks to the manufacturers’ for believing in this project, and thanks to FIM Europe for believing in this project too.” He said, “Before we got here to the VELTINS-Arena I’ve heard the word supercross a lot. I need to be clear, we don’t want to make a supercross. It’s different. It’s super motocross. What does that mean? We want to create an event where a supercross rider and a MXGP rider have an equal chance. We know that a top supercross rider will probably struggle to compete at the top level in MXGP, and the same for the MXGP riders when they go to supercross, so we wanted to create a race where the two worlds meet.”

“The same manufacturers compete in both motocross and supercross, so the event is for them too. It’s also for the riders, to create something new and fun, and also for the fans where they can see the top supercross riders and the top MXGP rider’s meet with an equal chance, because if we created a supercross track, of course the supercross rider will most likely win, and the same when we create a classic MXGP track, then the MXGP rider will most likely win, so we wanted to make something in the middle. I think it will be great race with many top riders, many world champions and a nice format similar to the Motocross of Nations.”

Dr. Wolfgang Srb said, “We’ve had a really good partnership with Youthstream and we wanted to be a part of this great event inside this fantastic stadium for this unique event.” While Mr. Luongo wrapped up the message from his side saying, “This race will be broadcasted world-wide, millions of people will watch it all over the world on different channels. This alone adds to the success of the event which starts with the quality of riders we have, and then with coverage we are receiving world wide, just like the Motocross of Nations, is unbelievable.”
Following the word from the officials, the teams were bought to the stage one by one where a few questions were asked to some of the start. KTM were the first up with Team Manager Mr. Roger De Coster and riders Ryan Dungey, Marvin Musquin, Jeffrey Herlings and Jorge Prado.

 “From my side I always love the competition between the top European riders and the top American riders, it’s kind of like The Nations and The Nations has always been my favorite event of the year, so this is kind of a mix between motocross and supercross.” De Coster said. “It’s special” Dungey said, “this is my first race back, and it’s in Europe. It’s great to ride with some riders we don’t really communicate with like Prado and Herlings. It’s a unique event and it should be fun.”

“I think we have the strongest team,” said Herlings, “I have two of the strongest riders next to me and with Jorge Prado as the joker, I think we will all go out there and do our best. It’s a team event and we will try to win this as a team.”

Marvin Musquin added, “It’s always good to come back to Europe and see my MXGP family. Today is a special day, for the first time we will race a track that is motocross and supercross combined together. I’m excited to race as a team, like Roger said, it’s like The Nations, which unfortunately I missed this year, but I watched it anyway.”

As for their young fifteen-year-old prodigy Jorge Prado, he said, “I didn’t expect to be the joker for KTM, I’m really happy to be in the same team as these guys and I think I am going to have a lot of fun.”
Honda were up next with their line up of Tim Gajser, Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev, and the Team Manager Mr. Roger Harvey.

 “We don’t know what’s going to come out of it so there is a lot of excitement.” Harvey said, “We’ve got a very strong team, although the guys before us, KTM, are also a very strong team so we are out there to try and see what we can do.” Bobryshev agreed, “For everyone this is exciting, I’m sure it will be a great event, it’s inside a stadium and we have a great team.”

Paulin commented, “It’s going to be different riding on an indoor motocross track, and it’s great to end the season on an awesome track, the dirt is perfect.” While Gajser, who missed The Nations due to injury said, “I’m feeling good, yesterday I was able to try the track already and it’s nice, and I like the motocross indoors so I’m excited to race.”

Husqvarna’s Team Manager Mr. Robert Jonass was joined by Thomas Covington, Zach Osborne and Christophe Charlier with the joker Thomas Kjer Olsen, “We came under a little bit of pressure with Max Nagl and Jason Anderson getting hurt at the Motocross of Nations, but we still have a good team with a supercross rider and a MXGP rider. I’m not sure it’s realistic to say we can win this event, but I think we can podium and that is a realistic goal. I personally like these team events, so I’m excited and the track looks good so I think it will be a good night.”

Zach Osborne followed saying, “It’s good to back in Europe, it was a big part of my young adult life. The track looks nice and it’s always cool to do a team event because it’s something that we don’t really have much of in motocross, so I look forward to having some fun tonight.”

Yamaha’s Romain Febvre, Brent Van Doninck and Yannis Irsuti joined Mr. Alberto Barozzi on stage.  “We are excited to be here at this amazing place and it’s impressive to see a motocross track built in this arena. Sure, we have a really young line-up but the motivation is high.” Barozzi said.

Febvre had a chance to spin a couple of laps yesterday evening, “I had the chance to try the track yesterday with Ryan and Tim.” He said, “I was surprised because the track looks small on the photos but actually it’s ok. I’m excited to go racing and we will do our best to be on the box.”

Suzuki followed with the Team Manager Mr. Stefan Everts, and the three riders, Jeremy Seewer, Jake Weimer and Arminas Jasikonis, “After seeing the preparation here, it looks very promising for tonight’s racing so I am really looking forward to seeing the racing, especially with this rider line-up. Our team is probably not the favorite, although that is probably a good position to be in. I think it will be an interesting night.” Everts said.

Meanwhile, Jake Weimer, who is a relatively fresh face said, “I’ve been over to Europe a few times for a few different events, like The Nations in ’09 and Paris Bercy a couple of times and Genoa, but I’ve never been to Germany, so when I got in touch with Stefan and I got the opportunity, I jumped at it, so I’m looking forward to the night and trying to get Suzuki up as high as we can.”

Last but not least, Kawasaki Team Manager Mr. Steve Gutridge wrapped things up with the green team, Tommy Seale, Vsevolod Brylyakov and Jordi Tixier, “Maybe they would say we are the underdogs,” Gutridge said, “but I have a British Champion, Tommy Searle, and the German Champion Vsevolod Brylyakov and the former MX2 world champion Jordi Tixier, so I think we have a team that can win”

Tommy Searle said, “I didn’t expect the track to be as much motocross as it is, so it’s quite nice actually because I didn’t want to come and endo over a set of whoops right at the end of the season, so that’s nice, track looks nice and I’m looking forward to getting out there tonight.”

Jordi Tixier is also excited, “I’m really excited, and no one knows what to expect. It looks more like a motocross tracks, the dirt looks awesome, a little bit sandy and I’m looking forward to racing here tonight.”

Article: Youthstream