MXGP #127 2024

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#127 2024

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LEADER OF THE PACK

CONTENT

002 EDITORIAL

008 COOL SHOTS

014 RACING CARCH UP

034 RIDER OF THE MONTH KAY DE WOLF

044 MONSTER GIRLS

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BLOG

RACING CATCH UP

050 SPECIAL FEATURE

058 TOMMY SEARLE 2012 KAWASAKI KX250F

064 HALL OF FAME JEAN JACQUES BRUNO

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PADDOCK TALKS

MONSTER G

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SPECIAL FEATURE

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COOL SHOTS

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RIDER OF THE MONTH MXGP MAG

GIRLS

Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: MXGP

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HALL OF FAME

INFRONT MOTO RACING MEDIA World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #127 The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Infront Moto Racing.

Then content of this publication is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time the articles were written.

The copying of articles and photos even partially is forbidden unless permission has ben requested from Infront Moto Racing in advance and reference is made to the source (©MXGP).

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DEAR MXGP FANS, AHEAD OF THE GRAND PRIX OF PORTUGAL, I HAVE VERY IMPORTANT NEWS TO SHARE WITH YOU. AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS OF WAITING, THE MXGP OF AUSTRALIA WILL BE BACK ON THE CALENDAR FOR THE 2025 SEASON. THIS IS CLEARLY A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT FOR INFRONT MOTO RACING AND ALL THE MOTOCROSS COMMUNITY.

Australia is one of the biggest and most enthusiastic countries for offroad and motocross in the world. Thanks to the fantastic collaboration with Motorcycle Australia and the Northern Territory government, I have no doubt that the Grand Prix will settle itself in the country for a long term. It is a new step for the MXGP on its path to the global coverage it deserves as the most popular Offroad series in the world. In the upcoming months, we will share more information about the Grand Prix, but I have no doubt that the Australian offroad community will embrace this great news!

Secondly, the final Grand Prix of the 2024 season will take place in Spain. The MXGP of Castilla La Mancha in Cozar will end a fantastic season of 20 Grand Prix before heading to the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Matterley Basin, UK. Concerning the past Grand Prix, we delivered two very successful Grand Prix in Italy with Riola Sardo and Pietramurata. During those races the MXGP and MX2 classes confirmed that the championship will be a long journey full of actions. Jorge Prado is showing a fantastic confidence and impressive speed since the beginning of the season, but Tim Gajser and Romain Febvre maintain a short gap with him, while Jeffrey Herlings is still building his rhythm from his past injuries. These four riders are showing impressive skills, but the season is still very long, and many things can happen.

The start of the different European Championship has been a great success as well, with two groups in EMX125 and EMX250 at the MXGP of Trentino.

As commonly stated, the EMX are vital for the future of our sport as they are the class that will grow the champions of tomorrow, the excellent situation of these categories is a very good sign for the upcoming years.

Now we are entering into the first triple header Grand Prix of the season with Agueda (Portugal), MXGP of Galicia (Spain) and Saint Jean d’Angely (France), three hard ground tracks with very different soil and particularities. After these three Grand Prix, we will pass the third of the championship, it is the first important moment of the season.

I wish you a great Portuguese Grand Prix and for the ones who cannot make it to Agueda, you can follow us on MXGP-TV.com.

See you in Portugal.

David Luongo CEO of Infront Moto Racing

In MX2, Kay De Wolf is leading the championship but here also the battle for the title will remain for long with many potential GP winners as Liam Everts, Andrea Adamo, Simon Laengenfelder and more to come.

