Yesterday we spoke to Giuseppe Luongo about this brilliant news that Youthstream and MXSports will work together in building the USGP back to what it used to be back in the 1970’s and 1980s. Today, we spoke to Davey Coombs of MXsports. A long time GP follower, and somebody who will have the power to get the best US riders racing at this years USGP in the south east of USA.
Already it seems the 2017 USGP will be held at the Gatorback circuit in Florida and if I had to guess, the USGP sounds like it’s going to RedBud. Great news for both events, and for sure we will see massive crowds return to the USGP.
Davey, thanks for taking my call, and congratulation on the new working relationship with Youthstream.
Hey Geoff, no problem. I am just about to take David Luongo and Daniele Rizzi to a GNCC race. I am sorry I couldn’t tell you more about what was happening, but as you can imagine there was a lot of moving parts and a lot of things that needed to be worked out. I am very impressed with David and Daniele, and I was not sure when they came over, that they would leave with a USGP and a Motocross of Nations. We have had a wonderful visit from them.
I actually wanted to ask you about that, because I have met David a few times and did an interview with him in Qatar, and he is a very impressive young man. How were the negotiations between yourself and him and Daniele?
I have known Giuseppe for a long time and, you know, there was a time back in 2007 that unbeknown to us we got pitted against each other. When AMA was selling off AMA Pro Racing. Any time you get involved in something like that, it gets into a bidding war and a conflict. Message boards were coming along back then, and everyone in Europe had an opinion and everyone in America had an opinion. It just got messy. There was never really an opportunity to put the past behind us. Giuseppe tried other events with other promoters and never walked with us, for whatever reason. Two days after the Maggiora MXoN last September, there was the news that Glen Helen wouldn’t move forward, then Giuseppe called me out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting to hear from him. Roger De Coster had mentioned that it would be a good idea to have a USGP event in America and I think nobody wants three or four USGP’s, they want one. I think also we want to see the MXoN come back because it’s been nearly a decade since we had one. Roger mentioned to Giuseppe that he should reach out to us and I am not sure Youthstream were even thinking they would come back to America. A lot has changed. A lot of water under the bridge, and I think we have both come to respect what the other is doing. Maybe now was the time to work together. Even as it was happening, Giuseppe was bringing David his son in to make some decisions and get involved. So, he put him in charge of pulling this thing together. I hadn’t met him until this week, and I can tell you, he is an incredibly impressive individual. I look forward to working with him for many years to come. Also, as you know Daniele came up through the press room, and he has a lot of experience and passion. I think they were also happy to see how we do things here and we exchanged a lot of notes. I think they are also excited for this thing to move forward.
Obviously, you have been a fan of Grand Prix motocross since you were a kid. I know when I talk to your friend Eric Johnson he talks about being a child and seeing the Russian riders and all the other Europeans and how exciting that was. How was it for you as a young boy going to a GP and promoting a GP. As a motocross historian and a fan, how does it feel to be putting this into other events, like the AMA Nationals, the GNCC and the Loretta Lynn races.
My first GP was 1975, Copetown, in Canada. It was a 500 GP and I remember seeing Roger DeCoster, Heikki Mikkola, Wolsink and those guys. A lot of people won’t remember, but in 1986, when Giuseppe promoters his first race, the Maggiora Motocross des Nations—well one year later—me and my dad did the USGP at Steel City, a 125cc GP. Then we turned our attention to GNCC, LL, AMA Nationals and the GPs in America went to other places. America has a busy calendar and ever since the early 1990’s it’s hard to get a foothold for a Grand Prix. As you know, we have a 17 round Supercross series and then a 12 round AMA Nationals series. And it doesn’t leave a lot of room. I think Glen Helen to their credit did their best, but it’s hot in California in September. I know it was hard for a lot of people to get out there—I give them credit—but it wasn’t the right fit. Charlotte tried something different, but it didn’t work out financially. When we started revising this thing we said, “Look, we believe it needs to be a traditional motocross facility, and it needs to be in the south east.” We know a lot of our top riders are based in the south east, and it’s a little easier to get them to do a race in their backyard a week after the final National. We found a place and I wish I could tell you now, but we are a couple of weeks away from making it official. I think a lot of people will be happy to see the facility back on the calendar and they used to run an AMA National there back in the day. One thing that is important, the OEMs in America want to see an FIM event over here, but just one. Giuseppe and David really want to see this happen and it is important to the GP series with so many US sponsors like Monster Energy, Parts Unlimited, Fox Racing and so many more. We have a lot of good riders who are well known for the AMA Supercross and AMA Motocross, but there are also a bunch of euro riders like Marvin Musquin, Kenny Roczen and Dylan Ferrandis. I think those guys would love to get out and do a GP. We have been working the phones with KTM, Husqvarna, Honda, and I truly believe we will see 40 riders per class and I believe it will be the cream of MXGP and MX2 and the best American riders also involved. That is what we all want to see. That will make this event a success. Not only for the promoters—Youthstream and MXSports—but for the sport in general.
