Monaco Wrap-Up & Giuseppe Luongo Interview



Check out the article first for more background info, then check out the four videos where Vital MX talks to the head of Youthstream, Giuseppe Luongo.

Giuseppe Luongo Interview, Part 1
Giuseppe Luongo Interview, Part 2
Giuseppe Luongo Interview, Part 3
Giuseppe Luongo Interview, Part 4

You can click the following link to check out a 28-photo gallery of shots from the FIM Off Road Awards.



Wandering through London’s Heathrow airport last week, I heard a familiar voice yell, “GuyB!” Scanning for the source, I spotted Brendan Lutes and his girlfriend, Cheryl. Brendan and I had worked together at TransWorld Motocross, before parting ways and ending up at our respective web sites. Like me, the duo were on their way to Monte Carlo for the FIM Off Road Awards, where the 2007 FIM Grand Prix and Supermoto Champions would receive their awards at a black-tie dinner. We’d also get a chance to meet longtime motocross promoter, and the head of Youthstream, Giuseppe Luongo. Youthstream is among the parties interested in running the AMA National series…but before we get there, we need to backtrack a bit.

Things got very interesting on the U.S. scene back on September 14th, when AMA President Rob Dingman posted a letter outlining a new plan for the AMA’s racing activities on www.amaproracing.com. There, he talked about the AMA’s changing focus, and he laid out a plan where the AMA to get out of the racing series promotions business, and back to what they do best on the racing side…working as a sanctioning organization. Dingman also noted that they were seeking series promoters for motocross, and other disciplines. Currently, the AMA already has a long-term partner for the Supercross series, with Live Nation. On the National Motocross Series, they’ve been working with the Nation Promoters Group (NPG). According to the info that comes along with all the NPG’s press releases, the NPG, “…comprises 12 individual promoters of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship, presented by FMF, which sanctions outdoor motocross events throughout the United States, and remains the Nation's premier outdoor motocross championship series. NPG's mission is to raise awareness of motocross racing through the production of professional championship racing events nationwide.”

Youthstream is based in Portugal and Monaco, and have a staff of 80 people from 15 different countries. They handle the promotion, marketing, TV, and track preparation for the FIM Grand Prix Motocross series, and the FIM handles the rules and officiating. At last September’s Motocross of Nations at Budds Creek, the AMA had several meetings with Luongo.



Monaco is the second-smallest country in the world, behind Vatican City. This principality is a well-known tax haven, and boasts an insane amount of luxury cars roaming the streets…like the Porsche Carrera GT that we saw parked outside our hotel. The valet stalled it twice, drove up over a small curb, and did the valet’s version of the Walk of Shame back towards us after he’d finally got it parked. Yes, we mostly managed to keep straight faces. Mostly.



Porsche Carerra GT

How about this to cruise around in? There are so many high-digit cars rolling around Monaco that it's easy to get numb to them.



While talking with Wolfgang Srb, President of the FIM Motocross Commission, he explained that working with promotion partners is relatively new for them…at least considering how old the FIM is. Since 1904, the world governing body of motorcycling had mostly been concerned with working with affiliated sanctioning bodies around the world, creating rules to govern the sport, and keeping the racing fair. About ten years ago they began working with promotional partners, first in MotoGP, and then in Superbike and Motocross. As Srb described it, “Youthstream has their garden, and we have ours.”



Wolfgang Srb (left), and Giuseppe Luongo

Wolfgang Srb, and Giuseppe Luongo.

When Youthstream took over the MX GP series, things seemed to get off to a rough start, as one of the first things that they did was to eliminate prize money for the riders, instead opting to use it to help build up the infrastructure…better facilities at the tracks, more areas for sponsors and VIPs, as well as paying more attention to the media.

While there were initially howls of protest regarding the removal of prize money, the current riders seem to have made up the difference (in some cases much more) from sponsors. Youthstream also seems to have done a good job of what they’d sought out to do…increase the amount of TV time for both live and tape delay events, boost sponsorships, and have a more elite program. Things are said to be chugging along nicely now, with larger fields of riders, better-funded teams, added series sponsors, and more TV time.

From Youthstream side, they view the U.S. series as in trouble, with some of the top riders opting for Supercross-only contracts, a number of teams considering not racing the Nationals, and track prep and facilities that aren’t up to their standards. One quote we heard went something along the lines of, “It’s like a very beautiful women, who’s not very well dressed.” They also know that the U.S. market is the biggest in the world, and a strong U.S. series also helps boost interest in the GPs.

But we should all look around and learn what we can from each other. Obviously the AMA has reasons of their own to be looking for a change. Whether they actually want to make a change, or are just looking to motivate the current promoters is unknown.

Has progress been made over the last couple years in the infrastructure of the U.S Nationals? Yes. Is it enough? That depends on who you ask. They have boosted areas for VIP hospitality, sometimes modifying classic features of tracks (like Leach’s Lump and the Chuck Sun jump at Washougal) to make it happen. Unfortunately, that angered fans. Also, while there are additional VIP areas, it pretty much amounts to a shady spot to watch the race along with lunch, and maybe not quite the level of “Grey Poupon-ness” that you find at the Grand Prix events. When you’re looking to entertain high-rolling premium sponsors, the U.S. standards may fall a bit short.