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COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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COOL SHOTS

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RACING CATCH UP

THE ITALIAN JOBS Race two, and this AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL, MXGP HEADED SOUTH time, Faure was the pace setter, who led for TO ITALY FOR THE FIRST BACK-TO-BACK ROUNDS more than two thirds of the race before the tall OF THE SEASON, WITH ROUND THREE TAKING Hungarian Zanocz took PLACE ON THE BEAUTIFUL ISLAND OF SARDEGNA over the top spot. The FOLLOWED BY ROUND FOUR AT TRENTINO, IN THE Fantic rider pounced on Lap ten of fourteen and SHADOW OF THE DOLOMITE MOUNTAINS. when he crossed the line, it was not only his first EMX125 race win but also his first podium. This one, oh so sweet Two totally different circuits, and completely though, as he celebrated it from the top step. opposing terrain. Joining MXGP and MX2 in Second in the race went to 2023 FIM 85cc Junior Sardegna, was the second round of WMX as well World Champion, Dani Heitink who lost the final as the opening round of the season for EMX125 podium place on the last lap when Faure – who’d presented by FMF Racing, whilst Trentino fallen from the lead and back to 10th – made a continued with the 125cc class along with vital pass for 6th to land on the podium for the EMX250. first time in 3rd.

A lot to get through, so sit back and enjoy our quick-ish re-cap.

Let’s kick things off with EMX125 then, shall we?

The last time we saw the tiny terrors in action was on September 24th 2023 at Matterley Basin, and since then there have been plenty of changes with much of the top ten from last year’s standings vacating the class, as they switched up to EMX250 for 2024.

In the first race, all eyes were on former 85cc Junior World Champion, Gyan Doensen, who topped the ‘Group A’ Timed Practice session, giving him the first Pole Position of the season, and when he led on the opening lap, most observers thought it was a done deal. However, halfway around the first lap, the Racestore KTM Factory Rookie rider fell, and when he re-joined the race, was back in 12th.

With five laps to go, the young Dutch talent took over the lead and went on to win by more than twenty seconds over Noel Zanocz of Hungary.

The Fantic Factory rider was 8th in the 2023 series, one place ahead of Doensen, so maybe no surprises there then on that basis. Third in race one went to Mano Faure, the fast-starting young French starlet surprised almost everybody with his pace and sand riding skills, so we might need to keep an eye on the Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC rider this year.

As for Race One winner Doensen, he fell on the opening lap and whilst his pace was good, he just ran out of steam; 4th was still good enough for 2nd overall though, but heading to Trentino, the Red Plate was on the front of the Fantic of Noel Zanocz.

WMX After her stunning double win at home in Spain, Daniela Guillen arrived at Riola Sardo in confident mood. And why wouldn’t she? She was the championship leader after all, and not only that, won the GP at this sandy venue twelve months earlier. Her task to repeat it though would not be an easy one, as Holland’s Queen of the Sand, Lotte Van Drunen was up for a fight.

Lynn Valk led the first five laps on her Schmicker KTM but lost the lead to Guillen when the dreaded arm pump crept in, and when Van Drunen came past two laps later, third is all the ‘172’ could manage. Still good for a possible podium though. As for Van Drunen, the ‘401’ had already been involved in a first turn scrape, although she managed to remain on two wheels. Just as well really as heading into the final lap, the Dutch rider trailed Guillen by two seconds, but when the Spaniard got caught up with a lapper in Turn 5, the gap was down to nothing. By the time the two protagonists had reached the penultimate turn, they were bar-to-bar, and by the time they had exited, Van Drunen had taken the lead. She rounded out the final turn

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and headed straight for the chequered flag for her first victory of the season, but what an incredible race for the win. Kiara Fontanesi and Courtney Duncan rounded out the top five.

In Race Two, it was Guillen who led, but her lead was cut short as early as lap three when Van Drunen took over, before going on to win by almost twenty seconds over the Spaniard.

And with Valk crossing the line in third, the podium mirrored the result of the race, but with Guillen going 1-1-2-2 at the first two rounds, and Van Drunen going 2-2-1-1, it was all tied at the top, with the Red Plate switching from the GAGGAS of Guillen, to the Yamaha of Van Drunen. Next round for WMX is Galicia, Spain.

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MX2 Three from three Heading to Riola Sardo, most observers would have bet their entire fortune on a Kay De Wolf victory. Why? Because of the sand, of course.

