The Moto Park-X track southeast of Altona underwent some changes this summer to rejuvenate interest among riders.

Last winter the park applied for a grant through RM of Rhineland and Town of Altona, and was able to use the funds earlier this year to make drainage upgrades and track flow changes, says Matthew Hildebrand, president of Moto Park-X.

"Drainage upgrades were needed because as you know Manitoba weather can be unpredictable, and this would help us if there was a major rain event before a race, or anything like that, and that would just improve the quality of the track and the overall safety for all the riders," he said.

"We did another upgrade about midway through summer. This was just an upgrade to change the track flow and make it new for riders again because it's been the same for quite a few years."

Hildebrand says the track was closed for three weeks for these modifications.

Motocross racing is experiencing a resurgence in the area, Hildebrand said, and so it's the park's responsibilty to resonate with the skill level and interest of riders.

"Over the years it kind of fluctuates. Probably 10 years ago it was really strong, and then it kind of dipped down, and now it's coming back up. There's quite a few younger local riders that are coming up, which is exciting for the track; it's also good to look forward to the future," he said.

"People get bored of the same thing over and over again, so we want to make changes every once in awhile just to keep people interested, and this pulls in riders from all over Manitoba, not just Southern Manitoba."

Moto Park-X is one of seven sanctioned tracks in the Manitoba Motocross Association, according to the Manitoba Motocross website. The park will hold its final race of the season on Sept. 16.