The 2022 Motocross World Championship MXGP, organized by the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Turkish Motorcycling Federation (TMF), will return to central Turkey's Afyonkarahisar this September.
The event, 2022 MXGP of Turkey, was unveiled in a meet-the-press program held at the host city on Wednesday.
The unveiling program was attended by Afyonkarahisar Governor Kübra Güran Yiğitbaşi, City Mayor Mehmet Zeybek and TMF head Bekir Yunus Uçar among others.
Held under the auspices of the Turkish Presidency since 2018, backed by the local municipality and the governorship, it will be the 18th leg of the world championship this season.
MXGP of Turkey is scheduled for Sept. 3-4 and will host competitions in four different categories.
Besides the main world championship event, it will also bring the youth World Motorcross Championship or MX2, Women's Motorcross Championship MXW, and the European Motorcross Championship, MXOPEN.
Around 150 riders from 25 teams, including industry leaders Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and KTM, are expected to participate in the championships. FIM head Jorge Viegas will also attend the event this year.
In the build-up to the main event between Aug. 31 to Sept. 5. Afyonkarahisar will also host Turkey's largest motorcycling festival, Türkiye Motofest.
The Motofest is the largest of its kind in Turkey. Besides events for petrolheads, it also organizes different sports and cultural programs, featuring some of Turkey's leading musicians. This year's festival will feature names like Haluk Levent, Koray Avcı, Erol Evgin and Ajda Pekkan.
The 2022 championship and festival will also coincide with Afyonkarahisar's celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Great Offensive, the largest and final military operation of the Turkish War of Independence. The city was one of the stages of the military offensive, led by the founder of the Turkish republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
The MXGP of Turkey and Türkiye Motofest hosted nearly 150,000 spectators and visitors last year and is expecting to push that number over 200,000 this year, said TMF head Uçar.
The main tournament will be broadcast live in 186 countries around the world, reaching a global audience of over 3.5 billion.
The MXGP will be held at the 250,000-square meter Afyonkarahisar Motorsports Complex, located at the heart of the city.