However, when the gates dropped in Race One it was the fast-starting Sacha Coenen who bagged the Fox Holeshot. By the end of the opening lap, De Wolf – the points leader – circulated in 2nd ahead of Lucas Coenen, Rick Elzinga, Camden Mc Lellan and Andrea Adamo (the RAM Qualifying Winner). By lap three, De Wolf had warmed up enough to take over the lead from Sacha Coenen, with Lucas finding away past his brother a lap later, and whilst the two Nestaan Husqvarna’s had us captivated with

their pace, and skill at the head of the field, the Monster Energy Triumph of Camden Mc Lellan was occupying himself inside the top five. His first scalp was the ‘44’ of Elzinga, as he moved ahead of the Dutchman on lap three and into 4th.

The ‘8’ then continued to dog Sacha Coenen until just after the halfway point of the race, when Mc Lellan found himself in 3rd – proper nosebleed territory, is that! Despite his new elevated status, the Triumph man held on to register his first top three finish in MX2, and for Triumph, another potential podium looked like it could be on the cards as well.

Up front, the battle was frantic between De Wolf and his teammate, but with six laps to go, we had a new leader. Not only that, but Lucas Coenen pulled an instant gap before going on to dominate by almost thirty seconds. De Wolf

had been beaten, but was it all a massive ploy?

Adamo and Mikkel Haarup rounded out the top five, which for Haarup was impressive since he fell on the opening lap.

The second race was almost a carbon copy of the first with the two Husqvarna’s setting the pace, with the Belgian constantly searching for a way through. However, his push for the front ended when he lost the front in a right hander, at half distance, letting the Red Plate holder off the hook. From there, De Wolf was in control and went on to claim the race win and overall victory, his third win in a row. A new milestone for the ‘74’. L. Coenen took 2nd overall, but after finishing 3rd in the race, Adamo was disqualified from the results for failing to stop in Pit Lane, handing the race position to Simon Laengenfelder, and the final step of the podium

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to Mc Lellan, who placed 5th in the race. For Camden, it was his first podium in the class, and the second in three rounds for Triumph.

MXGP The New Sand King?

There’s no denying that 2024 has got off to a fantastic start for the defending champion, Jorge Prado. Back-to-back wins at the first two rounds signified that he is very much the rider to beat. In Spain, the Red Bull GASGAS rider went 1-1-1 for the weekend, but how would he do in Riola?

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We will keep this really short and to the point! In Riola, he dominated again in the same sort of fashion, going 1-1-1, only this time in the sand; significant for the fact that it was his first MXGP

victory in the soft stuff since he won ‘Lommel 2’ in the Covid-hit 2020 season. Tim Gajser tried in the first race, until he ran out of answers, and Jeffrey Herlings was in his wheel tracks until he tipped over in a dee, sandy left at the halfway mark. As for the podium, it was the same three riders who occupied the top three places in the races: Prado (1-1), Gajser (2-2) Herlings (3-3), and whilst it is still early days, Prado had increased his lead out to 17 points heading to round four in Trentino.

FOR CAMDEN, IT WAS HIS FIRST PODIUM IN THE CLASS, AND THE SECOND IN THREE ROUNDS FOR TRIUMPH.

Notable performances cane from Pauls Jonass: the Standing Construct Honda rider claimed 4th overall and remains 5th in the standings. As for Romain Febvre, the Kawasaki suffered a technical issue in the RAM Qualifying Race which put him on the outside gates for the start. His 6-5 for 5th overall was all he had, but he, along with Gajser and Herlings know, that the season is long and sometimes you have to accept that not every weekend can be a good one, although, so far, Jorge Prado has yet to see that particular memo.

Next up, Trentino.

Trentino EMX125 With the first round in the books one week earlier, we did not have to wait long to see the

Red Plate on the front of the Fantic of Noel Zanocz; the big question was though, could he keep it?

In the Timed Practice sessions, Group A was topped by the Italian, Simone Mancini with Group B by former 65cc Junior World Champion, Áron Katona, of Hungary. How ironic is it that we have two Hungarian riders now challenging for titles in EMX? Good though, and a huge inspiration to the next generation of even younger stars who will surely look to Katona and Zanocz as they begin their own journeys in years to come.

