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Elsinore Grand Prix
November 8, 2018 - November 11, 2018
2018 Lake Elsinore Grand Prix
This is a dirt bike race rooted in tradition. Originally created in the late 1960s. It was brought back for the people to enjoy and celebrate years of dirt bike history.
The Elsinore Grand Prix is a dirt-bike race that takes place in and around the Lake Elsinore area. The annual race is usually held in mid-November. The popularity of the event hit its apex in the late 1960s and early 1970s, drawing the likes of dirt-bike greats such as Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen, to name a few. The race has always been set as an “open” format, meaning anyone can ride; usually only about 200 or so take this event seriously, whereas the rest use it as an opportunity to have fun. In 1971, the documentary movie On Any Sunday by Bruce Brown included scenes from the grand prix.
In the mid-1970s the Elsinore Grand Prix hit a bit of a snag, none of the big riders were participating, and the event was drawing the wrong crowd, mostly violent motorcycle gangs. The race was cancelled indefinitely soon afterwards. In 1996, several dirt-bike riders, with a hint of nostalgia, decided to lobby the city of Lake Elsinore to revive the Grand Prix. Promising that the violent motorcycle gang crowd drawn to the Grand Prix in the 1970s had gone and that dirt-bike motorcycle riding was more of a family event, the city allowed the event to resume on a provisional basis.
In 1973, Honda named its CR250M Elsinore—the first motorcycle designed by Honda for the dirt rather than a modified street bike—after the Elsinore GP race venue.
Now, working together with so many people to build this epic race festival, the future of the Lake Elsinore GP is bright! With everyone’s support moving forward we look to continue the momentum in to 2018 to make this GP grow on to be bigger than ever before! “Making LEGP Great Again!”