The long-anticipated first round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships revs off this weekend as the YPF Infinia MXGP of Argentina hits the new venue of the Bariloche MX Race Track,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With more GP winners than ever before lining up for the premier MXGP class, the excitement and intrigue as to who will emerge victorious at each and every round is set to make this an explosive season of racing at its very best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the very first time since both classes were conceived, both MXGP and MX2 World Champions will be easily identifiable with the #1 plates that they will be looking to defend, but for just how long will they stay on those shiny new red backings?\u00a0 There are many out to dethrone them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The line-up for the MXGP class is simply breath-taking in 2026.\u00a0 To summarise, there are eight World Champions with 18 titles between them.\u00a0 Fifteen of the riders have got Grand Prix winner\u2019s trophies in their cabinets, with a total of 317 victories to their names \u2013 enough for nearly 16 full seasons of GP wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 15 Grand Prix Winners entered in MXGP for Argentina are Jeffrey Herlings (112 GP Wins); Tim Gajser (52); Romain Febvre (26); Jago Geerts (24); Tom Vialle (24); Lucas Coenen (16); Kay de Wolf (15); Jeremy Seewer (13); Pauls Jonass (12); Maxime Renaux (9); Andrea Adamo (6); Thibault Benistant (3); Calvin Vlaanderen (2); Mattia Guadagnini (2) and Ruben Fernandez (1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reigning World Champion\u00a0Febvre\u00a0will brandish the well-earned #1 plate on his\u00a0Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP\u00a0machine, after taking his second world title a record ten years after his first in a consistent season that saw him hold back his chasing rivals from round seven onwards.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although he has liked both of the Argentine circuits he\u2019s raced on, he has won only one Qualifying Race and one GP race in his eight trips to the country, finishing second overall at each of the last two visits. Do not put it past the crafty Frenchman to go one better and keep his #1 on a shiny red plate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second in 2026 was the rider who has won more GPs than anyone over the last two seasons on his way to the silver medal in first the MX2 class, then MXGP.\u00a0Coenen\u00a0has changed nothing but his number for 2026, as he now runs with the #5 on his\u00a0Red Bull KTM Factory Racing\u00a0steed, and the Belgian will look for nothing less than title success in his final campaign as a teenager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, his three visits to Argentina have not been too kind to him, with an MX2 Qualifying Race win in 2024 giving him his only career red plate so far, but a crash on race day took it away from him instantly. Will he get another this time around?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year\u2019s top two have stayed in their previous teams, but their challengers with the biggest reputations have both undergone a massive change in programme for the first time in over a decade!\u00a0 Both five-time World Champions in the field, Dutchman\u00a0Herlings\u00a0and Slovenian\u00a0Gajser, have switched teams for the first time in their long MXGP careers, and a massive part of the intrigue this season is just how well they will cope with the different landscapes they have put themselves in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herlings, the GP win record holder at 112 victories and counting, is now with the new-look\u00a0Honda HRC Petronas\u00a0outfit, after sixteen years of being on Austrian machinery, and it will take some getting used to when the #84 hits a GP track on a Japanese bike for the first time. Only two of the 31-year-old\u2019s victories have come in Argentina, with 2018 being his only success in the MXGP class after he enjoyed a perfect MX2 weekend in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gajser has left HRC after 12 years to join the\u00a0Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP\u00a0squad, and he lines up with the best record of anybody in Argentina with three GP wins, seven podiums, five race wins and three Qualifying race wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After injury derailed his 2025 title challenge, he is just as hungry as Herlings for his sixth world title, and has looked fantastic in preseason races. The only GP winner ever to hail from Slovenia, Tim will be tough to beat despite the change to blue as he prepares to turn 30 in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is yet more mystery on the horizon as no less than three former World MX2 Champions join the MXGP class for their first year on 450 machinery.