With the MXGP of Australia, held at the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex in Darwin this weekend already being a huge success, with a magnificent motocross circuit a large crowd and great weather, this round looks like it will be a permanent stop for many years to come.

Infront, the promoters of the MXGP series has always seen starting outside of Europe and ending outside of Europe as an important part of this series being a real world series and not a european series.

We sat down with Infront Motorsport CEO David Luongo to talk about this weekend and what this race means to the world of motocross. Exciting times for the sport as this new facility will without doubt be not just a boost for MXGP, but also for Australian motocross racing.

MXLarge: Obviously, we have here a very exciting and special end to the 2025 MXGP series. When you started negotiations with this group to run the Australian MXGP round, could you have expected it would be so big and run so well?

Luongo: You know Geoff, when I first began meeting with Northern Territory Major Events in Australia, for this event, we had the meeting in this very room, and we were looking where they wanted to build the track and where we would design it, using all the facilities here. I was really sure; it would be a great event. People ask the question, why did we come here and not to Sydney or Melbourne or one of the other cities. I will tell you, because the attention we got here, to work with the authorities to make this event happen, I knew it would be like this. With not only building the track, or the facility, but the advertising for the event, with promotion, the hotels, the availability of the people, if we needed anything, it was there. I knew from the very first moments, that this event would be organized well and like we see it has been organized as good as anything we have in the series. The result is just fantastic. It is a beautiful track, one of the best ever, a beautiful facility and a great final of the MXGP, MX2 and Women’s world championships. I think we will come back here for many years, and it is a great start to rewrite the history of MXGP and Australia.

MXLarge: I remember when we arrived in Qatar, it was also a very special place to visit, with the organizers doing everything to make it a special event, really professional and something very different to what we get at a “normal” round of a Grand Prix. We have that excitement here, that this isn’t just a normal round.

Luongo: It is a world championship and Formula One ends in Abu Dhabi, and we have an organizer who wants to give us a fantastic final to the world championship. We are expect to have around 30,000 people over the two days, so the Australian fans answered the call, and it was worth coming here and if the final is here for the next five years, we come here with pleasure. The teams have great working conditions, and we have all the titles still to be won. I think it is a good combination.

MXLarge: While this is the facility and organizers for the next five years, as is in the contract, I can imagine with it being a big success and a large crowd coming, that maybe other states of Australia will also show more interest in running rounds of the world championships?

Luongo: Clearly, with this race it is clear Australia is a motor racing country and off-road motorcycle racing is important here. You know, Australia is the second biggest market for off-road motorcycles. They have the bikes, the fans and the racers, as we see Australian racers racing around the world. I think after all these years, we needed to come back and put the MXGP flag on the country and you can see we will have a long history with Australia and MXGP.

MXLarge: Obviously you cannot talk about the calendar yet (the 2026 calendar will be presented next week), but I understand we will be starting outside of Europe in 2026 and end here in Australia, so two major international cities bookending the 2026 season. Can you tell us anything about 2026?

Luongo: We will have the calendar coming out next week and we will start outside of Europe as the weather isn’t good in Europe early in the year. To go to places the weather is better is important and then ending the season here, with this race linked to our other Asian races. You will know more next week with the provisional calendar.