The Principality of Monaco, steeped in motorsports history, once again proved the perfect location for the FIM Awards, with tonight’s glittering ceremony declared a huge success for the almost six hundred guests who packed into the beautiful Sporting Monte-Carlo venue. In front of an audience, including representatives from the one hundred and eleven national federations, motorcycling legends, various members of the FIM, championship promoters, manufacturer and team representatives, sponsors and other invited international guests, the 2019 FIM World Champions were duly rewarded for their respective sporting achievements.
During the glamorous ceremony riders from all disciplines were invited to the stage to collect their FIM gold medals, with many having their own individual stories of a season-long battle that required both dedication and determination to eventually reach their ultimate goal. With his brother Marc absent due to recent surgery, Alex Marquez was on hand to collect his FIM Moto2 Grand Prix prize, as was five-time FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea.
Illustrating the diversity amongst the 2019 FIM World Champions the aforementioned two Circuit Racing heroes tonight stood shoulder to shoulder with two motorcycling heroines in the form of six-time FIM Women’s TrialGP World Champion Emma Bristow and newly crowned FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion Courtney Duncan from New Zealand.
Fifteen-year-old Jesper Knudsen from Denmark claiming the FIM Speedway Youth World Championship and Italy’s fourteen-year-old Valerio Lata who secured the FIM 85cc Junior Motocross World Championship were the youngest two riders in attendance this evening. Whilst Bradley Freeman – FIM EnduroGP and E1 World Champion – and Toni Bou – FIM TrialGP and FIM X-Trial World Champion – both collected two gold medals each tonight.
In addition to celebrating the bravery and exploits of the many FIM World Champions, it was also a moment to recognise the work done by others – individuals and organisations – who continue to work tirelessly for the benefit of motorcycling overall, with the presentation of the following four very important FIM Awards.
The FIM Environmental Award was won by Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, whilst it was Motorcycle Clothing Assessment Program – Australasia who collected the FIM Road Safety Award on this occasion. The highly competitive FIM Women in Motorcycling Award, which received eight nominations this year, eventually went to MissBiker – Italy after much deliberation. Finally, the FIM Award for the Future was won by Hobby Sport – Primi Passi FMI – Italy.
Throughout the ceremony, the long list of prizes and awards were presented by a highly decorated group of true motorcycling legends. These included Max Biaggi – FIM Circuit Tacing Legend; Joël Robert – FIM Motocross Legend; Juha Salminen – FIM Enduro Legend; Carmelo Ezpeleta – FIM Promoter Legend; Rob Rasor – FIM Family Legend; and Guy Maitre – FIM Family Legend, who were all recognised for their own contributions.
Both proud and delighted to have hosted this memorable evening, FIM President Jorge Viegas remarked: “ It has been a wonderful night. Having the chance to have all the World Champions together with Promoters and the FIM Family is very special. The riders made huge efforts during the whole season; they are here tonight and we are very happy.“
