There will be thousands of motocross fans heading to the circuit of Lommel at the end of July and the best motocross riders in the world come together for the always exciting Grand Prix of Belgium. Will it be for a simple GP in three weeks of motocross mayhem? 

What a history this circuit and country has, and without question Belgium is the proudest motocross nation in the world. Names like Joel Robert, Roger DeCoster, Harry Everts, Georges Jobe, Eric Geboers, Joel Smets and Stefan Everts are the magnificent seven. Seven riders with a total of 40 motocross world championships. Staggering statistics from seven legends.

Of course, Eric Geboers, who brought Lommel back to the GP calendar passed away a couple of years ago, and not seeing Eric at this event will always be sad for everyone involved. A tribute to the rider known as “The Kid” will be done every year, but as great as that is, it won’t bring our legend back to us, and that is very sad for all motocross fans.

Lommel also has a pretty impressive history, good and bad. It was the place Team USA started their domination of the sport when Johnny O’mara, Chuck Sun, Danny Laporte and Donny Hansen won the Trophée des Nations in 1981, the first such victory by an American team. The riders in red, white and blue shocked the motocross world on that sunny day in Belgium and Harry Everts remembers it well.

“We never expected it,” Harry Everts a member of the beaten Belgian team said. “In practice we thought they can’t run that pace for the races on Sunday, but they did. They were on another level to us that day.”

Lommel was also the place the American domination ended when Team Germany won the MXoN in 2012 and showed that the European riders had passed the Americans in speed.

Since the Belgian Grand Prix has returned to Lommel (after Namur had dominated the Belgian GP schedule for many years) we have seen stunning victories by Gert Krestinov, Jonathan Barragan, Ken De Dycker, Marvin Musquin, Antonio Cairoli, Ken Roczen, Jeffrey Herlings.

Of course in 2012 Lommel held the MXoN and didn’t run a Grand Prix, and for a few years the Grand Prix of Belgium had headed down to Bastogne for the GP. Everyone was excited to see the deep sand of Lommel back on the schedule and a massive crowd is always expected. For most riders this is a home Grand Prix as a large section of the MXGP and MX2 riders live close to the Belgian facility and use Lommel as their regular practice track.