With four points separating the Red Plate holder Zanocz and Gyan Doensen, all eyes were on those two, but when Zanocz fell at the start of the race and Doensen made a poor start,

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the intensity was even higher. Meanwhile, up front and riding without a care in the world was another Italian, Francesco Bellei on the Dreams Racing KTM. The ‘141’ had posted 2nd in the Timed session and suddenly found himself leading an EMX125 race for the first time. He was in Dream Land until he fell on Lap nine of fourteen, handing the lead and eventually the win to the Pole man, Mancini, for his first career victory. Second place went to Salvador Perez for the RFME GASGAS MXJunior Team, with third going to Áron Katona, who inherited the position on the final lap when Bellei fell for a second time; dropping to 5th behind Cole McCullough on the Maddii Fantic by Milwaukee, the Northern Irish teenager posting his best ever finish. Even more satisfying for him was that he came from outside the top fifteen. Gyan Doensen came back to 7th as Noel Zanocz recovered to 13th.

In Race Two, McCullough got caught up in a huge first turn crash and was forced to retire, but up front, Mano Faure, who was 9th in Race One, led the way. That was until he fell on lap two, all the way back to 15th. From there he came back to an eventual 10th. Taking over the lead was Bellei, and this time, the Italian looked more assured and went on to take his first career win by almost four seconds, which also secured him 2nd overall. And yes, it was also his first podium.

IT WAS HIS FIRST MXGP VICTORY IN THE SOFT STUFF SINCE HE WON ‘LOMMEL 2’ IN THE COVID-HIT 2020 SEASON. Noel Zanocz bounced back to take 2nd in the race, but his 13th in Race One ruined his chances of a podium, and he had to be content with 6th overall.

The overall win went to Mancini who went 1-3 for the weekend, which also earned his first career win in the 125cc division. Taking the final step of the podium was Perez with a 2-6.

Another first podium for the ‘300’.

Heading to round three in Portugal, the top two of Zanocz and Doensen remain unchanged, with the Hungarian doubling his lead to eight points, whilst Salvador Perez moves up to 3rd, just four points further back. After a two-week break, the EMX125 class will back for three-in-a-row starting with Portugal, before rounding out with Spain (Galicia) and France.

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EMX250 Make Mine a Double The EMX250 class was last in action in Spain when Valerio Lata (1-2), Mathis Valin (3-1) and Ivano Van Erp (5-3) rounded out the podium.

A rider who just missed the podium that day was Janis Reisulis, but the Latvian was missing altogether in Trentino having picked an undisclosed injury leading into the event.

In Time Practice, it was Lata who topped Group A to take Pole Position with Karlis Reisulis topping Group B. In Race one, Lata was faultless, leading every single lap on a circuit where he won the 2019 FIM 85cc Junior World Championship, the EMX125 round in 2021 (beating Lucas Coenen), and the EMX250 round in 2023. No surprise then, really! Cas Valk guided his Gabriel SS24 KTM to 2nd place, but was unable to match the Italian’s pace early on; it was his best finish so far for the title favourite, so there was something to smile about at least. Third went to Francisco Garcia who came from just inside the top ten to register his first top three of the season.

In Race Two, Karlis Reisulis led the way and looked solid until Lata began to real him in. On lap five, the Italian took over the top spot and from there, the Beddini GASGAS Factory Junior rider went on to complete the double to claim his second consecutive overall win of the season.

Reisulis remained in 2nd until lap 10, when his bike suffered a technical problem, promoting Valk to 2nd, in what was a consistent day for the tall Dutchman. He feels there is more to work on, but 2nd overall is a good place to build from. After taking 3rd in race one, Garcia’s race was almost a carbon copy of his first, coming from just inside the top ten to 3rd to go 3-3 for his first career podium. Next up for the 250cc riders is three consecutive rounds in Portugal, Spain (Galicia) and France.

MX2 The Mystical Mountains After recording his first RAM Qualifying win of the season, defending champion Andrea Adamo sent the message that he hasn’t gone anywhere and is prepared to defend his title with all his might.

When it came to Sunday though, things didn’t go as expected, in what was an action grand prix.

In Race One, points leader Kay De Wolf sat patiently behind Sacha Coenen for the first four laps before making his move for the lead before going on to take the victory by almost four seconds from Thibault Benistant. The Frenchman was parked in 3rd for the first eleven laps until

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he eventually found his way past Sacha Coenen, but by then, 2nd was all he could hope for.

