Honoring
Dr Wolfgang Srb
MXGP MAG
Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: MXGP
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MXGP Mag #129
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GIRLS
DEAR MXGP FANS,
WE JUST ENTERED THE SECOND PART OF THE SEASON AND THE LAST TRIPLE GRAND PRIX DELIVERED GREAT RACES.
In MXGP, we got three different GP Winners; Jorge Prado won the Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany, then Jeffrey Herlings in Latvia and Tim Gajser in Maggiora (Italy). The battle for the title will probably happen between those three fantastic riders regrouping 12 World Titles. After exchanging the red plate after each race with Jorge Prado, Tim Gajser created a small gap in the championship classification leading Prado by 34 points and 71 points on Herlings.
In MX2, the Belgium talents are bringing a series of five Grand Prix wins in a row thanks to Liam Everts, Sacha and Lucas Coenen. Kay De Wolf is still leading the championship by 48 points on Simon Laengenfelder and 52 points on Lucas Coenen. We also witnessed during the Grand Prix of Italy, Valerio Lata making his first ever podium finishing third.
The weather is also playing a big role during this season as we had more than half of the Grand Prix with heavy rain. I want to thank the organizers for the tremendous work they delivered to maintain and preserve the tracks and the different infrastructures during those difficult weekend.
During the MXGP of Maggiora, Team Italy unveiled their official shirt for the upcoming Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in Matterley Basin – UK. Week after week the federations are announcing
their teams as we are building up for the biggest off-road event in the world upcoming in October.
I couldn’t write my editorial without having a word on our estimated Wolfgang SRB who passed away last month. He has been probably one of the most important people in the Motocross community during the last 40 years. He devoted all his life to this sport, representing the FIM and leading the Motocross Commission for decades. All our thoughts are going to his family.
Now it is time for the double Grand Prix of Indonesia, a fascinating country, where MXGP is always fantastically welcomed.
David Luongo CEO of Infront Moto Racing
COOL SHOTS
COOL SHOTS
COOL SHOTS
RED PLATE PING-PONG!
THE MXGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RACED TO THE HALFWAY POINT OF THE SEASON WITH THREE STRAIGHT WEEKENDS OF ACTION IN GERMANY, LATVIA, AND ITALY, AS THE CLASSIC VENUES OF TEUTSCHENTHAL, KEGUMS AND MAGGIORA HOSTED MEMORABLE EVENTS THAT HAD MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP IMPLICATIONS IN MXGP, AND SAW A BRAND NEW WINNER IN MX2!
Spaniard settled for second. Romain Febvre fought up to third, but this was to be the last result for the Kawasaki Racing Team leader as the pain from his two-week-old thumb injury proved to be too much on Sunday. The French hero is effectively out of Championship contention.
Round 8: Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany, Teutschenthal
A continuing feature of the 2024 World Motocross Championships has been the influence of the weather, and the storms from St Jean d’Angely followed the series across to Teutschenthal, as a heavy rain shower hit the circuit just thirty minutes before Saturday’s RAM Qualifying Races got underway!
Kay de Wolf held a 52-point lead in the MX2 series heading to the home round of the second-placed rider in the Championships, Simon Laengenfelder, who stated that he was fully recovered from the broken collarbone he suffered in Portugal. The Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star backed up those claims by topping the class in Time Practice and giving all of his fans hope for a first German win of the season.dd
De Wolf took the holeshot and, despite a brief battle with Rick Elzinga’s Monster Energy Yamaha, dominated the race to further build his lead as teammate Lucas Coenen, on a two-GP winning streak coming to Germany, and Laengenfelder both suffered crashes that limited their points hauls. The consistent Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammates Andrea Adamo and Liam Everts rounded out the top three but were still looking for more pace to battle the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing men.
Although the MXGP RAM Qualifying Race started in decent conditions, more rain hit the circuit after Jorge Prado had powered to the front through the second corner and took advantage of local battler Henry Jacobi holding up Tim Gajser for a lap or two! As the Slovenian closed, the track got wetter, and Prado came up short on an uphill triple jump as a result! This gifted the victory to Gajser as the
Despite scoring only four points on Saturday, Lucas Coenen still had amazing speed, and proved it with a start-to-finish rout in Sunday’s first MX2 race. His teammate De Wolf made mistakes in giving chase but still claimed second position ahead of Laengenfelder. The Belgian continued with his dominance in race two, capitalising on a De Wolf crash that deprived the red plate holder a chance of his first GP win since Sardegna. Remounting behind Laengenfelder, the Dutchman had to make a stunning move around a fast lefthand corner to back past the home hero, then had to make the same move a second time after nearly tipping over in one of the many deep ruts around the rain-ravaged Talkessel circuit.
The home crowd was able to celebrate a podium for Laengenfelder, but with Lucas Coenen’s perfect Sunday and third straight GP victory, it became a Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing 1-2 in the Championship as he moved past the German in the standings, 59 points shy of De Wolf.
Just as Team HRC leader Tim Gajser seemed to be gaining momentum, the opening MXGP race in Germany threw up another curveball, as the Slovenian suffered acute arm pump and was unable to hold onto a determined Prado, as the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing man fought hard with his main title rival to gain an advantage on the opening lap, also disposing of Fantic Factory Racing’s Fox Holeshot winner Glenn Coldenhoff to sprint away in front as he does so well.dddddd
Jeffrey Herlings, meanwhile, has confessed to always feeling cautious at the Talkessel circuit. Despite his three GP wins there over the years, he has also picked up multiple injuries, including the one that derailed his 2023 World Championship campaign. However, despite starting outside of the top ten, he worked gradually through the pack, finally taking advantage of a crash for Monster
Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Calvin Vlaanderen to claim second place with three laps to go, nearly 13 seconds down on Prado. Gajser had shaken out his arms to fight it out with the South African and just pip him for third, leaving a solitary point between the leading duo heading into race two!
That second race saw the three most successful active riders in MXGP spend almost the entire race at their very maximum pace, on a circuit that was some five seconds faster with no additional rain since the morning. Although the reigning Champion took the Fox Holeshot Award, his ninth of the season, “The Bullet” was right with him early and closed to within a second at the halfway point of the race! The Dutchman then hit a fast rutted corner just a little bit too hard, and the near-crash dented
his charge enough for Gajser to then close the gap and move up to second on lap twelve, taking up the chase to Prado! Again, the #1 rider held his nerve and with perfectly poised riding claimed the race win and his sixth GP victory of the season! Despite the Team HRC man holding on for second, the red plate would change ownership once more as they headed to Latvia!
