EMX125

MONACO (Principality of Monaco) 5 April 2023 – The FIM Motocross World Championship third round is coming back to Switzerland after 4 years and it will mark the first stop of the season in Mainland Europe. MXGP is heading to Frauenfeld for the MXGP of Switzerland Presented by iXS on the 8^th and 10^th April, being Easter day of break on the Sunday 9^th. 

The riders will come back to a brand-new circuit at Frauenfeld which will add to the challenge as they will have to adapt to the new design. The Swiss track has hosted the MXGP series three years in a row between 2016 to 2018 and it was pretty successful for KTM in the MXGP class as Antonio Cairoli won in 2016 while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

Along with MXGP and MX2, the supporting classes will also be competing in Switzerland with the second round of the FIM Women's Motocross World Championship and the first round of the season for the FIM Motocross European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF.

In WMX, RFME GASGAS WMX Team’s Daniella Guillen won her first GP of her career in Sardinia with a 2-1 and showing a strong and skilful riding throughout the weekend. Other riders to watch will be the young Lotte Van Drunen who started the season incredibly by winning the first race of the season and finishing second overall while Ceres 71 Racing’s Nancy Van de Ven showed that we can count on her to be competing for the top spot again this year as she finished second in race 2, despite a crash on race 1 and DRT Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan going 4-3 and the third place overall.

In EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing, it will be really open this year with many new riders coming to the category for the first time. This first round will be a good time to get some clues on who will be fighting for the top spots this season.

This season, the circuit of Frauenfeld will be hosting MXGP of Switzerland Presented by iXS for the 4^th time in its history. The last edition was 4 years ago and Jeffrey Herlings was the one who took the victory in front of Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Romain Febvre and Clement Desalle. The Dutchman was on his way to win his first World Title in the MXGP class. 

Coming into the third round of the season, we are already seeing that this season is going to be very competitive with many riders showing great skills and determination throughout the first two rounds. Herlings is coming to Switzerland with plenty of confidence as he won the last GP in Sardinia, winning his 100^th GP along the way. The ‘bullet’ is showing that he is already up to speed after missing the 2022 season and being 2^ndoverall in the Championship standing. 

The Red Plate holder Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado has been riding superbly so far, taking the maximum points in RAM Qualifying Races in Argentina and Sardinia and winning 2 races out of 4, the Spaniard is on a great form and is determined to win his first GP this season. Having won the last edition in Switzerland in MX2 will certainly help him in his quest to keep the Red Plate.

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team’s Glenn Coldenhoff, 2^nd on the last podium in Sardinia with a 5-1 has shown that he is finding his rhythm on his new bike while his teammate Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre, 3^rd and 4^th in the Championships respectively, both showed loads of quality ridings since the season started and will definitely fight for the top spots this season even if they both narrowly missed the podium so far in 2023.

After winning his first GP in Argentina Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez was not at his best during the MXGP of Sardegna as the Spaniard crashed few times and could not find a way to ride back up the ranking order. He will surely look for redemption in Switzerland and be prepared to display a great performance this weekend.

Riding at home this week, Jeremy Seewer from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team is the rider who will want to get back to the top after combining high and lows so far this season with 17-3 in Argentina and 7-6 in Sardinia. The swiss was often fighting for the first places but crashed too many times to remain consistent. Riding in front of his fans could be the perfect opportunity to really kick-start his season.

The other home riders Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Valentin Guillod and JK Racing Yamaha’s Kevin Brumann will be the ones to be carried by the home crowd and could use that to get some great opportunities to score big points. Guillod with two top 20s so far has shown some glimpse of his potential and could capitalise on riding at home while Brumann could really kickstarts his first full MXGP season this weekend at Frauenfeld.
 

Championship Standings

1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 100 points;
2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 93 p.;
3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 78 p. ;
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 78 p. ;
5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 75 p.;
6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 65 p.;
7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 63 p.;
8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 57 p.;
9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 56 p.;
10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 55 p.;

2018 MXGP of Switzerland MXGP Top 3:

1. Jeffrey Herlings
2. Romain Febvre
3. Clement Desalle        

Main Photo: MXGP Start MXGP of Switzerland 2018
Bottom Photos: 1. Jeffrey Herlings, 2. Jeremy Seewer

In 2018, it was Jorge Prado who clinched the victory in Frauenfeld in front of Standing Construct Honda MXGP’s Pauls Jonass and Hunter Lawrence. With none of these riders still present in this category, the 2023 edition of the MXGP of Switzerland will see a new MX2 winner.