\u00a0 2024 Champion\u00a0Kay de Wolf, 2023 Champion\u00a0Andrea Adamo, and double Champ\u00a0Tom Vialle\u00a0from 2020 & \u201922 all enter the fray, making it the single biggest influx of dazzling talent to come into MXGP since the class was conceived in the early 2000s!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Wolf has spent his entire professional career with the\u00a0Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing\u00a0team, and has been playing on their 450 for the last two years at least, so the tall Dutchman will be very used to the bigger bike from the very first gate drop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A preseason hand injury might be the biggest obstacle in his path, but he will be looking forward to not being at such a disadvantage off the start line as he was in MX2. He has come away with the winner\u2019s trophy, and MX2 red plate, after both of the last two trips to South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adamo takes the place of Herlings for\u00a0Red Bull KTM Factory Racing,\u00a0and has been instantly fast on the SX-F 450.\u00a0 After a Qualifying Race win last year, his 2025 Argentine GP was sabotaged by a mechanical issue in race one before he took second in race two, wondering what might have been.\u00a0 He is something of an underdog amongst this level of competition, but that is a position in which the gutsy Italian tends to thrive!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vialle has been absent from the GP scene altogether since he took the 2022 MX2 crown at the very last gasp, but he has also looked great in preseason as he joins the\u00a0Honda HRC Petronas\u00a0team alongside Herlings.\u00a0 With his new #16 plate, the 25-year-old Frenchman could also be an underdog, even though he won at Neuquen in his last visit to Argentina.\u00a0 His performance in 2026 is possibly one of the most difficult to predict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rider who took the MX2 crown between Vialle\u2019s two titles is the one who took the red plate home from last year\u2019s journey to this country, his compatriot\u00a0Maxime Renaux.\u00a0\u00a0Staying with\u00a0Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP,\u00a0for whom he took that 2021 title and won overall at C\u00f3rdoba last year, will be keen to show himself as an equal to his new teammate Gajser and get off to just the sort of start he did in 2025.\u00a0 A strong opening round will be the perfect fuel for the French 25-year-old\u2019s confidence to put himself amongst the top runners!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another with new teammates to deal with is\u00a0Ruben Fernandez,\u00a0who lines up again for\u00a0Honda HRC Petronas\u00a0after claiming fourth in the world for the team last year.\u00a0 His sole GP victory came in the Argentine round in 2023, and he would dearly love to upstage his more heralded teammates as well as every other contender as he heads to his home GP for round two!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also staying with his previous team is 2017 MX2 World Champion\u00a0Pauls Jonass,\u00a0back with\u00a0Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP\u00a0for his eighth season in the class. Having won two MX2 GPs in Argentina in 2017 & \u201918, he also took his only ever Qualifying race win in the MXGP class back in 2022, so the South American air has usually done him a power of good.\u00a0 Determined to stay healthy for an entire season, he could be a surprise podium contender at Bariloche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With two new riders alongside their most successful rider to date,\u00a0Ducati Factory Racing MXGP\u00a0will be looking to make further progress after they shocked the field with multiple holeshots in Argentina last year.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\u00a0Calvin Vlaanderen\u00a0and\u00a0Andrea Bonacorsi\u00a0joining Swiss veteran\u00a0Jeremy Seewer,\u00a0they have riders who were sixth, eighth, and tenth in the final 2025 MXGP standings, with a great mix of youth and experience to drive the Italian manufacturer forward in its second full season of dirt bike racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two further Italian manufacturers head to Bariloche with completely new line-ups in their hopes for further success.\u00a0\u00a0Fantic Factory Racing MXGP,\u00a0after taking the 2025 MXGP bronze medal with\u00a0Glenn Coldenhoff,\u00a0have now come under the management of former World Champion\u00a0Jacky Martens,\u00a0and bring\u00a0Alberto Forato\u00a0and\u00a0Brent van Doninck\u00a0onto factory machinery for the first time in their careers. Both have suffered recent disappointment in Argentina and will be hoping for a safe weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MRT Racing Team Beta\u00a0have brought in four-time MX2 silver medallist\u00a0Jago Geerts,\u00a0who is looking for a career resurrection after two tough years in the premier class. Jago has won two GPs, three races, and two Qualifying races in Argentina, and will be hoping to rediscover his MX2 speed in 2026.