Round 9: MXGP of Latvia, Kegums
The Zelta Zirgs Motocenter welcomed the paddock with a new layout, although some riders, including last year’s MXGP winner there, Jeffrey Herlings, were sad to see the wave section replaced with some 180-degree turns and a difficult-looking triple jump, which would become a double for Sunday’s races.
In MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Sacha Coenen took the holeshot in the RAM Qualifying Race, but was again overhauled by the two Husqvarna riders, as De Wolf claimed his second straight Saturday win, holding off his teammate by just over two seconds! Laengenfelder proved the fight was still in him with a stirring charge through from a below average start to pass Sacha Coenen for third with two laps to go. Young Sacha would have to wait until Sunday for another stab at glory…
MXGP saw Gajser hold off Prado for the entire RAM Qualifying Race and half the Championship gap to just one point again! There was joy for Coldenhoff, who brought the Fantic home for third place, his best finish in any race this year, as Vlaanderen and Mattia Guadagnini held back Herlings, who was upset at his lack of pace at the venue where he had taken his most recent victory a year before.d
Did you notice that we hadn’t mentioned rain yet? Well, it wasn’t to last as the heavens opened over Kegums during the end of MX2 Race 1, but it didn’t affect the result as De Wolf took his first Sunday win for nearly two months. It wasn’t easy for him though, as he survived a high-speed off-track excursion at the end of lap six, caused by trying to go around the outside of holeshot artist Sacha Coenen on the run to the finish line! Initially knocked back to third, Kay recovered with a stunning lap-and-a-half of pure speed, passing both of the Coenen twins within the space of four corners, as Lucas also got past Sacha in the process! It was a perfect result for the series leader, as Laengenfelder was stuck down in fourth, losing another seven precious points. Sacha’s third place was his best career race finish to date, but as always he wanted more…
Although De Wolf just edged out Sacha for the second race’s Fox Holeshot Award, a crash around the same corner as his race one nearmiss cost him the lead, and he hit the ground again just a few corners later to really put himself down the order. Lucas also dropped it in a right-hand corner, and suddenly Sacha was away and clear at the front! With Laengenfelder collecting his best result since his collarbone injury with second, Lucas recovered to third after another small tipover, and Kay De Wolf to ninth after a further crash through the new section of the circuit. Rasmus Jorgensen, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team Manager, must have been grateful to leave Latvia with two uninjured riders after they suffered five crashes between them!
Meanwhile, Sacha Coenen claimed his first ever race win, and with it his first ever Grand Prix overall victory! After many fast starts and small crashes, it was sweet redemption for the youngest of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing crew!
The downpour at the end of MX2’s firstce meant that the first MXGP clash would take part on an extremely soggy circuit, maybe
SACHA COENEN CLAIMED HIS FIRST EVER RACE WIN, AND WITH IT HIS FIRST EVER GRAND PRIX OVERALL VICTORY!
what Gajser and Herlings were craving for after Prado’s previous mistakes in the mud through the year. There are suspicions that they have been learning Native American style rain dances behind closed doors in the paddock…
With a level of extra aggression to get to the front despite Prado’s tenth Fox Holeshot of the year, Herlings was on his shoulder immediately and through into the lead at the start of the first full lap. Similarly sensing blood, Gajser fired past the Spaniard as well to chase after The Bullet! The Fantic Factory Racing duo of Brian Bogers and Glenn Coldenhoff were then on Prado’s tail, and the reigning Champ suddenly slid to the floor on the face of a jump! He would eventually finish seventh, as Gajser tried in vain to catch Herlings, who won by nearly 15
seconds at the flag. Coldenhoff would repeat his top three from Saturday to continue his best weekend of the season.
Race two was in virtually perfect conditions, and with an undaunted Prado once more hitting the front immediately, Gajser lunged past Herlings in the second corner to give chase to the reigning Champ! It turned into another of those tantalising races where a single mistake from any of the multi-Champions would let in his pursuer, but Prado stayed perfect, and Gajser just held off The Bullet to bring it home in second. They all had something to take away from the event as they all crossed the line within just over three seconds, Prado salvaging a race win, Gajser the Championship lead, and Jeffrey Herlings with his new record of 104 Grand Prix victories! The red plate changed
hands for the fifth straight GP as they headed to Maggiora!
Round 10: MXGP of Italy, Maggiora
The weather followed the series to northern Italy, as once more Saturday’s racing was marred by extreme rainfall that saw the WMX race abandoned and the EMX125 race cancelled altogether! Extensive track work enabled the RAM Qualifying Races to run, and it was that mud master again, Liam Everts, who worked his magic for the win, although it was left until the very last lap as he hauled in long-time leader Simon Laengenfelder and went for an outside move that the German tried to block, but ended up on the floor in the resultant collision!
However, the Nestaan Husqvarna riders were having issues again, as both of them fell in the opening lap, De Wolf just keeping his perfect Saturday scoring record intact by recovering to tenth, but Lucas Coenen failed to add to his tally and lost second in the standings to Laengenfelder again.
VALERIO LATA, A WILDCARD FOR THE WEEKEND WHO USUALLY RACES
EMX250, CLAIMED A STUNNING THIRD PLACE BY HOLDING BACK EVERTS AND ADAMO FOR VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE RACE!
Muddy conditions once again proved to be the nemesis for Jorge Prado, as the reigning Champ could only manage sixth position after a mediocre start by his standards, but Gajser kept his record of finishing in the top two positions every time on Saturday, with a stunning win that puts him clearly in line to win the RAM Driving Experience award for the year’s best qualifier! Herlings chased him all the way but had to settle for second, while Bogers pulled off one of the moves of the season to carve his way from eighth to third between the first and fourth corners! He held it to the flag in what proved to be his best weekend of the season so far.
Sunday dawned a little bit brighter, and although the track had taken yet more rain after the RAM Qualifying Races, it dried out to be much faster come Sunday afternoon. It was proving difficult to pass on, however, and the Nestaan Husqvarna riders again hit tough times, as De Wolf got snared up in a first corner pile-up, and Lucas Coenen hit the bank on the outside of the second turn, restarting right at the back!
Sacha Coenen led from the get-go, but tipped over on lap two, gifting the lead to his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts, fresh from his win on Saturday! Laengenfelder and Adamo also got past before Sacha could pick it up, and it ended that way despite the passionate Italian crowd urging their man onto the German’s rear wheel! De Wolf recovered to finish seventh, and Lucas Coenen ninth.