Surprisingly, it was only Thibault’s second top three finish of the season! After starting around 10th, Mikkel Haarup had charged his way to 5th, but with four laps to go, capitalised on a mistake

by Adamo to move into 4th, and when Sacha Coenen suffered a technical issue with three laps remaining, the Dane was the benefactor of being in the right places at the right time as he was promoted to 3rd. On the final lap though, Haarup’s own slice of luck came to an end as he too suffered a technical hitch which forced him into ‘limp mode’ eventually crossing the line in 9th. Liam Everts, who started outside the top ten, claimed 3rd as a result of everything else going around him, but after missing the opening round, he will gladly pick up as many points as he can at this stage as he works his way back into contention for the title. Rick Elzinga collected 4th ahead of Camden Mc Lellan. As for Lucas Coenen, well, it was clear to see that he was ‘a little off’ on Saturday, and when he retired from the RAM Qualifying Race on Lap 5, it’s clear something was definitely up. Turns out a midweek training crash resulted in a shoulder injury, but somehow the Belgian rode through gritted teeth to 10th in what was a clearly a damage limitation exercise. Adamo came home in 7th, just one place ahead of Laengenfelder.

Race Two, and this time it was Simon Laengenfelder who took a flag-to-flag win for his second victory of the season, which must have been nice heading into the rare two week break before round five. So far, his results have been a little up and down, and from the first eight moto’s his scorecard looks like this: 1-4-2-3-7-3-8-1.

Despite that, he still remains 2nd in the overall championship, and as long as he is ‘in it’ he will believe he can still win it. Liam Everts took 2nd with Andrea Bonacorsi, the 2023 EMX250 Champion, picking up his first top three in the MX2 class.

Where was De Wolf though? Down at the first turn, that’s where! The ‘74’ went down hard, got hit and ran over before picking himself up to charge back to 8th. His Instagram post after the GP showed the after effects of the crash and what a tyre burn looks like. Despite just missing the podium for the first time this season, De Wolf lost just three points to Laengenfelder and will head to Portugal with a 26-point buffer over the German.

The podium in Trentino belonged to Everts, twelve months after he claimed his maiden podium in the class. A 3-2 may not have been dominant, and as he said after the race, he didn’t feel too good, but he’ll take it. Benistant (2-4) and Langenfelder (8-1) joined the Belgian on the

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box, and as for Laengenfelder, despite his up and down race results, he still has three podiums from four rounds: 2-2-4-3, so it’s not all bad, really!

MXGP The Quad God So far, the 2024 season has gone swimmingly for defending champion Jorge Prado. A little too swimmingly, perhaps? Well, somebody decided to throw a curve ball his way in Trentino and it came right at him in the RAM Qualifying Race on Saturday. At the end of the opening lap as the ‘1’ crossed the finish line jump in 2nd, his seat unexpectedly fell off, but as he was already committed to the following turn, he didn’t realise until it was too late, resulting in him having to complete a full lap seat-less. After a quick pit stop where a new seat was hastily taped on, Prado rejoined the race last, in the hope of a decent gate pick for Sunday’s races. Not only that, with points on the line for the top ten finishers, it was vital to get to at least 10th, but on the final lap, the seat failed him again whilst in 17th with half a lap to go.

No points, no seat and a gate pick in the centre of the gate, it would be interesting to see how the Fox holeshot king would get out of this one come Sunday. He was not happy when he crossed the line. The RAM race was won by Romain Febvre with Tim Gajser 2nd and Glenn Coldenhoff 3rd.

Herlings and Seewer rounded out the top five.

The ride of the race though belonged to Calvin Vlaanderen who came from 25th to 7th.

All eyes on Prado at the start of Race One as he was forced to the centre of the gate, but do you know what? It didn’t matter; he still claimed the Fox Holeshot from Febvre. However, Prado’s

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usual ‘rabbit out of the hat’ speed was not there in the early laps, and Febvre never let him off the hook, and on lap seven, we had a new leader; the Kawasaki of Febvre. Two laps later and Gajser also forced his way past, and for the time this season we saw a nervy looking Prado, who clung on to 3rd when the flag fell. Up front, and Febvre had controlled the race, and on the final lap he went into cruise mode which allowed Gajser to close in. With two corners to go, Febvre was looking nervously over his shoulder and when the two crossed the line it ended with Febvre taking the win by 0.387s.

