After a ten-year absence the FIM Motocross World Championship has received a friendly welcome in Sugo this week, ahead of the seventh round of the 2005 season on Sunday.
When the FIM appointed Youthstream to take in charge of the development of Motocross World Championship, they assigned the company one main objective: to develop the sport worldwide.
Increasing the development of the TV coverage and bringing the series outside of Europe were part of the plan presented by Giuseppe Luongo and after South Africa last year it’s now time for Japan to host a GP race.
"I think it’s one of the most important steps. We need to bring this championship outside of Europe and Japan is a perfect country for us, most of the main manufacturers are based there and for the credibility, standing and the value of the World Championship it’s so important to be here," explained Wolfgang Srb, president of the FIM Motocross commission.
"It’s the first time in years that we have come to Japan and this event needs to be successful, then it will be easier for all of us in the future. The Japanese manufacturers want to see how is the reaction of the market, spectators, media, and TV and I’m sure that it’s a great opportunity to get more support from them, that’s what we want for the teams.
"On Sunday evening we’ll know more about the future but already the Japanese are surprised by the great TV coverage of the World Championship. We have to give credit to Youthstream for the work they have done in term of television, diffusion and coverage, this is unbelievable and a big achievement. This is what makes our sport bigger, nowadays you need to have great TV coverage.