The start of the 2023 campaign in MX2 has seen the near total dominance of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts so far. The Belgian won the first 2 GPs with a perfect 1-1 in Argentina and 2-1 in Sardinia, along with topping both RAM Qualifying Races. However, like Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Thibault Benistant fighting with Geerts in Argentina, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf showed his great potential in Sardinia as he went 1-2 and could have been the one to win the GP. Benistant also got to the last step of the podium for the second time this season. This demonstrates that de Wolf and Benistant are up there with Geerts and could be the ones to upset the Belgian’s lead so far.

Just behind the trio are teammates Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Simon Laegenfelder, 4^th and 5^th respectively, who also have shown that they can compete at time with the front three. Adamo is consistent so far with 2^nd place overall in Argentina and 6^th in Sardinia while Laengenfelder improved on his 7^th place on the first round by going 3-7 in Sardinia and getting the 4^thoverall. 

The other riders who could well battling for the top points will be F&H Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Liam Everts who are 6^th, 7^th and 8^th in the Championships respectively and have all found themselves fighting at the top at one point during the first two rounds. They all could use their experience of this beginning of the campaign to find the ways to move up in the Championship standing after Switzerland.

Championship Standings

1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 117 points;
2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 87 p.;
3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 86 p.;
4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 83 p.;
5. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 79 p.;
6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 68 p.;
7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, HUS), 67 p.;
8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 61 p.;
9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 52 p.;
10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 40 p.;

2018 MXGP of Switzerland MX2 Top 3:

1. Jorge Prado
2. Pauls Jonass
3. Hunter Lawrence

Main Photo: MX2 Start MXGP of Switzerland 2018
Bottom Photos: 1. Jago Geerts, 2 Kay de Wolf

TIMETABLE 

SATURDAY: 08:00 EMX125 Free Practice Group 1, 08:25 EMX125 Free Practice Group 2, 08:50 WMX Free Practice, 09:20 EMX125 Qualifying practice Group 1, 09:55 EMX125 Qualifying practice Group 2, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP OAT Free Practice, 12:10 WMX Qualifying Practice, 12:45 MXGP Wildcard Free/Qualifying practice, 13:45 MX2 Time Practice, 14:20 MXGP OAT Time Practice, 15:05 WMX Race 1, 15:45 EMX125 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 RAM Qualifying Race, 17:20 MXGP RAM Qualifying Race.

Monday: 09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX125 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

FIM Europe

Frauenfeld
 

Yamaha Motor Europe is pleased to confirm the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team will field a strong three-rider line-up in 2023, while the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team will field an all-new and potent two-rider line-up for its 2023 EMX125 Championship campaign. Yamaha and Hutten Metaal have retained EMX250 title challenger Andrea Bonacorsi for a third season and are poised to welcome Ivano van Erp and Karlis Reisulis as they step up the Yamaha Racing pyramid. At the same time, Yamaha is excited to welcome Janis Reisulis and Julius Mikula to the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team. All five riders will campaign GYTR-kitted versions of the YZ250F and YZ125 in their respective championships.

Impressive right from the get-go, Bonacorsi has been a force to be reckoned with during his first two seasons with Yamaha inside the highly competitive EMX250 class. The young Italian celebrated two race wins and three podium finishes in his rookie season and added to that with another race win and four pieces of podium silverware, of which one was a maiden overall victory, in 2022. Going into his third consecutive season in the MX2-feeder class, the goal for ‘Bona’ is clear; he is going for the title. 

As a two-time Junior World Champion, having claimed the 65cc World Championship title in 2017 and the 125cc crown this year, Dutch prodigy Van Erp is looking forward to his debut season in EMX250 with the Dutch-based Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team. The 17-year-old talent joins Yamaha’s Official EMX250 squad after five years with Yamaha and three brilliant years with the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team in the EMX125 Championship, in which he celebrated seven stunning race wins and six overall victories aboard a GYTR-kitted YZ125. 

Like Van Erp, K.Reisulis will also move up the Yamaha Racing Pyramid after two incredible years with the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team. In 2021, the Latvian bounced back from a costly pre-season injury to end his first full EMX125 term with two podium finishes. The 16-year-old eventually proved his true potential, starting this year fit and healthy to finish as the EMX125 Championship runner-up after a brilliant race win and five podium finishes. 

All set for an exciting EMX125 campaign, the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team is thrilled to welcome two of Europe’s quickest youngsters, J.Reisulis and Mikula. J.Reisulis, the younger brother of K.Reisulis, has already established himself as a name for the future. The phenomenally talented young Latvian made his EMX125 debut in 2022 and, at the tender age of 13, finished on the podium at round one. He then continued his stunning form throughout the year and ended the season third overall with five podium finishes, which includes a stunning round win in Lommel, Belgium. 

