The biggest single event in Motocross will take place at Ernee, France, this weekend when no less than 34 teams from around the world descend on the immaculately prepared world championship circuit for the 2005 Motocross of Nations.
And even before a wheel has been turned in anger the event is being tipped as potentially one of the best ever with the return of Team USA, the participation of all the 2005 individual Motocross World Champions, a good weather forecast and (if prevent event ticket sales are anything to go by) a huge crowd.
However, the Motocross of Nations was in a far less healthy state as recently as 2002, when only seventeen teams came to compete in Spain - putting its reputation as 'the Olympic Games of Motocross' in serious doubt.
But since then all the parties concerned - the governing federations, promoters, teams, riders and media - have been working hard to bring the competition back to the highest level. The efforts paid off with Zolder (2003) and Lierop (2004) confirming the resurrection of the oldest FIM International race.
Born in 1947 in the Netherlands - a meeting had been organised in 1946, but it was a tentative outing and the event was called 'Motocross Des Nations' for the first time in 1947 - the 'Nations has a long history and the 2005 edition is as eagerly awaited as any.
After the longest ever season of racing on both sides of the Atlantic - seventeen events for the GP riders and twenty-eight AMA Supercross-Motocross outings for the American based riders - the Motocross of Nations will officially close an exciting season.
Two of the most dominant champions in the history of the sport obtained new titles in 2005 - a ninth for Stefan Everts in the MX1 series, twelfth and thirteenth titles for Ricky Carmichael in the US Supercross and Motocross series - while numerous teenagers including Italian Antonio Cairoli (MX2 World Champion) and American Ivan Tedesco (US 125 Supercross and Motocross Champion) made their mark in the support class.