Race two for the MX2 division was on a bone-dry circuit for the most part, and Sacha Coenen claimed a vital ninth Fox Holeshot Award for the season, and simply could not be caught! His brother Lucas was on his case, but could never get close enough to make a move, while Beddini GASGAS Factory Racing Juniors star Valerio Lata, a wildcard for the weekend who usually races EMX250, claimed a stunning third place by holding back Everts and Adamo for virtually the entire race! It would be a dream overall podium for the teenager, and the fact that he held Everts back in fourth meant that for the second weekend in a row, Sacha Coenen took the overall victory! Everts was a frustrated second overall and sits fourth in the series with Adamo behind him. Both men know that a title challenge will be tough from here, especially as their young teammate Sacha Coenen has not only got the pace, but has mostly learned to cut out the mistakes.
De Wolf managed to hold sixth in race two, and was visibly just seeing it home without incident. He leads the series at the halfway stage by 48 points from Laengenfelder, who dearly needs to start winning to dig into that deficit, especially with Lucas Coenen just four points behind him. The fly in the ointment is bound to be Sacha Coenen, on a two-GP winning streak but only eighth in the standings! MX2’s second half should be just as fascinating as the first!
MXGP, meanwhile, saw the gaps open up and the red plate settle on one bike after Maggiora. Jeremy Seewer grabbed the Fox Holeshot for Kawasaki Racing Team in race one, and nearly led over the line at the end of the first full lap, but Gajser railed around the outside of the Swiss rider, who then immediately got it wrong and crashed over a barrier along the start straight! Gajser held a clear advantage from there, with Prado and Herlings once more trying to chase each other down. Herlings’ words were that it was “impossible to pass on that circuit at our speeds”, and they stayed in that order until the flag.
Race two exploded violently into action, as Team Ship To Cycle Honda Motoblouz SR rider Valentin Guillod dived between Seewer and Prado, in pursuit of the fast-starting Gajser and Herlings, and hit the ground, causing a massive pile-up that saw Prado tangled up with Vlaanderen’s machine. He limped back onto the bike, and despite trying to ride it out just gave into the pain. No points for Prado means he sits 34 points back of Gajser heading to Indonesia.
Gajser held off Herlings’ attacks, and the Dutchman nearly crashed on a steeply cambered corner as he tried to take the lead, but then it was Gajser’s turn to make a mistake, and lost the front wheel at the far end of the circuit. Herlings gladly accepted the second race victory, but it was the Slovenian who sealed the overall GP win and keeps the red plate at the end of the first half of the year!
Prado did escape with bruises so will go to Indonesia, but the big question will be if he can rediscover the scorching form that made him look unbeatable at the start of the year. Herlings is building his momentum, but Gajser looks tough to beat. It’s a battle of the titans for the MXGP crown and it could all the way to the final round!
FAREWELl, FRIEND
ON JUNE 1ST OF THIS YEAR, THE MOTOCROSS WORLD WAS SADDENED TO LEARN OF THE PASSING OF THE FORMER FIM EUROPE PRESIDENT, DR. WOLFGANG SRB, A MAN WHOSE VISION AND DEDICATION TO THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HELPED SHAPE THE SPORT TO WHERE IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS TODAY.
Born 19th August 1948 in Vienna, Austria, Dr. Srb was a keen motorsport fan and spent his youth competing as a rally car racer, but he soon realised that due to financial restraints, a career in motorsports would more than likely not happen, and that his talents could be put to better use elsewhere, and so the Austrian set about becoming a sporting steward for the Austrian Federation. A decision which eventually led him to join the Motocross Commission of the FIM towards the end of 1984.
After obtaining his doctorate in law and becoming a very successful legal expert at a well-known bank in Vienna, Dr. Srb was approached by the Austrian Federation to gauge his interest in attending the FIM Motocross World Championships to support fellow countryman and 1984 and 1985 FIM Motocross 250cc World Champion Heinz Kinigadner as a member of the jury.
“Back in spring 1984, Heinz Kinigadner mentioned in an interview that he was a little disappointed that the Austrian Federation never sent a jury member to the events to support him, despite the fact he was the first Austrian to lead the FIM Motocross World Championship. To make a long story short: I was asked if I would be interested in being ‘that’ guy and I simply said yes.”
And the rest, as they say, is History. Dr. Srb’s fascination with motocross was obvious and from his first official visit as a member of the jury to the Dutch Grand Prix at Heerlen, Wolfgang rarely missed a grand prix and his work behind the scenes to help raise the world championship to another level began to gain momentum.
As with any job in all walks of life, the key to success is having the willingness to learn, to
improve, to be better; dealing with all kinds of challenges, should they arise, something which Wolfgang understood wholeheartedly, and in all honestly, despite his status within the sport, it was something he took in his stride. For him, learning on the job was a daily occurrence because “you must know the rules in order to be fair, neutral and well-founded in your decisions.”
In 1989 Dr. Srb was elected as Vice President of the CMS and by 1993 was elected the CMS President. Two years later, a brief encounter with Infront Moto Racing President Giuseppe Luongo, who at the time was the boss of Action Group, proved to be something of a catalyst and before long, the sport of motocross as we knew it, was about to become even more global.
“I remember my first meeting with Wolfgang; it was in Talavera, Spain in 1995 when I came back to Motocross after the ‘Masters of Motocross’. He was in the paddock and I went to talk with him, I presented myself and he said to me coldly ‘I know who you are’ (anyone who knows Wolfgang can imagine exactly how cold he can be when he wanted to be), I told him that I wanted to come back and work in Motocross as promoter and I told him of my plans. He replied with absolutely no warmth in his tone, saying ‘I don’t have time to lose, only come back to me once you can guarantee to bring TV to Motocross’. In a short time, I brought Motocross what I had promised, and from there on the relationship with Wolfgang began and grew based on honesty and integrity,” reflected Mr. Luongo.
By 1996 the new ‘partnership’ was up and running, and the FIM had secured its promotion partner for the FIM Motocross World Championship. Since then, the FIM Motocross World Championship has gone from strength to strength and much of that success was down to Wolfgang, as Mr. Luongo recalls:
“A lot of improvements to the Motocross World and European Championships are thanks to him. Together with Wolfgang we have written the greatest pages in the history of modern Motocross, and all
the improvements we made during the time we worked together are still enforced today. Some people loved him, and some didn’t because he was a very straight, upfront and clear person; he never said things behind people’s back, but one thing is sure and that is that everyone had a great respect for him.”
“Together we had the idea to create the Women’s Motocross World Championship and the European Championship producing the famous pyramid which today offers great possibilities for young riders, and from where a lot of riders come to enter at a high level in the MX2 and MXGP World Championships.”