Some would say a little too close for comfort, but of course, Febvre said he had it under control!

Herlings and Seewer rounded out the top five.

Vlaanderen took 6th.

Race Two and once again, the king of the holshots was at it again, only this time, Prado went on to lead all eighteen laps to secure his fourth consecutive grand prix victory. Febvre had been keeping the Spaniard honest though until he lost the front end in a right hander on lap six, causing him to fall back to 5th, which is where he remained until the end of the race, good enough for second overall. Third in the race went to Jeremy Seewer, the Swiss picking up his first top three finish with Kawasaki. With Gajser crossing the line in 4th, it was enough for the Slovenian to take 3rd overall in the GP. As a result of Prado taking no points on Saturday, the championship has tightened up again, the Spaniard’s lead being cut from seventeen points to thirteen heading to Portugal, where we can expect to see a lot of Spanish support from just over the border for the defending champion.

When we arrive in Portugal, it will be the first of three back-to-back GP’s, so everybody needs to be refreshed and ready to go. If you can’t join us at the races in person then be sure to catch all the action on www.mxgp-tv.com

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RIDER OF THE MONTH

KAY DE WOLF: LEADER OF THE PACK then 6th at the end of his first two seasons in the KAY DE WOLF HAS EMERGED FROM A CLUTCH class, it was clear that De OF POTENTIAL MX2 TITLE CONTENDERS TO Wolf had the talent to go further, even if 2023 saw FIRMLY BOLT THE RED PLATE ONTO HIS NESTAAN him frustrated by a series HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING MACHINE. of injuries and slightly overshadowed by the exciting pace of his even younger teammate, Lucas Coenen.

The tall Dutchman has looked stronger, both The Belgian finished 5th in the 2023 standings, just 4 physically and mentally, than in previous seasons, points ahead of Kay, who missed four GPs due to a and he started the 2024 season by winning all of back injury. the first three GPs on wildly different surfaces. We look back on his young career and speak to Kay Talent himself about how he has suddenly become the leader of the pack.

Kay’s natural talent has been evident from his early years on minibikes as a kid. Living across the road Heading into this year’s MX2 World Championship, from the Eersel circuit between Eindhoven and the it was difficult to see an automatic favourite for the Dutch border with Belgium, he honed his skills on world title, giving us the mouth-watering prospect their specialist small bike circuit and, as with any child of a truly unpredictable battle. The exit from the of the low countries, grew to become a master in the class of multiple silver medallist Jago Geerts, as sand: “I am naturally used to the sand. It doesn’t well as race winners Roan van de Moosdijk and even take one turn before I am completely at home Kevin Horgmo, left us with several contenders with there.” It wasn’t all plain sailing to start with, however: just a handful of GP victories to their name. After a “My first race, I was given number 4, and I broke my 2023 season which saw four first-time GP winners, upper arm so that wasn’t so good! I started to work including a Champion who took just two overall with Marc de Reuver, because he lived very close to victories, the outlook for 2024 was filled with a me, and he was number 14, so I used that number myriad of top riders who could all potentially push also.” for the crown.

Prey One of those first-time winners, if we study it closely, had maybe a little more history behind him to back his case for turning the rest of the pack into his prey. Kay de Wolf, the tall Dutchman who is still a teenager until September this year, was the only one from that crop of four (the others being Lucas Coenen, Liam Everts, and eventual Champ Andrea Adamo) who actually won individual races before the 2023 season.

