Tortelli also promotes some celebrity races in Mexico and just last year invited riders such as Stefan Everts and David Vuillemin to his event. Tortelli has gone one step further and will be involved in running the 2012 Grand Prix of Mexico.

It is a huge step for the sport to travel to Mexico as it is one of the larger countries we have never visited. We sat down with Sebastien and asked him about this new venture.

MXlarge: Sebastien, can you explain the race you have in Mexico?

Tortelli: We did one celebrity race out there, but we will do another location, but we will do the celebrity race again with the same track and concept. The Grand Prix will be at a different place. My celebrity race is more lay back and more about having fun. We will continue that again this year with two races and one of them will be at the Grand Prix circuit.

MXlarge: Will the Grand Prix facility be at that venue?

Tortelli: For the Grand Prix it will be a new track, the goal is to have a good infrastructure for it, and we are working with the government of Mexico to make this happen. The location isn’t decided yet, because we want it to be perfect and we want to make sure the track and infrastructure is really good.

MXlarge: Will you be helping with the design of the circuit?

Tortelli: I will probably design most of the track, but Youthstream have also their own track guys and I am sure they will come and make some changes to it. One location we are looking at has a hillside and the other is flat. One is like 2 hours from the beach the other location is like one and a half hours. We are looking at Mexico City as one of the places to fly to or Guadalajara which is also an International Airport.

MXlarge: How much support do you have in Mexico for this event?

Tortelli: It is a government supported event and they want to make sure that their country is seen in a good light and that is the reason that the location has to be really special. They want to be able to show people how good the tourism is in the area of the Grand Prix. Most of the bad areas in Mexico are near the borders, we don’t want to go there. It’s a risk.

MXlarge: What type of crowd attendance have you had at your celebrity events?

Tortelli: The crowd attendance we did around 6000 people at the celebrity race. We have national television, they are already starting to show more motocross on television, so the growing interest in there. The deal is for five years and the goal is to increase the infrastructure and the attendance of the event.

MXlarge: I can imagine the end goal is to have the Motocross of Nations?

Tortelli: Our final goal is the Motocross of Nations. That is our tentative date for 2016.

MXlarge: What makes you excited about being involved in this venture?

Tortelli: I mean I am still involved a lot in the sports in the training side, a lot in America. I am not connected as much now with the Grand Prix, but I have always had a good contact with Giuseppe and the chance to work with him and do a Grand Prix is a big motivation for me. To progress in the sport and improve the market.

MXlarge: How is the quality of the Mexican riders?

Tortelli: There are some good Mexican riders, but not at the level of the Grand Prix riders. The tracks they race on in Mexico are a little scary, with big take offs and small landings and they wonder why they get hurt. So the idea is to grow the sport in Mexico and I am involved with KTM and it’s a big market for them in selling bikes, especially enduro bikes. KTM are very excited about this Grand Prix.

MXlarge: What about interest from sponsors?

Tortelli: We will have outside sponsors, but we can’t mention who that will be just yet. They are different sponsors that are involved outside the sport. The FIM World Motocross Championship will also be only the second World Championship event for Motorsport in Mexico, they have the World Rally Championship, and now the Motocross World Championship and that is very exciting for them.