In 2011, Mr. Srb was elected as the FIM CMS Director, a position which he held until 2014 when he was elected FIM Europe President, and as a
result of that, Tony Skillington was the person promoted to fill the Austrian’s boots. Of course, it helped that the two had been firm friends for almost thirty years, and Skillington has nothing but praise and fond memories for his former colleague, saying:
“It is always painful when we lose family or friends, and especially when it is of a close friend like the late Dr Wolfgang Srb. We first met in Geneva in the late eighties at the FIM spring conference, as it was called back then, and almost immediately we started a long friendship that lasted up until his passing in the last weeks, sadly. To mark the life of this man, one could write a book with all the very successful chapters in it, and central to this was his very strong belief in being the best version of oneself each and every day.”
TOGETHER
WITH WOLFGANG WE HAVE WRITTEN THE GREATEST PAGES IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN MOTOCROSS, AND ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS WE MADE DURING THE TIME WE WORKED TOGETHER ARE STILL ENFORCED TODAY
“There are many who witnessed his absolute determination that the FIM CMS was the standard bearer of the FIM and if we are honest, this is exactly the way it is today; the highest standard with the best people at its disposal. He was in charge at a time when
Motocross GP changed from amateur to professional – not an easy task – but he managed this together with Giuseppe Luongo and his company Youthstream.”
“Later in his motorcycle life he transformed FIM Europe from a sleepy organisation to a modern organisation that punches much higher than its size on a tiny budget. Also, His biggest disappointment was the boat accident in Norway in 2018; this was the game changer for the FIM as it deprived the organisation of a leader unmatched in his integrity in the modern era of motorcycling his selfless approach was the mark of a true leader respected by all and loved by many.”
The untimely boating accident which Mr. Skillington refers to could not have come at a more devastating time, as Mr. Luongo remembers:
“After the accident he had in Norway in 2018, while he was candidate for the FIM Presidency and he was President of FIM-Europe, he decided to give up his candidature and he resigned from FIM-Europe because he felt due to his health conditions, he could not be 100% committed to his job, and Wolfgang was a man of only 100%. Many others in his position would have continued to take the glory of the position but Wolfgang was a man of the field; once he felt he could not be active on the field he decided to step back, and when Wolfgang stepped back, he really stepped back. Because, even if he still had a lot of power and influence in the World of Motorcycling Federations, he never mixed in anything political anymore. His stepping back was the first loss of Wolfgang to the Motorsport, and now we have sadly experienced the final loss of Wolfgang.”
FIM Europe General Secretariat, Mr. Alessandro Sambuco said:
“I met Wolfgang many years ago, but it was during the four years we shared in FIM Europe, during his presidency from 2014 to 2018, that I got to know him in depth. What stays better in our memory than the surprising aspects of a person? What was surprising about Wolfgang was his curiosity, passion and drive. He was always looking for information and news, but above all, for what in Motorcycling could and should be improved. Such was his passion that he dedicated every moment of his working day to this research and with an iron will to pursue the goals he had set himself. Only one thing had priority over everything for him: his family. Deep was the love that bound him to his wife, his daughter and his pets. With him it was four challenging but fulfilling years, characterised by a great respect for roles and a great sharing of goals. He was
a great President for FIM Europe and will always be remembered as such.”
Mr. Luongo then continued, “Wolfgang was a great man, sincere and strong like a rock, he was an outstanding President for the FIM Motocross Commission and an exceptional President of FIMEurope. I know the large majority will miss Wolfgang greatly, but he will remain in the History of our sport and in our hearts forever. Myself and my family will miss him very, very much. Brigitte and Cornelia are living an extremely sad moment, but they are very proud of him because Wolfgang was certainly not an average man.”
“He left his life as he lived his life; strong and proud. Nobody had been informed about his illness and right up until that last moment. He said that everything was OK! Wolfgang was very able to manage his professional life and his private life, he never mixed the two things. In his professional duties he was very precise and responsible, and he was also very open to novelties. He thought a lot before making a decision and when a decision was made, he brought it to its success with all his energy. He was a very fair man, and his motto was ‘if you dream it, you can do it’.”
“Whereas in his private life he was another person; a very sweet father and husband and very caring and respectful to his friends and family. Not only was he great in his duties to the sport, his life was dedicated to Motorsport and his family, and above all he was a dear, dear friend. He will be missed, but he will remain always strong within our hearts.”
Rest In Peace Wolfgang …
JORGE
PRADO GARCIA
2023 MXGP WORLD CHAMPION
ANDREA ADAMO
2023 MX2 WORLD CHAMPION
“WE SELL WHAT WE RACE, WE RACE WHAT WE SELL”
MONSTER GIRLS
MONSTER GIRLS
GAUTIER PAULIN
WE’RE EXCITED TO BRING YOU AN EXCLUSIVE PODCAST WITH GAUTIER PAULIN. IN THIS EPISODE, GAUTIER DELVES INTO HIS REMARKABLE SUCCESS AS THE TEAM MANAGER OF THE DEFENDING MXON CHAMPIONS, TEAM FRANCE AND HIS CAREER AND LIFE. HEAR FIRSTHAND HOW HE GUIDED HIS TEAM TO VICTORY, HIS STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING TOP-TIER RIDERS AND WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FOR THE NEXT ONE. DON’T MISS THIS IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION WITH LISA LEYLAND ON ONE OF THE SPORT’S MOST INFLUENTIAL FIGURES.
TO HEAR OR WATCH THE PODCAST
THE OUTSIDERS NONEUROPEANS IN EMX RACING
DESPITE THE NAME, THE EUROPEAN MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS, KNOWN UNIVERSALLY AS EMX, ARE OPEN TO RACERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE, AND MANY HAVE TAKEN THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TURN THEIR TEENAGE DREAMS INTO THE REALITY OF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACING. HERE WE FEATURE SOME OF THOSE FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHO HAVE TAKEN ON THE EMX CHALLENGE…
The EMX Championship structure is designed to bring talented youngsters through the ranks from a very young age, encouraging riders to push their careers further and rewarding them with the deserved exposure when they do perform.
While it makes sense for the smaller classes of EMX65 and EMX85 to participate in regional qualification races, to keep the cost down for parents of fast pre-teen racers who can then
prove their worth before the finals of those series at Loket in the Czech Republic, the EMX125 & EMX250 classes line up at full Grand Prix weekends, on World Championship circuits and in front of hardcore Motocross fans. This allows the riders to gain the experience of racing on circuits that are likely to be a feature of their careers should they reach the higher levels, as well as expose them to the atmosphere of a Grand Prix weekend. With local fans eager to see new talent come through and, as a natural progression, lend them some vocal and other audible support, it also gives the teenage hotshots an idea of how the pressure of a home crowd affects them. Will they crumble, or be inspired?
Keenly looking for the answer to that question, of course, are the eyes of the people that all EMX riders are trying to impress: the management and talent scouts of the biggest teams in the paddock, who also feel the benefit of checking the progress and even directly supporting the potential future stars of the sport.
