Creative Spark | Vital MX Editorial 7

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere," exclaimed Albert Einstein. This is a chance to embrace the latter portion of that quote and enter a fictional world where anything is possible. Take note of that notion before reading on, as it would be asinine to put too much weight into the theory that follows.

What if there was a way to incorporate the FIM Motocross World Championship into SuperMotocross and create the ultimate three-race showdown? Remember, this is the land of imagination. What is not fictional is the idea that the Grand Prix riders could survive and succeed on the hybrid circuits. This scribe reached out to a handful of the international stars who agreed – even putting so much thought into the idea that they identified time would be lost in Charlotte's rhythm section but gained on the outdoors section (their bike would be more suited to that than those based in the United States).

Chicagoland Speedway would've been even more 'neutral' with no real supercross influence on the infield of that historic facility. Heck, MXGP run races in Turkiye and other obscure nations that feature tracks that have more of a supercross feel. Remember the Nakhonchaisri layout that hosted the Grand Prix of Thailand in 2015? Now that was SuperMotocross. The battlefield would not be an issue in the real world, let alone this imaginary universe, so that is a positive start to this passion project. Einstein was correct: Imagination really does take you everywhere.

The qualification process requires some attention, but what if the FIM Motocross World Championship is used to seed riders in the same way that Monster Energy Supercross and Pro Motocross is? The promoters would have to pivot to make room, so extract the top ten from the United States and top ten from Grands Prix to form an initial line-up. Such a format would serve an important purpose – elite riders would fail to make the cut and therefore the elimination zone would be a real discussion point for eight months of the year. It is currently a nonevent with no riders of note removed from proceedings.

Taking the top ten from each class would solve the budgeting issues that so many Grand Prix teams face, as all but one or two of the SuperMotocross qualifiers would be on full-factory squads and therefore trips across the Atlantic wouldn't be a cause for concern. The FIM Motocross World Championship would have to conclude a little earlier than what is considered the norm, but let's hold their finale on the last weekend of August to keep it in line with Pro Motocross. September will now be reserved for SuperMotocross and the Motocross of Nations.

Think about this: If the top ten athletes from Grands Prix are travelling to the United States, those excluded would be able to tackle the respective national championships and have an impact elsewhere. That would therefore boost the health of this sport on each continent. Promoters of the national series could start to plan for this to extract the most from whatever situation arises. Another perk of such a format is that the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations could have a permanent date of the final weekend in September – that would help teams and fans alike with planning.

Circle back to the qualification format and there's an obvious problem: Taking the top ten from each class would effectively eliminate the privateers and stop them from claiming a pool of cash. There could be two reactions to this. One would be that this is a professional sport and so the best will always prosper – to take advantage of the prize then one must get better. The more compassionate view would be to separate a chunk of the prize money and pump it into some sort of support race. The passion for the 'little man' is one of the beauties of this sport, but it is also so unique at the world's highest level.

This is all speculative, of course, but is it odd to claim that there could be a slimmer of hope that something of this nature could materialize? The Grand Prix stars who have opened the door to the land of imagination seem motivated by the concept, then consider that the world's most poignant promoters (MX Sports Pro Racing, Feld Entertainment and Infront Moto Racing) are communicating on a bi-weekly basis and it seems like imagination could truly take us everywhere.