The long wait is finally over as the world’s top motocross riders prepare to launch the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championship at the brand-new Infinito Race Track in Córdoba, Argentina!
Located just outside Argentina’s second-largest city, known as “The Heart of Argentina,” this purpose-built venue is set to welcome thousands of passionate fans. Just a short drive from the city centre and over 350 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires, it becomes the fifth circuit in Argentina to host a Grand Prix Motocross event. This marks the country’s 17th MXGP event and the fifth time it has hosted the season opener.
This year’s opening round promises intense action, with rising stars stepping up to battle for glory in both major classes. In addition, for the first time ever, Saturday’s Time Practice sessions for both MXGP and MX2 will be broadcast live on MXGP-TV, giving fans an early look at who’s in top form right from the start of the season!
MXGP: Who Will Take the First Win of 2025?
In MXGP, Tim Gajser comes to the event as the clear favourite, having won more GPs than anyone else in Argentina (2016, ’17, and ’22), and winning both the Saturday Qualifying Race and Sunday’s second outing last year. After finishing just ten points away from last year’s world crown, the Honda HRC team leader is just one victory away from the magic half-century of GP wins, which would match the record of the late, great, Joel Robert, currently fifth on the all-time wins list.
The Slovenian would have been expecting a challenge from Jeffrey Herlings and fast rookie Lucas Coenen, but injury has knocked Herlings out of at least the first round, and a late practice crash for the teenage Belgian has seen him come to Argentina hoping that he has completely recovered. The winner of more MX2 GPs than anybody last season could surely be a threat to becoming the first ever teenage MXGP Champion in the current format, but the question of his current condition might only be answered in Saturday’s Time Practice or Qualifying Race.
There will still be plenty of challengers for the crown, however, as Kawasaki Racing Team duo Romain Febvre and Pauls Jonass, each with a world title to their name, have looked strong in pre-season races and are fired-up for the new season. Jonass won back-to-back MX2 Grands Prix in Argentina in 2017 & ’18, while Febvre took a strong second to open his account here last year. Gajser’s teammate, Ruben Fernandez, took his sole MXGP victory to date in Argentina two years ago, so he certainly has a chance of repeating that feat this weekend!
Monster Energy Yamaha Racing MXGP fields their own ex-World Champion, Maxime Renaux, as well as multiple MX2 silver medallist, and 2023’s MX2 winner in Argentina, Jago Geerts, besides strong Dutchman Calvin Vlaanderen.
The exciting all-new Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team brings a strong line-up into its first full MXGP season, as five-time silver medallist Jeremy Seewer leads the iconic Italian brand’s charge, with enthusiastic backup from popular Italian Mattia Guadagnini. See the bike up-close in the Official GoPro Lap shown online, as well as just prior to the first MX2 race on Sunday afternoon.
Fantic Factory Racing have added strong Italian Andrea Bonacorsi to join Dutch veterans Glenn Coldenhoff and Brian Bogers, and all three are keen to challenge for podium finishes and GP victories. Yet another Italian brand, campaigning under the MRT Racing Team Beta banner, pitches British former MX2 GP winner Ben Watson with new German teammate Tom Koch, and the feedback on the new bike is very much on the positive side.
The Motul Honda SR Motoblouz Team have brought in Alberto Forato to join Kevin Horgmo in what looks like the strongest non-Factory team on the gate. Independent riders Jan Pancar of TEM JP253 KTM Racing, JWR Racing Honda new boy Cornelius Toendel, and JK Racing Yamaha’s Isak Gifting cannot be counted out of putting in strong performances as well!
MX2: Defending Champion De Wolf Ready to Take On All Challengers
In the MX2 class, reigning World Champion Kay de Wolf has elected to race with the #1 plate, and as he continues his career-long relationship with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, he certainly looks to be the pre-season favourite to retain his title, despite a minor leg injury affecting his February warm-up race programme.
The tall Dutchman took the overall GP win in Argentina last year with a 2-1 scorecard and was never to relinquish the red plate he took home from South America.
The biggest challenge could come from his teammate Liam Everts, who returns from the injuries sustained in China last year with his new race number #26 and an all-new look with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing. However, the Belgian will look to build through the season and increase his GP win tally from his current total of five, two of which came last year.
The real threat to De Wolf might be from last year’s first race winner, and three-time MX2 bronze-medallist Simon Laengenfelder, who stays with the Davide De Carli-ran team, now in orange as part of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. The German also races with the new number of #27, and has looked in great form in pre-season races. His big challenge will be to convert race-winning pace to overall victories, of which he has only three despite taking 12 individual race wins in his career.
Simon’s new teammate Sacha Coenen must also be considered a title contender in his third year in the series, especially if he can convert his incredible dominance of the Holeshot Award into more race wins and GP victories. The young Belgian took more than double the number of holeshots of anyone else in the series in 2024, with 16 compared to Laengenfelder’s seven, and he took his first GP victories in Latvia and Italy.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing stable also sees 2023 Champion Andrea Adamo and second-year French whizz-kid Marc-Antoine Rossi under the management of Joel Smets and hungry for success after they both suffered a troubled 2024 season.
One of the biggest buzzes around the MX2 paddock for 2025 is the addition of last year’s EMX250 title combatants Mathis Valin and Valerio Lata to the GP ranks, each on new Japanese factory MX2 machinery.
Frenchman Valin, the reigning EMX250 Champion, has looked very impressive on the new Kawasaki Factory Racing MX2 bike, and has his eyes set on the podium and more! Lata joins fellow Italian teenager Ferruccio Zanchi on the Honda HRC MX2 squad, and both riders looked on the pace in pre-season races.
As in MXGP, the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 squad is unchanged from the end of last year, and French stylist Thibault Benistant will run the new #9 plates in his last shot at an MX2 title before he hits the age limit for the class. Dutchman Rick Elzinga also drops a digit to run #4 as he attempts to continue his ascent, that very nearly delivered his first GP win in 2024. With them again is rising Latvian star Karlis Reisulis, who finished second only to De Wolf in the MX2 division at the 2024 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, and that was after winning the B-Final to put his country in the races! A fast starter and confident character, he is looking for 2025 to be his real breakthrough season.
In the talent-packed MX2 field, the Monster Energy Triumph Racing team returns for its second season in the class, keeping the entertaining South African Camden McLellan onboard to look for more podium finishes, and bringing in the talented Spaniard Guillem Farres to begin his first full season of MX2 racing with the British manufacturer.
Young Czech hopeful Julius Mikula will start his first season as a full factory rider with the TM Moto CRD Motosport team and joins a long list of talent scrapping for top ten positions or better! Cas Valk, who gave Lata and Valin a hard time in EMX250 last year, also moves to MX2 with the returning Venrooy KTM squad, and could definitely be a surprise contender.
Quentin Marc Prugnieres has moved to the WZ-Racing KTM team and could be a threat, as could BTS Racing Team duo Jens Walvoort and Oriol Oliver.
The 2025 Season Begins Now!
With a 20-round championship spanning the globe, the road to motocross glory begins in Argentina this weekend. Who will leave Round One with the red plate? All eyes are on Córdoba as the first gate drop of 2025 draws near!