With that in mind, many teenage racers from across the planet also have dreams of competing at World Championship level. Whilst it takes a massive amount of faith and determination to justify the cost of getting to that stage from such far-flung corners of the world as the Americas,
Africa, Asia, and Australasia, with enough determination, speed, and hard work, those that do make the journey to battle the fastest young Europeans have often progressed to build hugely successful careers.
Prospects
As Pennsylvania native Gavin Towers makes such a journey himself, it brings more eyes than ever before to the EMX250 Championships in 2024, and may even generate some comparisons as Towers has already claimed podium finishes amongst his fellow prospects in the AMA Supercross Futures series this year. The VRT Yamaha squad are the official EMX team of Yamaha Motor Europe, and are certainly enjoying the different flavour that Gavin gives to the racing.
A quick look at the whole Yamaha roster in MXGP will lead you to Calvin Vlaanderen, currently battling in the top five of the 2024 World Championship in his first year in the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team. The 28-yearold South African found his way to this level via the very same path, moving to the Netherlands as a 15-year-old in 2011, and eventually taking Dutch citizenship through his family history. By the time the series had been re-branded as EMX in 2014,
Calvin had claimed third in the previous year’s 125cc campaign and took a race victory in the deep sand at Lommel in 2014. This led to an MX2 ride for 2016, and the two-time Grand Prix winner has never looked back with regret at taking the big leap.
Factory Juniors
That 2014 season had seen an impressive EMX125 podium for the hot prospect from New Zealand, Josiah Natzke, finishing third at Loket behind the top two in the series, Brian Hsu and Alvin Ostlund. This brought him to the attention of none other than Stefan Everts, boss of the KTM Factory Juniors squad, who brought Josiah in to join a mighty line-up that included present-day British Champion Conrad Mewse, and a certain character called Jorge Prado.
This trio would go on to win 10 of the 16 races between them in 2015, with only future World Champion Maxime Renaux breaking the domination. Natzke won races in Spain, Great Britain, and at Maggiora, but his double race win ahead of Prado and Renaux at Villars-sous-Ecot in France put the Kiwi right into title contention. Sadly for Josiah, the final two rounds were in the deep sand of Lommel and Assen, and the soft going was never really his strong suit. From being just a point down on Prado, he lost the title by 24 points to the future multiple World Champion.
An injury-affected year in 2016, as he moved up to EMX250, resulted in just a single podium appearance at the Swiss finale at Frauenfeld, and he made the decision to move away from the Belgian set-up and race from a KTM squad in the UK. Although he took an overall win in Latvia, injury again played its part and despite two more years of toil in the class, he was never able to challenge at the top order again. He has continued to race professionally in several domestic Championships around the world, representing New Zealand in the 2022 Motocross of Nations, but never fully settled into the MXGP Paddock.
Youth Champions
At the same time as Natzke was flying at the top of the order in EMX125, a pair of South African youth Champions also briefly tried their hand at EMX. 15-year-old Bradley Cox had moved to the Netherlands and scored a top 15 finish at Assen in the EMX125 class. Injuries prevented Bradley from making further progress at a crucial time, but he has followed his father Alfie, a three-time Dakar Rally podium finisher, into the world of desert racing instead. His countryman Nicholas Adams fared better in EMX250, claiming best finishes of fifth at Teutschenthal in 2015 and a fourth at Matterley Basin in 2016. He raced for his country
at the Maggiora MXoN that season, but then headed back to South Africa to race professionally there.
Maximum
2016 saw American Darian Sanayei and Australia’s Hunter Lawrence join EMX250 for a single season on their way up to MX2 the following year, both racing for Kawasaki. Hunter started the year brilliantly, taking a double race maximum at Teutschenthal while Sanayei was third overall. Hunter sadly injured his knee in Spain and had to miss the whole second half of the year before stepping up to MX2 the following season. Sanayei had taken a race win at Matterley Basin in a oneoff invitation race in 2015, and challenged for the Championship in ’16 with double victories in
France and the final round in Switzerland. Another race win at Matterley and one at Mantova pushed him past Dutchman Bas Vaessen into second overall, but Thomas Kjer Olsen sealed the title before the final round and moved up to MX2, leaving Sanayei to claim the silver medal.
In MX2, they both raced for two more seasons, but their careers would diverge massively from there, as brutal injuries in a British Championship race for Sanayei ended his European career, and Lawrence had his title run frustrated by injury, despite winning the MX2 class at the MX of Nations at Matterley. There was a reason for him staying in Europe until 2018, however… a certain baby brother of his named Jett…
The younger Lawrence brother had shown early promise with a 65cc World Junior title in 2014, and in 2017, while Hunter was in MX2, Jett enjoyed a brilliant rivalry with Kay de Wolf in the EMX85 North-West qualifiers, the pair finishing 1-2 in the series. Sadly they were unable to fight for the European title as the EMX85 final was cancelled due to a fatal crash for another competitor, and no Champion was crowned.
Special
Jett’s EMX250 campaign was troubled by injury, so he was unable to threaten for the title against eventual Champion Mathys Boisrame, but he took a race win at Ottobiano, and with his winter training with Hunter at Lommel paying off, a
double victory at his last ever EMX event at Assen served notice that he might be something special. On the podium with him that day were Kevin Horgmo and Tom Vialle. Both Lawrence brothers then moved to the USA, where they have won several titles between them and are very much at the top of the sport there. They will again be looking to help Australia to claim its first ever Motocross of Nations win this October.
One rider with overseas connections is Dylan Walsh, who was born in the UK but grew up racing in New Zealand and raced for that country in the 2019 Motocross of Nations. Dylan shared the race wins with Jett at Ottobiano in 2018, adding another race win in Switzerland to finish the year sixth in the standings. He raced a few GPs, claimed a British MX2 Championship, but is another who has suffered multiple injuries that have hindered his progress.
THOSE THAT DO MAKE THE JOURNEY TO BATTLE THE FASTEST YOUNG EUROPEANS HAVE OFTEN PROGRESSED TO BUILD HUGELY SUCCESSFUL CAREERS.
Talented Teen
Two Americans also ventured into EMX250 in 2017 for Kawasaki, with various degrees of success. Tristan Charboneau was a talented teenager from Washington, the same state as Ryan Villopoto, and after a stuttering start his 2017 campaign showed great promise, he caught fire in the second half of the year! A dazzling race win at Orlyonok was followed by him winning four of the last six individual races, including a double in Portugal and an overall win in Switzerland. Finishing fifth in the standings, he signed for the official Yamaha EMX team for 2018, but a crash at the Italian Championship prior to the start of the EMX series did serious damage to his knee. Returning home, he made the shock announcement at the end of the year that he would step away from the sport, concluding that he was unwilling to put in the work necessary to restart his career.
