The Calendar - Highlights

Posted on November 18, 2021

When the 2022 provisional calendar was announced yesterday at 6pm European time last night, there wasn’t too many surprises on the schedule. Being on holidays in Puket, Thailand, I sat and watched as the clock on MXGP.com clicked down and at midnight here the calendar appeared.

I think we all love to see the new calendar and what tracks appear. We have some new ones in Argentina, possible Omen (to be added or not), also Jakarta and Finland. How cool is it to have two in France, because we all know, the French put on a show and are not scared to come in numbers.

Starting at Matterley Basin is brilliant for the series and as we have seen in the past, it seems Matterley will on most occasions deliver great weather, so here is hoping for a dry February. I love that we start on the 20^th, so just three months before we have to wait until these magical men on their flying machines return to the track.

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As I have already mentioned, it is hard to think it won’t be the same story in 2022 with a huge battle between Herlings Febvre and Gajser and maybe a little older and stronger Jorge Prado joining the group, plus as we saw at the backend of 2021, a fit and healthy Jeremy Seewer returning to the group.

While Matterley is the beginning, there are still rumours that Oman might fill that spot and I for one hope so. As much as I love the idea of starting at Matterley, I do miss those races in the warmer weather in February and that feeling of the whole paddock being together, like one big holiday group. A short holiday before and after and Oman seems like a great place to begin the 2022 journey. Floods in Omen seem to be the problem at the moment and what eventually happens there, we just have to wait and see.

What else I love about a new calendar is deciding which races to attend. Having been a motocross fan since the early 1970’s and a full-time media guy since the 1980s, I don’t travel to all the GPs anymore, I just can’t handle that travel week in and week out, so picking out the countries I like, or the circuits I enjoy is always fun. I am all booked up for the first four (although round three is still a mystery for many of you, we the insiders have a good idea where it will be).

Argentina seems it might have a different location, which on one side is disappointing, as the Patagonia circuit is one of the best in the World, but something new is always good and we know that the Argentine promoters do a brilliant job no matter where we end up. Heading to Argentina and Buenos Aires is really a special time of the year and of course, great weather.

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Oss is just up the road from my house, so that is a given to attend and I really loved that little circuit this year. Brought back memories of when I first came to Europe in the 1980s to attend races. I also love Kegums in Latvia and the beautiful city of Riga. Still trying to decide which couple I attend in the middle, with Russia not on my to do list, although Sardinia or Spain have something special in my mind. France and Germany are at the old school circuits or Ernee and Teutschenthal and having been to these two circuits a number of times, are not really that exciting for me, but for the series two stable facilities with good crowd attendance, so a good chance for our old school fans to attend.

Jakarta and Semarang in Indonesia I love, and these will be two of my favourite rounds. The Semarang event has been brilliant in the past, with a really nicely made Greg Atkins circuit and with a stop in Bali between the two rounds and that tropical weather, I just love the whole vibe from our Asian fly-aways.

Again, Loket an old school circuit and I have had some magical and forgettable nights there, so might skip that one, but I try never to miss Lommel. Apart from being just an hour and a half from home, and the history of the circuit makes this one a must, then we have Sweden and Finland, before heading to Turkey.

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Now the Turkish race I hadn’t attended until this year, and it is without question a favourite on my list how. Just a brilliant feel about this race and without question it has a fly-away vibe about it. The Turks put on a great show and really welcome us with open arms, I just love it. With the final round TBA I won’t know if I attend this race or not, then of course, a stop in USA and Redbud. Now while everyone raved about Redbud a couple of years ago, man, I didn’t enjoy myself.

Rental car stuck in the waterlogged B parking for three days a visit to the Alpinestars medical semi-trailer to find my blood pressure was way over the top (stress from the rental car no doubt) and finally getting the renta pulled out on Sunday (between motos) was a pain in the ass. I am not a fan of muddy races, and they don’t come much muddier than this one was. I look forward to going back and seeing how good this circuit really is and of course our boys hammering the yanks again on their home turf, which is a given.

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