Mikula enjoyed a solid second term inside the EMX125 Championship in 2022, proving his potential with a podium finish in Lommel, Belgium, and a further two top-five finishes during the season. 

Andrea Bonacorsi, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250: “I’m really happy to stay with Yamaha and the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team for a third straight year. I had a really good rookie season with them, which I am proud of, although this year was a bit tougher. The team always supported me through the highs and lows, and I have learned a lot. After these past two seasons, I feel stronger and ready for the challenge of taking the title next season!”

Ivano Van Erp, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 rider: “I have been inside the Yamaha Family for five years, so it feels amazing to stay with Yamaha for another season. It’s always nice to be on the Official team, even more so when you are a rookie. I was already practicing on a YZ250F at the start of this season, so I know I like the bike and I’m looking forward to racing it next year. As a rookie, I will arrive with no expectations. It’s important I take the experience, have fun and enjoy my riding.”

Karlis Reisulis, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 rider: “It sure feels great to stay with Yamaha and to join the Official EMX250 team, which I know operates at a high level. I think it is a great opportunity and a great way to start my EMX250 chapter. After two good years with Yamaha, I have already been riding on a YZ250F, and I love the bike. I will go into next year aiming to qualify at every round and score good points. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Janis Reisulis, MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 Rider: “I am really excited to join Yamaha and the MJC team. It’s a great opportunity for me, and I look forward to the new chapter. I always dreamed of racing a YZ125, so this is a little flex! I’ve done some testing and riding on the bike, and I think my YZ125 is perfect. I enjoy riding it. In 2023, my goal is to win the European Championship and it would be perfect to add a world title to my list of achievements too.”

Julius Mikula, MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 Rider: “I’m very excited to join Yamaha. I look forward to the new experience. It is very motivating, and I already feel good and confident on the YZ125. I want to be top three in the European Championship next year and top three in the world too. The plan of attack is to stay healthy and keep improving.”

Thorsten Lentink, Yamaha Motor Europe MX Racing Coordinator: “2023 will be an exciting year for us inside both EMX250 and EMX125 Championships. We are happy to keep Andrea in blue for another year and have him lead the way with his strength and experience in the EMX250 class for our youngsters, Karlis and Ivano, making a step up the Yamaha Racing Pyramid. It’s always a pleasure to keep talented riders, like these three, within the Yamaha Family. We’re also pleased to strengthen our relationship with Hutten Metaal as it enters its fourth year as our Official EMX250 team.
In the 125 ranks, we have an exciting season ahead as we welcome two very talented youngsters to the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team. Janis, the younger brother of Karlis (Reisulis), is a rider we have watched intently this season and were very impressed with his speed and ability. Despite his young age, he has quickly progressed to the top of the ranks in the EMX125 class and is a hugely exciting prospect for the future. We are also happy to welcome Julius, a rider who has made incredible progress inside the EMX125 class over the past two seasons and a rider that we are confident will continue to grow and develop with our support.”

Fantic Racing is extremely happy to announce the 2023 lineup. 

Tom Guyon will lead the team in the FIM Motocross World Championship MX2; Hakon Osterhagen, Cas Valk and Alexis Fueri will race in the FIM Europe Motocross Championship EMX250, while Elias Escandell and Maximilian Werner in the EMX125.

The cherry on the cake is Lynn Valk riding the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship.

The Team looks very strong and motivated with the same goal and vision: giving their best every day.

Before the start of the season the Fantic Team will work to be ready and sharp for the first gate to drop.

Photo copyrights: Fantic Racing

AFYONKARAHISAR (Turkey) 4^th September 2022 – The annual MXGP Awards celebrated yet another successful season of the FIM Motocross World Championship at the final round at the Bitci MXGP of Turkiye!

Once the chequered flag had fallen for the final time this season and the 2022 World Champions were officially confirmed with gold medals, it was time to begin the festivities with the annual ceremony.

The awards took place in the Moto Festival area at the Afyon circuit, in front of a huge crowd of fans and paddock personnel who joined in on the celebrations, which was the perfect end to a thrilling season of racing.

The MXGP Awards were hosted by the MXGP-TV Commentator Paul Malin and MXGP-TV Presenter Lisa Leyland with the entire event live-streamed worldwide on www.MXGP-TV.com, as well as MXGP’s YouTube channel.