Directly behind him in the 2017 Championship was Marshall Weltin from Michigan, who was on the third step behind Charboneau and Simone Furlotti at the Agueda round. A few years older than Tristan, he raced for Puerto Rico at the 2017 Motocross of Nations before moving to MX2 the following year and recording a handful of top ten results. Now 28, Marshall still competes professionally in the USA and is a regular points scorer.
Battlers
A further pair of antipodean battlers came to Europe in 2017 & ‘18, with talented New Zealander James Scott taking on EMX125, and Caleb Grothues from Australia taking to EMX250. Scott nearly got onto the podium at St Jean d’Angely with a brace of fifth places, but struggled elsewhere to score consistent points. He has continued to race across many disciplines in his home country, and has competed at both the Motocross of Nations and the International Six Days Enduro for New Zealand in the last two years!
Grothues had won the 65cc Junior World Championship in Bulgaria in 2012, and then finished second in the 85cc event in 2014. He lost the outer two fingers on his right hand, and was fortunate not to lose more, in a freak racing accident in Italy the following April, when he was just 14 years of age. Incredibly, he finished 5th in the 2016 125cc World Juniors at Orlyonok, and took to EMX250 in 2018 & ’19. Injuries once more disrupted his efforts, and despite taking a few top ten finishes, he returned to Australia and left the sport behind.XX
Japanese
The only Japanese rider to score points in EMX250, Chihiro Notsuka, had attempted to race MX2 in 2017 after winning the equivalent class in his homeland and racing for them at the 2016 MXoN, but after scoring a point in Argentina’s first race he then dislocated his hip in the second outing, causing a premature end to his season. He came back to race EMX250 in 2019 and had a couple of points-scoring rides, but returned to Japan to continue his career there.
Lorenzo Locurcio was the first rider from South America to venture over for the EMX250 series in 2020, only just eligible to do so at the age of 23 before the age limit was lowered for 2023 onwards. The Venezuelan had raced in the Motocross of Nations as far back as 2015 and scored points in the USA Nationals on both 250cc and 450cc machinery before coming to Europe. Despite this experience, however, he was unable to get onto the podium in his EMX250 season, with a best of fourth overall from 6-2 finishes in Spain, and he finished 7th in the Championship. He moved up to MXGP for the following two seasons without massive success, then moved back to the USA where he continues to race professionally to this day.
Factory Rider
21-year-old Camden McLellan is the big prospect for South African Motocross right now, and his rise to factory rider status began back in 2018, after his family moved with him to The Netherlands when he was just 15 years old. “My father did Motocross and it was always his dream to come over and race the World Championships, so when I started winning everything in South Africa we decided the time was right to come
to Europe, and the natural path was to go through EMX. It’s a great series for getting used to the circuits and the atmosphere, it’s just that the intensity steps up a level when you get to MX2.”
He instantly showed what he was capable of with a win in the EMX85 final at Loket in 2018, putting fellow 2024 factory alumni Kay de Wolf and Liam Everts behind him! His step up to EMX125 wasn’t the very best, with a few top tens spread throughout the year, and after the first round at Matterley Basin in 2020, he decided to go straight to EMX250 when the series re-started after the pandemic. A steady season with a best of sixth in Latvia gave enough encouragement for him to continue, and although injuries hampered him in 2021, his average finishes were getting better. Fourth in the 2022 EMX250 Championship saw him rise through the rankings, with overall podium finishes in two of the last three rounds. Behind the top three of Rick Elzinga, Lucas Coenen, and Cornelius Toendel, it was clearly starting to come together, so as he turned 20 years old in January of 2023, he made the jump to MX2, showing enough promise to land a contract with the new Monster Energy Triumph Racing team for 2024.
2024
This year saw five riders from outside of Europe start the season in the EMX classes, with the addition of Towers making it six. The most experienced is Saad Soulimani, who has been competing under a French license in EMX250 since 2021, but with his Moroccan parentage allowing him to race for the north African country in the Motocross of Nations (alongside his father Halim in 2021!) for the last three years, he is now flying that flag against his name as he attempts to climb the order from his current fifth in the table. He is doing so on a 250cc two-stroke Yamaha this season, which is also helping him win over a few fans!
A little further down the order in EMX250 are Chilean racer Benjamin Garib, who has also represented his country for the last three years at the MXoN, and lines up for the second straight year for BUD Racing Kawasaki. His best result last year was a brace of fifth places in Turkiye, and so far he sits 13th in the standings.
Australian Ryan Alexandersson is a popular member of the WZ Racing KTM team and is settling in well after making his debut at the last round of 2023. A ninth place in the mud of Portugal showed true Aussie grit. His countryman Liam Owens, who filled in for Garib at BUD Racing for a couple of rounds last year, races full-time in EMX250 for Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna, and took a career best tenth in Germany.
Of course, we can’t fail to mention every commentator’s favourite, Chilean Cesar Paine Diaz, who has regularly scored points for the Seven Motorsports KTM team in the EMX125 class this season.
With Gavin Towers declaring his excitement for EMX250 racing, despite the “culture shock” it has given him, it can only bode well for more extracontinental competition considering the move in the future. “Racing in Europe is a different kettle of fish”, says Towers, adding that “Everything is different, and there’s a steep learning curve, but we will get there.” An excellent 6-2 in Germany saw him just miss the podium, although the sand of Latvia saw him score just three points all day. For certain, the learning will continue for Towers, as Lommel is next up for the EMX250 class and there is no sand in the world quite like that place!
While we are still awaiting our first non-European Champion in EMX, the recent influx of riders can only be a good thing to gain global attention to not just the European series, but also MXGP itself.
JEREMY VAN HOREBEeK 2014 YAMAHA YZ450FM
JEREMY VAN HOREBEEK COMPETED IN THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FULL-TIME FROM 2007 TO 2022, AND DURING THAT TIME FINISHED THIRD OVERALL IN 2013 (MX2) AND SECOND IN THE PREMIER MXGP CLASS IN 2014, A SEASON WHERE HE WON THE MXGP OF CZECH REPUBLIC. WE WILL GET INTO HIS ‘STATS’ LATER ON, BUT IN THIS ISSUE OF MXGP MAGAZINE WE WILL FEATURE THE JERRE’S 2014 YAMAHA YZ450FM WHICH HE RODE TO SECOND IN THE OVERALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS.
Håkan Andersson, Yamaha had amassed a further twenty-four world titles leading into 2014 (plus three more in the WMX championship), thus making it one of the most successful brands in the off-road sector. And the beauty about the FIM World Championship is that the manufacturers have the opportunity to build, develop and race what amount to be production-based prototype machines, all in the name of evolution.