\u00a0 He is joined by Dutchman\u00a0Rick Elzinga,\u00a0the former EMX250 Champion who is making his MXGP debut in 2026.\u00a0 The team are quietly hopeful for a solid season from their new recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The privateer charge is led by\u00a0Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul,\u00a0as they have brought in another fast MXGP rookie in the shape of\u00a0Thibault Benistant,\u00a0ready to hit a GP track on a bike that isn\u2019t blue for the first time, and a potential force if he gets out of the gate well. Hard-charging Norwegian\u00a0Kevin Horgmo\u00a0is back for his third year with the team, and could be another surprise package. The pair were third and fourth in the 2023 Argentine MX2 GP, and will likely push each other up the order through the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jan Pancar\u00a0is still with his own\u00a0TEM JP253 KTM Racing\u00a0outfit, and hoping to break the top ten of the series after finishing 11th<\/sup>\u00a0in the Championship last year.\u00a0Venrooy KTM Racing\u00a0have picked up\u00a0Mattia Guadagnini\u00a0for 2026, and the 23-year-old Italian took a fine fourth in Argentina last year, so watch for another fast start for the #101.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isak Gifting\u00a0returns for a third year with\u00a0JK Racing Yamaha,\u00a0while\u00a0Kevin Brumann\u00a0makes the trip for\u00a0MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing.\u00a0\u00a0Finally, two more privateers make their MXGP debut in the shape of Spaniard\u00a0Oriol Oliver\u00a0for\u00a0Gabriel SS24 KTM,\u00a0and Swede\u00a0Leopold Ambjornsson\u00a0for\u00a0Team\u00a0Leoparden Racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With plenty of fast South Americans ready to join the fun, including fast Brazilian Nations veteran\u00a0Enzo Lopes,\u00a0the start line will be packed for the first gate drop of what promises to be an enthralling season of MXGP racing!\u00a0 Who will emerge triumphant is literally anyone\u2019s guess!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile reigning World Champion Simon L\u00e4ngenfelder starts the season as favourite in an MX2 class full of youthful expectations and hungry warriors out to establish their reputations in the Motocross world as the next big things, and as always the action will be frantic as ambition outweighs experience and desire pushes personal limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The German #1 plate holder, only the third World Champion from his country in Motocross history, stays on familiar\u00a0Red Bull KTM Factory Racing\u00a0machinery, but switches to the KTM Austria awning as a replacement for Andrea Adamo.\u00a0 Simon has tasted podium success in Argentina for the last two years, but despite a race win in 2024 he has yet to hit the top spot overall. He will be happy that the temperatures should be cooler in Bariloche than the punishing heat of C\u00f3rdoba last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sacha Coenen\u00a0improved his consistency last year to reach fourth in the MX2 World Championship, and continues with the Davide de Carli-ran\u00a0Red Bull KTM Factory Racing\u00a0squad that helped him get there.\u00a0 The Belgian teenager is always the favourite for the\u00a0Fox Holeshot Award,\u00a0and he used those starts to take a solid second overall in Argentina last year with a race two victory. He will be confident of starting a season well as he looks to challenge for the title from the very outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the last two MX2 seasons, the top non-Austrian manufacturer has come from the UK, and the\u00a0Triumph Racing Factory Team\u00a0will be out to get even higher in 2026 than the fifth position they achieved with\u00a0Camden McLellan\u00a0in 2025 and\u00a0Mikkel Haarup\u00a0in 2024.\u00a0 The South African has a home GP to look forward to this season and will surely look to move up from the single GP race win and four podium results currently next to his name.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Camden is again teamed up with\u00a0Guillem Farres,\u00a0who also took a race victory last year on his way to eighth in the series, and is set up well for his last year in the MX2 category.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n One rider who will be happy to head to Argentina at 100% fitness will be\u00a0Liam Everts,\u00a0as the sole representative for\u00a0Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing\u00a0in MX2 has started both of his last two seasons in recovery from injury.