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MXGP SBK BLOG<br />
TITULAR TITULAR<br />
BUILD IT...AND WILL THEY COME?<br />
The announcement that the 2020 Grand Prix of<br />
Spain will take place at a brand-new ‘build’ 20km<br />
from the centre of Madrid came as a small<br />
surprise…but also in this era of modern MXGP<br />
and twenty-race schedules it wasn’t a big shock.<br />
The intu Xanadú – Arroyomolinos<br />
circuit (a mouthful,<br />
even for a Spaniard) is one of<br />
three unseen and debutant facilities<br />
for 2020. There could<br />
be a fourth if the second ever<br />
Grand Prix of China relocates<br />
somewhere else from Shanghai,<br />
and you’d also like to<br />
think that any alarms over epidemics<br />
will have long disappeared<br />
by the time MXGP has<br />
to jet east for the penultimate<br />
fixture in mid-September. Intu<br />
(let’s just shorten it for a moment)<br />
along with the KymiRing<br />
and Jakarta are fresh<br />
creations for MXGP and join<br />
a track record with a varying<br />
degree of success.<br />
Spain is a good example of<br />
a country that should have<br />
a Grand Prix…but somehow<br />
has struggled to make it<br />
happen on a consistent basis.<br />
Bellpuig in Catalunya was a<br />
stable home from 1994 up<br />
until 2012 and through peaks<br />
and troughs in terms of attendance.<br />
Local government<br />
support was key, and the<br />
sports ministry even helped<br />
chip-in almost a million euros<br />
around the start of the century<br />
to allow the permanent circuit<br />
to overhaul and upgrade<br />
infrastructure. The erosion of<br />
this backing, a lack of domestic<br />
stars after the retirement<br />
of Javier Garcia Vico (a larger<br />
than life character if there<br />
ever was one) and Jonathan<br />
Barragan, and small crowds<br />
pushed the club out of the<br />
world championship picture.<br />
Short-term attempts at Leon<br />
(a terrible venue) and Red<br />
Sand and intermittent visits<br />
to Talavera de la Reina were<br />
frustratingly unstable. Talavera<br />
is a historic racetrack and<br />
the definition of old-school<br />
with its incessant climbs,<br />
drops and narrow layout but<br />
far too compact to wedge<br />
MXGP and all the EMX circus<br />
into the surrounds. There was<br />
also a sense that the bikes<br />
had outgrown the course with<br />
a set of processional and uninteresting<br />
motos limited by<br />
frugal passing places.<br />
So, bolstered with a double<br />
world champion and a sub-<br />
20 year old athlete who is<br />
making noises of a Grand<br />
Prix future (as opposed to an<br />
teenager eager to escape to<br />
supercross) the momentum<br />
and desire to push MXGP<br />
back into consciousness continues.<br />
Therefore why the new<br />
circuit instead of a search<br />
to adapt one of the many in<br />
Spain? Why not pick up the<br />
phone to a GP-ready installation<br />
like Bellpuig? The first<br />
answer seems to be in the<br />
coffers supposedly offered by<br />
the Comunidad de Madrid as
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