The iconic Miravalle circuit in Montevarchi has hosted a Motocross Grand Prix around 10 times in its history. Instead of an annual fixture, it has served as an occasional, "old-school" throwback venue and no doubt, many of the old school paddock people will enjoy returning, even though, many wonder who this old lady will look, compared to some of the updated circuits of this current era.

Geoff Meyer story and image

The circuit held world-class championship races, including a notable 500cc Grand Prix in 1985 with Dave Thorpe winning the GP. It was the final round of the championship, and the British legend went 1-1, beating home George Jobe who scored 2-2 results and Kurt Nicoll, who finished with 4-3 scores.

Andrea Malherbe won the championship with his fourth-place finish of 3-4. The legendary Belgian finished with 370 points, with Jobe second with 359 points and third was Thorpe with 349 points.

In 1980 the Miravalle circuit hosted a round of the 125cc championship, with Italian legend, Michelle Rinaldi winning , while in 1990, it was American legend, Donny Schmit who won and in 1999, the circuit again hosted a 125cc round and this time, it was David Vuillemin who got the win.

In the 250cc class, Stefan Everts won at Montevarchi in 1994, and Sebastien Tortelli won there in 1998. The circuit returned to this old school circuit, with Stefan Everts and Joel Smets winning there in 2003, Everts in the MXGP and MX2 class and Smets in the 650cc class. In 2006 Everts took the Italian Grand Prix in front of 26,000 fans at Montevarchi. Everts went 1-1 for the win. David Philippaerts won the MX2 class on that day.

Of course, the circuit also runs many rounds of the Internazionali d'Italia, and Tim Gajser has won there on two occasions, in 2021 and 2026. Now, after a 20-year wait, Montevarchi is back with the 2026 Italian GP.

Everts Double at Montevachi

For many of us, who have been covering the Grand Prix series for a number of years, that 2003 event was a historical one. Having been handily beaten by Mickeal Pichon in the early rounds of the MX1 championship, Stefan Everts decided he needed to loosen up better for the 450 class, thus decided to race the MX2 championship before hand. With the single moto format in effect, it seemed more than possible, but still a major step in his 2003 championship victory.

Everts had mentioned the previous season, that he would like to ride a 125 GP race aboard a YZ250F, and decided to make it happen in Italy. Everts had the fastest lap in the 125 qualifying-session Saturday and would no doubt teach the young guns in the class a lesson.

As expected, Everts grabbed the holeshot, pulled away, and easily won the race in front of Steve Ramon and reigning 125 champion Mickael Maschio. After the race, Everts said, “The 125 race was a good training for me for the following MXGP race. I tried some different lines to find the fastest and so it was a good preparation!” Talk about giving the 125 class a stomping!

Then it was less than an hour before Everts started the MXGP race, but Stefan did not appear winded at all. Again, Everts took the holeshot and never looked back. Where were Mickael Pichon? Mickael was in the third position after the start but fell down when Claudio Federici crashed in front of him. The crash resulted in a damaged exhaust pipe for Pichon, who ended up in fourth. Joel Smets was second, with Claudio Federici 3rd.