Is this a big deal to do this for you?
You know, it is a big deal. We have a long-term deal with the AMA, which was also part of the press conference yesterday. We have a long-term deal with AMA Pro Racing and we are not going anywhere. Youthstream also has long term deals and they take big risk going to places like Qatar and Indonesia, but America was a sort of fortress. We will still compete for sponsors, and for talent and we will still see the “our race is better than your race” and sometimes we will be right and sometimes they will be right. We can’t touch places like Matterley Basin and Maggiora, but we have RedBud and we have Unadilla, Mount Morris and we are proud of what we do as well. To bring everyone together for one race—after our series is run, and then you go back to Europe and end your championship—that sounds pretty perfect. Because, I think your series needs to end in Europe. I think you want to win your championship in front of your people. We will have this one race, and I hope it becomes like the Ryder Cup [USA vs Europe golf match up]. I go one step further. We do Loretta Lynn’s, and there is a very viable EMX series in Europe. How awesome would it be to have the 15 best schoolboys from America lining up on 125cc machine, against the likes of Zach Pichon, or Liam Everts and all those young kids you have over there. I think Youthstream would like to see that also. It would be great if it was one of the premier stops in FIM motocross and also shows what we can do over here. We all have a sense of pride, and I think you will see the full arsenal of US promoters working at this event. They might not be promoting the event, but they will be there being involved.
We have been told it’s Gatorback, which is obviously in Florida. Can you mentioned anything about that?
We have mentioned the race will be in the South East, and it will be an old National facility. We want it to be as easy as possible to have this race as close to a lot of the riders as possible. That is all I can say.
The thing you mentioned about the schoolboy riders. Would that be a back-up race for this year?
We want this to happen in September of this year at the USGP. We would like the European schoolboys race it, but there will be a schoolboy’s race with the best American schoolboys, no matter what. That will be a support race to the USGP this year. We will have our best young talent there. All of Florida is like Lommel, everyone is based here. This will be a big local race for a lot of fast American kids and Youthstream would like that, because maybe some young American, or European kid will be discovered. We are in this together and we need to find all the best young riders for this event.
When is the announcement for the MXoN venue for next year, and will the USGP always be held at the same facility?
That is up in the air. Wyn Kern is a very successful promoter. What many people don’t know is Gatorback has the second biggest race in America with the Mini- Olympics. They pack that place, and it’s as big as an outdoor Nationals. He wants to do it this year and Youthstream gave him a really good deal to do it, so he can make a profit right out of the gate. Next year we don’t know, but the negotiations are going so well that when Giuseppe got word that the 2018 MXoN won’t go ahead at it’s original venue and they prefer to run it in 2019, he asked me if I wanted to do it. I told him, “We have our premier facility and we believe they will be ready in 2018.” David (Luongo) did mention it’s happening, but didn’t mention where. I bet you will be there Geoff, it’s probably a track you always wanted to go to.
Well I always wanted to go to Washougal. I don’t think it will be there, but there are many American tracks, like RedBud.
That is a great suggestion, I would say that is at the top of the list, how is that.
This seems to have really cleaned up a lot of the mess between Europe and USA, hasn’t it?
There will always be a friendly rivalry. That is what we do, and that is how we make our events better. I think there will be a very helpful partnership. We want Youthstream to have successful races, and we want to show what we can do. Maybe one day we would love to have the FIM Junior World Cup. My sister runs the GNCC and her husband Jeff wanted to host the ISDE one day. The way to do that is start working with the FIM. The way to do that is via the front door with Youthstream. We will do one GP a year on Labor Day weekend, and I think it will work for everyone. Right now, that promoter is already hard at work for this year’s USGP.
The war between Europe and America can at times get pretty bitter. Do you think this deal will soften that?
Of course, it will. There was a time, and it is frustrating to get on MXlarge and see how the opinion on how much better the MXGP series was. And I am sure for many it was frustrating to go to a Vitalmx, and see their opinion was that American motocross was so much better than in Europe. As a promoter, that stuff hurts. Because you work your ass off, and you get criticized. I think we are all just happy that we are working together, and I think David Luongo said it best, “Our worry isn’t each other, but the fact so many young kids are not riding motocross bikes anymore.” We compete against soccer and baseball, and computer games. That is the biggest problem. Not a petty rivalry on who wins the des Nations. That is just fun, bench racing, but the serious work we need to do together.