Prior to the 2014 season, Yamaha’s last world title in the premier class was back in 2009, when Antonio Cairoli guided his Red Bull De Carli Yamaha to the championship in his rookie season, but when the Italian moved to KTM, it was left to David Philippaerts (2008 world champion) to bring home the bacon, so to speak. From 2010 to 2013, the closest Yamaha came to winning the title was in 2011 when Steven Frossard took second, and whilst ‘on paper’ things looked okay, the reality was a little different. From 2010 – 2013 the factory Yamaha team had taken just sixteen podiums from sixty-three grand prix, with just FOUR of those being victories, so it was clear something needed to change.
A rider who was on the hunt for a new team at the end of 2013 was Belgium’s Jeremy Van Horebeek. A pre-season hand injury hampered the start of his rookie campaign, and for whatever reason, he never really seemed to gel with the Kawasaki, so when the opportunity arose to join Michele Rinaldi’s Factory Team, it was an offer he could not afford to turn down. But first, a little bit of history.
History
Since winning its first FIM World Motocross Championship in 1973 with the revolutionary Monoshock 250cc machine ridden by the Swede
Take the 1973 250cc-winning machine of Andersson with its Monoshock system for instance. A year earlier, the Swede placed second to Joel Robert in the 250cc world championship whilst developing it, but a year later he and Yamaha were pretty much unstoppable, and by the end of the campaign Andersson lifted his and Yamaha’s first world title, and a new era had begun.
More than fifty years on and it’s this kind of innovation and development that sets the FIM Motocross World Championship apart from all the other series worldwide, and Yamaha are still at the very forefront of experimenting with the latest technology as they dare to be different.
Along the way we have seen the introduction of the new generation four-stroke in an era that was dominated by two-strokes, and in 2010, the switch from the forward-mounted engine to the reverse cylinder, complete with re-positioned airbox which, at the time, was deemed a pretty radical and bold innovation for the motocross market.
Changing It Up
It’s never easy switching brand or team, or both, so how was the process for Jeremy himself?
‘The first bike I rode was the 2013 factory Yamaha and you know, to me it was not that bad. I rode it and I felt not too bad on it. It was not kinda the way I would make my bike, but it was not too bad. And then I rode the stock 2014 and it was already a big difference; the stock ’14 bike was already really good like engine-wise, and the rest also was not too bad, so from there on I started working with all the parts we had.’
And work the team certainly did, and as with anything, getting it right requires patience and a little understanding. When Van Horebeek arrived in Qatar for the opening round, he looked significantly different on his new ride, and it was clear that changes had definitely been made in order to suit his riding style. Visibly, he looked different; his ‘bars were much lower, giving the impression he sat higher on the bike, but the reality was, the bike had in fact been lowered as well, as Jeremy pointed out:
‘Yeah, I changed it (my style) quite much, you know. I started to change it from my first year with Kawasaki. I started to make some changes with the handlebar just to feel more comfortable. During the winter I worked really hard on everything, but also just on details to just make me feel better and that’s why I know my handlebars are really low, you know?’
The lower look of the bike was due to a lowered sub-frame, and it had been rumoured that when Jerre was setting his bike up, the team thought he had some ideas which were pretty ‘out there’ by ‘normal’ standards, but obviously, it was something that he seemed to be comfortable with, as he recalled:
‘I preferred the back was much lower, like chopper-style, and this is something I’d been doing for a long time already, so straight away I said to the boys I wanted to try that, and to me that was better for my style. But then we had to work on the suspension, also because you couldn’t change the sub-frame and leave the suspension like this; we had to change it all, so I think that with my bike, the biggest change was (to) the back.’
According to the technicians the sub-frame had been lowered by ‘around 15mm’ – not an exact figure, so we can at least assume this to be a ‘give-or-take a couple of mil’ measurement. The team also adopted a special linkage by HSL giving Jeremy the option of running different lengths. As well as that, the bike also featured a ‘hitch’ for the start – some bikes at that time were experimenting with a rear-end start device which pulled the back of the bike down for the start, similar to a front-end device
– but this was not something the team used at all circuits.
With this being a factory bike, there were the obvious ‘unobtanium’ special parts, with around 70% of the nuts and bolts being Titanium. A quick look at the swingarm and you’d have been mistaken that it was a standard item, but in actual fact, it had been cut up, modified and welded back together again in order to offer improved stability due to the re-positioned sub-frame. The Akrapovic exhaust system looked ‘the part’ whilst the hydraulic Hinson clutch and electric start ticked the box that said ‘attention to detail’. Especially the electric start, as the production YZ450F still came with a kickstart at that time.
The low-positioned handlebars were by WRP, mounted in X-Trig triple clamps which in turn were married to 48mm factory KYB air-forks, where many were still using oil and springs. The brakes were by Braking, with the rear disc measuring 245mm and the front being either 270mm or 280mm, depending on the circuit. The hubs were from Kite and the rims were Excel, with the carbon fuel tank coming from CRM.
As for all the other ‘trickery’ the cylinder, cylinder head, crankshaft, con-rod and transmission (with magnesium cover) were all YRRD – Yamaha Rinaldi Research and Development – with the piston coming from Vertex and the ECU by GET, and despite the
tough conditions of MXGP, the radiators were standard.
The Best Ever
As for the year itself, it turned out to be the best ever season for the ‘Jerry Man’, even topping what he did two years earlier in MX2 where he finished third overall behind Jeffrey Herlings and Tommy Searle. In 2012, Van Horebeek landed on the podium no fewer than nine times, with two of those being 2nd place finishes.
In 2014 though, the Belgian scored his first premier class podium at the second round in
Thailand, where he placed 3rd, but what we saw next was pretty sensational, with Van Horebeek going on a podium-run for the next TEN rounds. Eleven consecutive GP podiums – 6 x 2nd, 5 x 3rd – and he was STILL forty-five points off the lead! Hard to comprehend in some ways, but then the rider he was up against was Antonio Cairoli, who was by now, headed for his sixth consecutive premier class world championship.
After eleven consecutive podiums, the run ended in Finland a week later with a 4th, but the best was yet to come, and when Jeremy went 2-1 next time out at Loket, Czech Republic, it was enough to bag him his first premier class GP victory. As it turned out, this would be his last GP win, his twelfth podium of the year, and by the time the season came to an end three rounds later, JVH had done enough to secure a silver medal.
