In what has been a very successful year for the FIM World Motocross Championship with great racing, large crowds and more countries involved in the series making change is never easy, but with support from the Industry and with help from major sponsors like Red Bull, Teka, and Monster Energy the series goes from strength to strength.

We decided to sit down with Mr. Luongo and ask him about the present situation in the World of Motocross.

MXLarge: Giuseppe, obviously we have the Red Bull FIM Motocross of Nations starting in two weeks. Some riders are injured, but the good news is that you were able to get involved and we see Antonio Cairoli and David Philippaerts back in the Italian team. What is your opinion of what is happening in the lead-up to the great race?

Luongo: The Motocross of Nations is the best event in the World and you will always have rider injuries, or like with what happened with Antonio and David, but this we sorted out. We will have a clear message what the riders and teams can have on the shirt and what the Federation can have on the shirt. I mean this was crazy to have the World Champion and the ex World Champion not competing, just because they don’t want the brand on the shirt, I think this is not good. What do the fans want; they want the best riders racing.

MXlarge: Great news for the FIM World Motocross Championship is that Tommy Searle is coming back, Max Anstie is coming back, and there is talk Ben Townley wanted to come back. The market in America is obviously very low at the moment compared to how it was before the World recession, while Europe is really strong at the moment compared to America economy. What is your opinion?

Luongo: I am not excited that they come back, because in my opinion the FIM Motocross World Championship is the biggest, the greatest series in the World. The World Champion is number one in the World. We can all say what is better, or this is better, but we show with our work, that the Motocross World Championship continues to grow and in some places the other Championships are growing, some regress a little because of the World market or the market in their country.

MXlarge: In your opinion why are the World Motocross Championship riders the best in the World?

Luongo: Why is the World Championship rider the best in the World? It’s because they have 15 different tracks, around 15 different countries, 15 different languages, 15 different mentalities, so to win the World Championship you must be able to compete in many different conditions. Some riders win in the sand, some win on hard pack, and now for six or seven years we are trying to make the tracks more difficult, more technical, for this we increase the quality of the rider, our tracks are not flat, they are very bumpy.

MXlarge: The circuit for the World Motocross Championship have really been rough this year, while if you look at the American circuits they are flat and just really fast. How would you describe the circuit in your series?

Luongo: Our tracks have some similarity with the Supercross when we talk about jumps and the waves section. In this way our rider progress. The same as we work very hard in the European Championship, starting with 65cc and 85cc, but especially with the 250 4-stroke in MX2. We work on the 125cc European Championship, and now when you see the speed of the young riders coming from the European Championship to the World Championship these riders are the fastest in the World. So you ask me if I am excited about these riders coming back, but for me it is no surprise.

MXlarge: Are Youth stream getting the respect for the job they are doing. When it all started back in 2004 there were many people who doubted what you wanted to try and do?

Luongo: When we started doing the World Championship many people didn’t believe what we could do and I believe the World Championship continues to grow in the next years. What I don’t think is normal is when people try and compare a National Championship with a World Championship. It’s like Superbike in England, they have a very strong Championship, but it’s not World Superbike. England is the biggest National Championship in Superbike, but it’s not the World Championship.

MXlarge: Is seems like the FIM World Motocross series hasn’t suffered too badly from the World crisis? European based teams like KTM are stronger than ever, the strongest in the World at the moment.

Luongo: Also the market is now leveling out in the whole World. The market used to be very strong in America, and USA was more than double Europe. But now it’s all a little more leveled out. On one hand we continue to work like we do now and we continue to grow. You know despite the big crisis that has touched everybody, you see the last two years we continue to grow.

MXlarge: What about the changes to the 2011 calendar. After the meeting with the teams you decided to make some changes to suit the teams. Can you tell me why you did that?

Luongo: After the meeting in Lommel with the team, the most important things for me are to work in a good atmosphere with everybody. That meeting in Lommel was a very positive meeting, and why was that, because the teams from the biggest team to the smallest team recognized the great job we do, all the good things we have done in Motocross is seen by them. All the teams agree that we need a World Championship that is worldwide; we have riders from all over the World, but to reach this in smaller steps. I wanted to do it faster, but the teams prefer to take it slower. We stay with the agreement to stay with two overseas Grand Prix’s in 2011; we do more the following years, but for now we want to respect their wishes.

MXlarge: But you will still give riders the chance to race both AMA Supercross and FIM World Motocross Championship?

Luongo: Also there are possibilities that some riders will want to do Supercross next year. The teams don’t see the point of having an MX1 rider doing Supercross, so for this we will start the calendar in April and we will start with some dates that will not be in competition for the West Coast Supercross series. We think two or three riders would like to race those races. We will also finish in September with the Motocross of Nations. So we come back a little bit on our original plan, but with some attention for dates free for maybe Roczen or one or two other young riders to do the West Coast races.

MXlarge: Riding going to America from the FIM World Motocross Championship, how do you stand on that?

Luongo: I am not here to restrict riders going to America; I don’t think you can keep riders if they want to go to race in America. The rider, team and manufacture should decide what is best for them.  We know in principle that some riders want to do Supercross. I mean when you see riders like Musquin, Roczen and Herlings, they will be good everywhere, Supercross or Motocross. For this it isn’t good to tell them not to go there. The Supercross is also an FIM race, so it they want to do some Supercross race that is very good. We also want to riders to race the World Motocross Championship because it is bigger and better and we want to keep the riders of course. Also I am very proud when you see riders who come from our series and they are doing very well in America, that is also very nice for us. To have a rider like Pourcel or Rattray winning, it’s the perfect promotion of our Championship.