Italy is such an important part of our sport. Like Belgium, France, Great Britain, Holland and Germany, Italy is one of the centre pieces of our history. Back in 1957 in the very first year of the FIM Motocross World Championships when Swedish legend Bill Nilsson won at the Imola circuit, a circuit that would hold seven of the first eight Italian 500cc Grand Prix’s.

Many great circuits have been a part of the GP scene, from Gallarate where Torsten Hallman won his first 250 GP in Italy, and the Swede would win five times in that country, at various circuits.

Of course, Maggiora, which first appeared on the GP scene in 1966 when German legend Paul Friedrichs won a 500cc GP has a huge history, with the legendary 1986 Motocross des Nations, and that events return in 2016, not to mention a long list of Grand Prix’s held at that magnificent circuit on the hillside.

We could go on forever, but places like Cingoli, Fermo, Faenza, Montevarchi, and Arco Di Trento have been written in motocross folk-law and will remain great memories for those lucky enough to visit those old school circuits.

This weekend, the MXGP paddock heads to Trentino, a circuit that is rather new (compared to some of the ones mentioned above) to the GP series, but an old school circuit if you ever saw one. Nestled up against the Dolomite Mountain range, the hard packed Crossodrome Ciclamino facility is just beautiful, and atmosphere at that place is just sensational and we ALWAYS get close, fast racing.

Five-time World champion Tim Gajser loves the place and has won on so many occasions, while nine-time world champion Antonio Cairoli, a big fan of racing in his homeland, has also won their five times. He also produced some of his own magic there in 2017 when he completely dominated everyone from the back of the pack. He is back this year, but on a Ducati machine!!

Of course, Gajser won his first ever GP at Trentino in 2015, finishing with 2-1 results, giving Jeffrey Herlings one of his very few real beatings in the MX2 class (Herlings went 1-2). Gajser went on to win the MX2 World championship that year after Jeffrey Herlings crashed out of the series.

We had the triple header in 2021 and of course, drama, crashes and so much more exciting moments as the big three Herlings, Febvre and Gajser went head-to-head.

Jeremy Seewer won the opening GP that year with 1-2, ahead of Gajser, Febvre and Herlings, with Cairoli winning the second one in 2021 ahead of Gajser and Febvre, while Herlings won the final triple header at this old circuit.

The Dutchman finished ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff, Gajser and Febvre. Gajser won in 2022 with 1-1 scores, while Prado won in 2023 with 1-2 and in 2024 it was again Prado, with 3-1 scores.

Who wins in 2025? Maybe Gajser, maybe Herlings, maybe Febvre, maybe Lucas Coenen, or hell, maybe even Antonio Cairoli!!!!! Whatever happens, the Slovenian fans will battle the Italian fans and the vibe around the circuit will be as good as ever. Yes, Trentino is one of the golden weekends of the season.