The evening kicked off with a special message from Infront Moto Racing’s CEO David Luongo and FIM President Jorge Viegas who shared a few words about the 2022 season and took the opportunity to congratulate everyone for their efforts.

Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo: “First of all, Thank you all for coming to this fantastic Gran Prix here in Turkiye. Big thanks to the Governor, the Mayor, the Turkish Motorcycling Federation, the Organizer and everybody who made this event possible. This season has been a challenging one, being the first one post-covid. It was amazing to have the overseas back, with Argentina the first one, which was a big symbol and then Indonesia and other events that were missing during the previous two years, like Sweden and Finland. And also having the public back at the races was a very big and important moment. In MXGP, we have a great Champion as Tim Gajser who did not have it easy, with plenty of fast guys behind him pushing to win. And MX2… What can I say? It was incredible. Big Congratulations to Tom but also Jago who pushed hard and gave it his all. This evening it’s great to have all of the Champions with us, including the Junior and European champions, really it’s a full package here to celebrate. Thank you to all of the teams and riders for the support, motocross is a big family and everyone involved works incredibly hard to deliver a great championship like the one we saw again this year. Thank you all, enjoy your evening”.

FIM President Jorge Viegas: “Thank you so much to everyone in Turkiye, my friends, the riders, teams and special thanks to the public. What a better scenery than here, beautiful place and people. We had a wonderful championship which was decided today. We look forward to coming back even better next year. Enjoy your evening with the best riders in the world”.

The Awards ceremony officially began, as the winning teams and manufacturers were presented with their awards. Team HRC and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing received their winners’ plaques for securing the MXGP and MX2 titles, while Yamaha swept the manufacturer titles in MXGP, MX2 and WMX.

This year’s champions received their prizes next, with Timoteï Cez being the first to collect his award for winning the Junior e-Motocross series, followed by Ricardo Bauer the EMX65 Champion, Vitezslav Marek who won the EMX85 title, EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Champion Cas Valk, EMX250 Champion Rick Elzinga, as well as the WMX, EMX2t and EMX Open Champions, Nancy Van de Ven, Toms Macuks and Jose Butron.

We also celebrated the FIM Junior World Champions in 125cc (Ivano Van Erp), 85cc (Gyan Doensen) and Lucas Leok who was the 2022 65cc World Cup Winner.

This year, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder was the recipient of the Jan de Groot Award that honours the most promising young talent. Längenfelder was impressive this season as he ended the year third in the MX2 standings with 2 race wins, five podiums, including his Grand Prix win in Great Britain!

Additionally, Tom Vialle and Jorge Prado were presented with the Fox Holeshot Award, for their incredible starts this season. For Prado, this was his fifth consecutive Fox Holeshot Award, while for Vialle it was his third.

And then it was time to find out which MXGP rider was the winner of the Best Rider of the Year Sponsored by Athena prize! The newly crowned MXGP World Champion Tim Gajser was declared winner, having received the most fans’ votes in total throughout the 2022 season.

The evening then concluded with the awards for the two FIM Motocross World Champions, Tim Gajser and Tom Vialle who each received their championship plates, along with their champions rings as part of their prizes for this season.

Here is the complete list of winners, below:

MXGP Manufacturer World Champion: Yamaha

MXGP Winning Team: Team HRC

MX2 Manufacturer World Champion: Yamaha

MX2 Winning Team: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

WMX Manufacturer World Champion: Yamaha

WMX Winning Team: Ceres 71 Racing

“Jan De Groot” Award (cheque €5.000): Simon Längenfelder

Junior e-Motocross Series: Timoteï Cez

EMX65 European Champion: Ricardo Bauer

EMX85 European Champion: Vitezslav Marek

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing European Champion: Cas Valk

EMX250 European Champion: Rick Elzinga

EMX2T European Champion: Toms Macuks

EMX Open European Champion: Jose Butron

65cc Junior World Cup Winner: Lucas Leok

85cc Junior World Champion: Gyan Doensen

125cc Junior World Champion: Ivano Van Erp

Women’s Champion: Nancy Van de Ven

MXGP Best Media Opportunity: Indonesia

MXGP Best Promotion: Turkiye

Best Rider of the Year, Sponsored by Athena: Tim Gajser

Fox Holeshot Award MXGP and MX2: Jorge Prado & Tom Vialle

MXGP Best Organizer: France, Ernée

MX2 World Champion: Tom Vialle

MXGP World Champion: Tim Gajser

All the photos from the MXGP Awards will be available HERE.

Missed the MXGP Awards? Watch the replay HERE!

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

FIM Europe

Afyonkarahisar