As a 16-year-old hotshot back in 2021, the Husqvarna man had taken a race win from the Yamaha pairing of Jago Geerts and eventual Champion Maxime Renaux in the deep sand of Lommel, then repeated the feat a year later at the same venue, just losing the GP win to Jago on a second-race tiebreak. Finishing 7th and

So, what brought Kay to run the number 74? “I raced with #14 all through my EMX career. Then when I moved up to MX2, Jed Beaton was my teammate and he was also #14! So, I was sitting down with the guys from Fox and they were asking me what number to wear, and they suggested 74! It was the year that Fox started making Motocross kit, and I have been with them, apart from one year, for almost ten years in a row so I liked it. It was also the birth year of my father, so I thought it was a pretty cool number then, and now I really like it! I will stay as number #74 for the rest of my life.”

Progression As a tall kid, he started to get to the top in domestic racing, winning the 85cc Dutch Masters titles in 2017 and ’18, before stepping up and winning

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again on a 125cc in 2019, the year he first started to move further afield. “I didn’t even see a hardpack circuit until I started going to EMX! I would just go and survive until I started practising on them in 2019.” His debut year in EMX would see him finish 18th in the EMX85 finale at Loket, two places ahead of fellow 2024 factory rider Thibault Benistant, in a meeting dominated by the late Rene Hofer.

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Kay quickly caught on though, winning the NorthWest EMX85 qualifiers in 2017, including the overall win in Germany ahead of a certain Suzuki rider named Jett Lawrence. He won the 2018 NorthWest Qualifiers again, a point ahead of Liam Everts, but finished 2nd at the Loket finale to Camden McLellan. He was also second to American Caden Braswell at the FIM Junior World Championship in Australia.

His move to the EMX classes, racing alongside the GPs for the first time, brought him to start training more on hard tracks in order to compete, as he went through both seasons with consistent finishes, but no race wins. He started the season with a solid second overall at Valkenswaard, but got penalised as he failed to see a medical flag on the take-off over the big step-up. The following week he got his first EMX podium at Trentino, showing his progress on the hard-pack with 4-4 finishes behind eventual Champion Mattia Guadagnini and Frenchman Tom Guyon. His hopes of success in the sand of Lommel were cut short, as his fuel tap had been switched off before the first race, and not switched back on again! He ultimately came home 6th in that series, his first under the factory Husqvarna umbrella.

In 2020, a season dominated by the Champion, Thibault Benistant, and Guadagnini, Kay got a best of 2-2 in Latvia behind the Frenchman’s 1-3, and consistency kept him in the top three until a disaster at the final round, at Lommel once again!

“I was fastest in the Free Practice at Lommel and I was feeling really good. The team also told me that I could ride in my first MX2 GPs at the end of the year so that was also a good feeling. The first lap of Time Practice I got cross-jumped by another rider, and I landed face down. Before I could get up another rider jumped on to the back of my helmet, so it was a big concussion, and it broke my nose in five places! I wanted to race because it cost me top three in the series, but it wasn’t allowed because of the concussion, and I had a few weeks off after that too.”

Time for MX2 As his growth spurt continued – he now measures up to around 190cm (6 ft 3 in) – it was time to progress to the MX2 division. He saw his old rivals Guadagnini and Benistant take race wins, then finally it was Kay’s turn, and the ghost of issues gone past was exorcised at Lommel, with his first race win at Grand Prix level putting him second overall between Geerts and Renaux. A consistent season was rewarded with 7th in the series, two behind his senior teammate Beaton.

2022 saw Kay running top five in the series at the beginning of the year, until a bizarre accident put a serious dent in his campaign after seven rounds.

“Before Sardinia, we had finished practicing for the day, and I took my E-Bike across to the team HQ to pack my stuff for the GP, but a car came across the

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cycle lane that I was in and wiped me out! He didn’t see me and hit me as he was going into his house, so that broke my arm which put me out of the next three GPs. I came back too early as well, in Teutschenthal I was sick because I pushed too hard on Saturday, then in my first trip to Indonesia I really found out what food poisoning was all about, I was really badly sick there!”

“THIS YEAR’S BIKE IS REALLY, REALLY GOOD, SO I CAN’T THANK THE TEAM ENOUGH FOR THAT.” A return to Lommel turned his fortunes around, and he was able to win the first race, just losing the overall to Jago, as the older rider just had that little bit more energy to beat the 17-year-old to the second race win and the GP victory.