\u00a0 Fourth and sixth in the last two campaigns and with six GP wins to his name, albeit with only five race wins, the 21-year-old from the most legendary family in World Motocross will have his jaw set to be a title contender from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two second-year former European Champions lead the charge for the Japanese manufacturers in MX2, as 20-year-old\u00a0Valerio Lata\u00a0takes the reins again at\u00a0Honda HRC Petronas\u00a0after finishing 2025 with a fine podium at the final round in Australia. The Italian will be looking to improve his form on softer tracks to strengthen his campaign this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lata\u2019s former EMX rival\u00a0Mathis Valin\u00a0will be back for\u00a0Kawasaki Racing Team MX2,\u00a0and though he dazzled with his speed at C\u00f3rdoba last year, he also crashed spectacularly out of contention.\u00a0 A calmer approach could see the 19-year-old Frenchman as a serious title threat in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2\u00a0bring Valin\u2019s successor as EMX250 Champion,\u00a0Janis Reisulis,\u00a0into the MX2 class for the first time. The 17-year-old kid they call \u201cThe Killer\u201d is used to battling at the front, and will expect no less in the World Championship!\u00a0 Don\u2019t expect a smile, even if he does win! He joins his elder brother\u00a0Karlis Reisulis\u00a0on the squad, and the Latvian pair will seek to put the blue crew back to the top of an MX2 class they used to dominate in the days of Renaux and Geerts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\u00a0Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team\u00a0will bring the new Desmo250 MX into its first season of World Championship racing, with Italian\u00a0Ferruccio Zanchi\u00a0at the handlebars for his third and final year in the class.\u00a0 Sixth overall in his first appearance in Patagonia, and a race winner in the deep mud of Cozar last year, it will be fascinating to see what he can do on the brand-new machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dutchman\u00a0Cas Valk\u00a0moves to his first full factory ride with\u00a0TM Moto CRD Motosport,\u00a0and the 21-year-old scored his best race finish of the year in Argentina last year, with third place in a muddy first outing. Although his 2025 campaign tailed off, he will be out to challenge his former EMX rivals Valin and Lata as they all make a push towards the front in their second full season!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another former EMX Champion leads the privateer efforts as Hungarian\u00a0Noel Zanocz\u00a0debuts for\u00a0Venrooy KTM Racing,\u00a0and the 19-year-old who took Janis Reisulis all the way for the EMX250 title last year is keen to establish himself as a future star in the making.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Czech star\u00a0Julius Mikula\u00a0returns to the\u00a0Osicka MX Team\u00a0from his home country, also on KTM machinery.\u00a0 The\u00a0Maddii Racing Honda ABF Italia\u00a0squad bring\u00a0Maxime Grau\u00a0to his first Grand Prix in Argentina, while Dutch privateers\u00a0Kay Karssemakers,\u00a0for\u00a0DRT Kawasaki,\u00a0and\u00a0Scott Smulders\u00a0for the\u00a0SixtySeven Racing Team\u00a0all aim for the top ten in the ultra-competitive MX2 class!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The stage is set, the machines are prepared, and the athletes are ready to start what should be a landmark year in World Championship Motocross racing, spanning 19 rounds across 17 countries and five continents, the biggest global series in the sport is set to excite, delight, and astound fans in 2026! Do not be missing a single wheel churning the dirt! Here we go! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The long-anticipated first round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships revs off this weekend as the YPF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[110,311],"class_list":["post-10148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-motocross","tag-motorsports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross.jpg",1040,693,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-1024x682.jpg",640,426,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross.jpg",1040,693,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross.jpg",1040,693,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"International<\/a>","tag_info":"International","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Motorcross.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10150,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10148\/revisions\/10150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}