On the GP side, they do like to tout their press facilities. Usually it’s an enclosed room with tables and chairs, wireless Internet, and it stays open until late after the race. Much of the U.S. media is probably happy with what we currently get, which is a shaded (but open) area, occasional shots at a wireless Internet connection, a freebie lunch, and you can work as late as you want after the race…as long as it’s not more than a half-hour or so after the press conference finishes, since the AMA guys will start tearing down the canopy and putting away the tables and chairs. Is that adequate for most of the motocross press? Probably. Is it up-to-standards for local or national media? Maybe…though the Youthstream setup we’ve seen at the last two Motocross of Nations is definitely more impressive.



If the Bentleys, Ferraris, Mercedes, Rolls, and other high-end cars in Monte Carlo are impressive (and they are), they’re quickly put to shame by the superyachts in the harbor. We couldn’t even begin to fathom how much some of these oceangoing mansions would cost. However, we did peek in the window of one real estate office, and note that a very small apartment, with attached kitchen and bathroom, went for 1.6 million Euros (about $2.36 million). But we’d guess that maybe the most important feature of the real estate was the mailbox out front, and the tax-free address attached to it.



Monte Carlo Harbor

The harbor in Monte Carlo houses some of the most over-the-top superyachts that we've ever seen...and are never likely to climb aboard.



One big cultural difference worth noting between the U.S. and Europe are the different levels of racing available. In Europe most countries have their own National series, then there’s a European Championship series that’s a feeder series for the GPs…and finally, the GPs themselves. Here in the U.S., the top riders most often come from the amateur ranks, move directly to the pros, and then they race both motocross and Supercross. Except in France, where the young up and coming riders have followed a steady diet of Bercy Supercrosses over the years, there isn’t much of a calling to race the indoors…though fans do prefer their outdoor tracks to have added features, and not focus quite as much on the natural terrain roots of motocross.

One thing worth noting, however, was that Luongo mentioned that whether Youthstream is selected as the company to run the AMA Nationals or not, he’ll be keeping an eye on how they’re doing. He mentioned a Plan B (and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what Plan A is) where if the Nationals start to falter, he’s suggested creating a larger number of international-style events in the U.S., with top riders from around the world, and calling it something like the American Supercup. Seeing more of the top talent from around the world (rather than just the top three riders from each country, like we see in the MXoN), could be extremely interesting.

Luongo also mentioned that Youthstream is currently in negotiations for a Grand Prix in the U.S. in 2009, and they’re looking to have the Motocross of Nations return to the U.S. every three to four years.

Now we wait and see exactly how the AMA works out their solution to this, and how they select their series promoter. So where do we stand now? And what’s the timeline for resolution on this? Well, any group who enters into the bid process for the rights to the U.S. National Series is subject to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, so any future news will most likely be coming from the AMA, and we haven’t heard of any deadline for an announcement.

And of course, this is just one side of the story. We’d expect that there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and that the NPG has their own version of what’s happening.



If you ever get a chance to visit Monte Carlo, here are a couple tips. You can walk nearly the entire Monaco GP FI circuit, but there are a couple sections that are pretty pedestrian-unfriendly. Our suggestion? Grab a cab.

The National Museum is very interesting, if you’re into old dolls, but you’ll learn nothing about the country of Monaco, and by the time we left, we were joking that it should be named the National Museum of Creepy Clowns.



Brasserie

A photo from a brasserie near the famed Monte Carlo Casino.

As odd as the National Museum was, the National Oceanographic Museum was extremely cool. And if we get another chance to go back, we’d probably spend more time checking out the palace as well.

If you’re planning on hitting any of Monte Carlo’s famous casinos, plan on dressing up. They’re definitely not Vegas-casual, and many require a jacket an tie (minimum) in their dress code.



On Saturday night, over 400 riders, sponsors, family, and friends put on quite the fashion show for the FIM Off Road Awards. The black-tie affair was an awesome example of style…and maybe that’s the biggest difference between the way the U.S. and our European counterparts operate…and it’ll be interesting to see how things turn out…whether it ends up in the NPG’s hands, or moves over to Youthstream.



Michele Rinaldi, Eric Geboers, Jean-Michel Bayle, Giuseppe Luongo, Roger DeCoster, and David Thorpe.

 That's a lot of World Champions (and a lot of moto history) in one place...and a lot of style.



A little taste of Monaco was a good thing, and I appreciate Youthstream hooking Vital MX up with a chance to go. But if you were to take the lyrics to Weezer’s tune, Beverly Hills, and replace the Southern California city’s name with Monte Carlo, that might best describe my time in the land of the über-rich and beautiful. For example…

It's something that you're born into
And I just don't belong

No I don't
I'm just a no-class beat down fool
And I will always be that way
I might as well enjoy my life
And watch the stars play



Now that we’ve laid out the background, it might be worth checking out a couple video interviews with Giuseppe Luongo. In our time talking with him, we found him to be very open, he didn’t shy away from tough questions, and is very passionate about the sport. Check them out for yourself by clicking the links at the top of the article.

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