In a little over a weeks time, one of the most historical circuits in our sport will once again burst into life as the best motocross riders in the World take the toughest challenge in their season. The deep, dark sand of Lommel is awaiting them.

Lommel promoter Johan Boonen might not be a familiar name with a lot of the current young fans, but the roots of that dark sand circuit in the centre of Belgium is a part of the Boonen family’s history, right back to the 1960’s.

As a former Grand Prix racer Boonen knew that Lommel, like Namur before it, was the most important circuit in Belgium, and its existence was critical for the future of this great motocross nations survival.

“You know,” Boonen said. “The biggest thing, I am born in Lommel, and a long time ago we had a track in our garden. Then my grandfather decided to build a track in Lommel, and he got a piece of land in an area were there were no houses or anything, nobody lived in that area and that is how the track in Lommel exists. My grandfather was the first owner of the Lommel circuit. In the 1980s there was the Motocross des Nations, and my grandfather organized the first Motocross of Nations in Lommel in 1981”.

Of course, the circuit got another crack at the MXoN in 2012, but there was a period after the 2012 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations that Lommel was in danger of disappearing from the MXGP calendar, Boonen though wasn’t having any of that. He remembered his families hard work to make the circuit significant on the World scene and he knew he had to talk with Infront Moto Racing to make sure the circuit wasn’t lost to the sport.

“It is because we have the heart for motocross. It was nice to think my grandfather did it and my father used to fix the Lommel circuit every Saturday morning and it was a lot of family history”.

Boonen, who won the Grand Prix of Belgium when it was run at the Namur circuit is personally involved in the folklore of Belgian motocross and his win at the famous Namur circuit is something he cherishes. The circuit has celebrated the passing of its former World champion and promoter Eric Geboers, and it has also fought for survival, in a country, where the government seems to have forgotten the sports historical past.

“For me, it was an emotional day. When I was a kid, I was always standing somewhere around the Namur circuit, and I remember the days of the factory Honda’s, or Andre Malherbe, Graham Noyce, Dave Thorpe and Eric Geboers. Those bikes made such an unbelievable noise when they would arrive at the bottom of the circuit and hit the tarmac. My Husqvarna broke a lot in 1995, but I was able to win Namur that year and that was very special. My bike broke six out of 10 GPs, but that year in Namur my bike stayed together, and I won.”

Now, in 2024 and more than 60 years after his grandfather organized those early days of Lommel, Johan Boonen will stand alongside the circuit once again as the promoter, and the importance of this circuit staying on the MXGP calendar is not forgotten by names like Everts, Smets, Bervoets, and Boonen.