The annual FIM Motocross of Nations event shall be held in Budds Creek , Maryland, USA this September 23, 2007. The last time this event was held in the USA was 20 years ago , so this event promises to be a big one !

The Motocross of Nations is the premier motocross event sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and features an annual competition among National teams fielded by many of the FIM’s affiliated federations. Established in post-war Europe in 1947, the famed event has run uninterrupted since that time.

The 61st renewal of the world’s longest-running motocross championship will be held September 22-23, 2007, in scenic Southern Maryland, at Budds Creek Motocross Park. This will mark just the fourth time in all those years that the Motocross of Nations has ventured beyond Europe…the others were New York State in 1987, Western Australia in 1992 and tropical Brazil in 1999.

The Motocross of Nations is governed by the FIM, which in turn has contracted the marketing, promotion and broadcast rights for the event to the Portuguese-based company Youthstream, headed by President Giuseppe Luongo. Youthstream is also the FIM’s Contract Partner for the World Individual Motocross Championships, the World Supermoto Championships and the World Snowcross Championships. The event carries the sanction of both the FIM and the FIM’s exclusive American affiliate, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

The Motocross of Nations typically attracts teams from about 30 nations and six continents. The most successful nations in Motocross of Nations history have been the United States, Great Britain and Belgium, with 17, 16 and 14 victories respectively. The significance of the Motocross of Nations and its prominent place in the sport’s history cannot be denied, and students of the sport recognize it as the single most prestigious race in the motocross world. As motocross and its popular spin-off discipline of Supercross matured into important commercial properties in the 1990s, however, the Motocross of Nations struggled to keep pace.

Team USA won the 2000 event, held in St. Jean d’Angely, France, but the terrorist attacks of September, 2001, meant that America would not defend its title the next fall. Fifteen years had passed since the race had been held in America, and a triumphant return of the 2002 Motocross of Nations was planned in Southern California. Triumph turned to disaster, however, as the promotion ran afoul of legal and organizational problems and was canceled. The event was saved with an 11th-hour relocation to Spain, but Team USA did not make the trip and the prestige of the Motocross of Nations took a serious blow.

Youthstream acquired the promotional rights to the event a year later, and immediately focused on expansion of the world grand series outside of Europe and improvement of the series’ global television package. Grand Prix events were established in South Africa and Japan in 2004 and 2005, and significant progress was made in television coverage for FIM motocross.

Attention was then turned to the venerable Motocross of Nations, which despite showing its age in recent years had continued to command the enthusiastic attention of fans outside the USA and widespread support from FIM federations and the motocross industry. The sport’s most venerable and unique event – and the world’s only motocross competition for national teams featuring the sport’s greatest names – would not be abandoned.

The Motocross of Nations again found its stride in 2005 and 2006 with hugely successful promotions in Ernee, France, and Matterley Basin, England. It will arrive on American shores in September of 2007 for the first time in 20 years, riding a wave of interest unequaled in many years.

According to most observers, the 2006 Motocross of Nations near Winchester, England, drew the largest live audience to any outdoor motocross event in several decades. The enthusiastic audience was treated to a spirited battle between AMA Team USA and Team Belgium that figures to continue into the 2007 renewal.

The Philippine Team under the auspices of NAMSSA is doing all efforts in order to field the Philippine Team to the event, to let the people of the world know that in the Philipines we local the sports of motocross too ! If you are interested to be a patron to the Philippine Team and support their entry please pledge your entries to namssa01@hotmail.com