In normal circumstances, twelve podiums from seventeen rounds might have been enough to win a world title, because when you look at Cairoli’s 2014 season, he finished on the podium just twice more than Van Horebeek, but the real damage was done by the Italian’s race win count, where he claimed fifteen wins to Jerre’s one. Cairoli ‘only’ managed six
When you think of bikes that should or could have won a world title, Jeremy Van Horebeeks 2014 Yamaha YZ450FM is right up there on the list. Twelve podiums in a season, including a GP win, six 2nd places and five 3rd place finishes, defines itself as a very consistent year. But, as has been already noted, there was one rider who was able to go one step further, and that was the legendary Antonio Cairoli. As for the Jerry Man, 2014 turned out to be his best ever season; from 2015 – 2019 there were ‘just’ seven more visits to the podium and when he retired from the sport at the end of 2022, his record was one to be proud of as a motocross racer:
consecutive podiums during the season, all of them in the last six rounds.
LIVIA LANCELOT
as her parents where both bikers. When Livia turned four years old and was able to ride her bicycle without any support, they bought her a 50cc that she used to ride in the family garden when she was not busy with her Barbies!
Logically and fully supported by her parents, she entered her first race and she participated in the same class as the boys, as there were not so many girls practicing motocross at the beginning of the century! She raced the minivert series when she turned twelve, she scored points and entered the top thirty in 2001 racing the same series as Christophe Pourcel, Xavier Boog or Steven Frossard. She moved to the 125cc class and entered some rounds of the Junior championship and qualified at a couple of races, in fact, fighting with boys helped her to be stronger. C
In 2005 both the French and International Federations launched a women trophy and of course Livia won the French series and entered the first ever FIM World Cup in Sweden, finishing third behind Stephanie Laier and Katherine Prumm. On the podium of the 2006 and 2007 World Cup, she was of course involved in the first ever FIM Women Motocross World Championship in 2008. All season long it was a tough battle with Laier, and finally Livia entered the history of the
season, FIM
Leading the 2009 series after winning three of the first four rounds, she unfortunately got injured while training and missed the remaining of the season. In 2010 she was again fighting for the title with Stephanie Laier but finished runner up, while she won the first ever official French title. Signing with Bud Racing at the end of the season, she stopped racing the FIM Women Motocross World Championship in 2011 and 2012 to enter new challenges such as the X Games in the US, where she got twice a bronze medal.
BEING THE FIRST WOMEN WORLD CHAMPION CLINCHING THE FIRST EVER TITLE IN 2008, LIVIA LANCELOT WAS ONE OF THE BEST WOMEN AMBASSADORS IN OUR SPORT. RACING EVERYWHERE DURING HER CAREER, SCORING POINTS IN THE MX2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, WINNING 15 WMX ROUNDS, BECOMING THE BEST EVER WOMAN AT THE FAMOUS ‘TOUQUET’ RACE AND TWICE ON THE PODIUM OF THE X GAMES, LIVIA RETIRED FROM RACING SIX YEARS AGO WITH TWO GOLD, THREE SILVER AND ONE BRONZE MEDAL IN THE FIM WOMEN
In 2012 she decided to take part in four rounds of the WMX series – at this time the championship was organised with the MX3 World Championship – and won three of them! After missing most of the 2013 season due to a knee injury, she decided to create her own team 114 and came back to the World Championship where she collected another bronze medal. That same sport by winning the title!
Born on 11th February 1988 in Saint Denis, near Paris, Livia has always been surrounded by bikes
year she entered the MX2 class at the Thai and Brazilian GP’s, and became the first ever woman to score points in the series, a few weeks after finishing the enduropale at le Touquet in the
After Stephanie Laier, it’s with Kiara Fontanesi that Livia fights during several seasons; Kiara beat Livia in 2015, but one year later our French lady won her second World title after a strong season with a podium – one win, four second places and two third positions – at every round of the series. The battle between Kiara and Livia
1999
was even more intense in 2017, when they fought until the last lap of the last round in France; that day Kiara won the GP to be crowned with the smallest possible advantage: one point after six rounds and twelve motos. A few weeks before that final race, Livia announced her retirement from racing to become manager of the 114 Honda team in the MX2 World Championship. She was the team manager for five seasons, before she stopped traveling to enter a new life to become a lovely
mother! Pascal
Text & Photos : Pascal Haudiquert
49TH IN THE FRENCH MINIVERT 85 MINIM
29TH IN THE FRENCH MINIVERT 85 MINIM
54TH IN THE FRENCH JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (YAMAHA)
54TH IN THE FRENCH JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (YAMAHA)
4TH IN THE WOMEN WORLD CUP (YAMAHA)
WINNER OF THE FRENCH WOMEN TROPHY
3RD IN THE WOMEN WORLD CUP (YAMAHA)
2ND IN THE WOMEN WORLD CUP (KAWASAKI)
WOMEN WORLD CHAMPION (KAWASAKI). WON 2 GP’S
WINNER OF THE FRENCH WOMEN TROPHY
6TH IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI). WON 3 GP’S
2ND IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM). WON 1 GP FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
23RD IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI) FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION 3RD AT THE X GAMES
7TH IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI). WON 3 GP’S
3RD AT THE X GAMES FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
WINNER OF THE WOMEN CLASS AT THE EUROPEAN MX OF NATIONS (KAWASAKI
WINNER OF THE WOMEN CLASS AT THE ENDUROPALE LE TOUQUET
3RD IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI). WON 2 GP’S
54TH IN THE MX2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
WINNER OF THE WOMEN CLASS AT THE ENDUROPALE LE TOUQUET
2ND IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI). WON 2 GP’S FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
WOMEN WORLD CHAMPION (KAWASAKI). WON 1 GP FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
2ND IN THE WOMEN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI). WON 1 GP FRENCH WOMEN CHAMPION
1 The rising Latvian new stars Karlis Reisulis makes the biggest jump of his career by joining the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team from the MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara and for the remaining of the season.
2 Coenen domination. The twins Lucas and Sacha Coenen have recently been dominating the MX2 Races.
3 The MXGP academy continues to make dreams come true with the events held on famous Teutschenthal and Kegums tracks.
4 UFO PLAST unveiled its 2025 collection in Maggiora.
5 Febvre enforced to take a break.
6 Tough days for the French riders. After Benistant and Febvre, Marc-Antoine Rossi is forced to sit out the remainder of his rookie season due to a knee injury sustained in Germany.
7 Mips enters officially in MXGP by becoming the Official Safety Partner of the Motocross World Championship!
8 A new face under the VRT Yamaha Official EMX250 team awning since Teutschenthal after Janis Reisulis’s injury. The American Gavin Towers finished 4th in his first race in Europe and will also take part in several MX2 rounds.
9 Dream come true for Larissa Papenmeier who has won on her home soil in Teutschenthal in front of the two WMX rising stars Daniela Guillen and Lotte van Drunen. What a ride Larissa!