Red Plate Working with renowned trainer Ruben Tureluren, De Wolf began to fill out physically as well as grow vertically. Immediately fast in 2023, he won race one in the deep sand of Sardinia at round two, again just losing the overall to a determined Geerts, but from that race until the Latvian round he didn’t finish outside the top five in any GP races. A perfect weekend at Kegums, where he took his first Grand Prix win, even collecting maximum points in the RAM Qualifying Race on Saturday, saw the Dutchman fix the red plate onto his Nestaan Husqvarna. Sadly, in a season where the red plate seemed like something of a curse to many, he crashed whilst testing before the MXGP of Germany.

With an ankle so swollen that x-rays could not pick up the break, he tried to race on and actually got back to finish on the podium at Loket a month later.

A mechanical issue in testing then saw him go over the bars in the week before the MXGP of Flanders. Picking up a 6th place at Lommel with a compression fracture in his back was “the most painful thing I have ever done”, and he had to concede that the title was gone, missing another four GPs while he got the problem fixed.

Standing Tall After another good winter, Kay has hit the 2024 season in fighting mood. His physical strength has helped him to pull through the pack late in races. “I am always going to be at a disadvantage against someone like Sacha Coenen when it comes to the start, but I now have enough left towards the end of the races when others maybe do not.” That was evident in Argentina, as he made a stunning last corner pass on Thibault Benistant in race one, a move that would prove crucial in taking the overall win there. His teammate Lucas Coenen looked strong, but fell on the final lap in race

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two after De Wolf had charged through into second, good enough for the GP victory anyway, until that late slip gave Kay a tasty three-point bonus with his 6th career GP race win.

Does the Dutchman’s height give him any advantage or disadvantage, does he feel? “I maybe lose a little at the start, but I think in the sand especially my long legs help. Also, on some occasions it helps to keep me on the bike, like when Thibault came across me on the first lap in Spain! If my legs were a little shorter then I probably wouldn’t have stayed on and got my second GP win in a row.”

That move by Benistant was a desperate one to prevent another De Wolf runaway, as the series leader had been unstoppable in both the RAM Qualifying Race and the opening GP race of the day. “This year’s bike is really, really good, so I can’t thank the team enough for that.” With a mental approach that seems to take the pressure off even when fighting for a title, it seems that Kay has developed serious mental strength as well. Even when reigning Champion Adamo caught and passed him for the lead in race two in Spain, he knew that the overall win was still his, and even that was way beyond his target for the weekend.

“My team and I have set our target on getting to the podium every weekend. With so many fast riders we know that being consistent is so important, so when Adamo passed me in Spain, I knew I was still gonna get the podium, and the same in Sardinia when Lucas passed me in race one. I didn’t panic, and I also knew that I would need to save some strength for the second race at Riola Sardo.”

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Grooving It was at the third round that Kay displayed his coolness under pressure, visibly relaxed on the startline, he was seen grooving along to the trackside music –“they played a really cool tune while I was on the line.” A keen eye on the sighting lap also noted that the second corner had been worked on by the track crew between races. “I knew that I had to come out of the first corner on the tight line, then go for the right side in turn two as I could see that I would be able to blast around the outside!” He did just that, and from exiting turn one in fourth, he passed the entire top three to lead past pit lane to the delight of his team!

Although Trentino did not go to plan in the end, a commanding win in the opening race showed that the pace is still there on the hard surfaces, and a charge back from a first corner pile-up to 8th displayed superb resilience under pressure. He left that fourth round with a solid 26-point lead, heading into a quartet of hard pack circuits where his chief opposition, such as second-placed rider Simon Laengenfelder, Adamo, Benistant, and Trentino GP winner Liam Everts will all fancy their chances.

Kay de Wolf will turn 20 years old on the last day of the 2024 Grand Prix season. With four-fifths of the season still remaining, the golden present that he is looking for is very much on the cards. With all that Motocross can throw at its combatants, nothing is guaranteed, but it will be an enthralling story to tell between now and then to see if Kay can continue his run to a first world title.

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MONSTER GIRLS

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MONSTER GIRLS

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BLOG

“PHOTOGRAPHY CAN LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESsION ON EVERYONE WHO SEeS IT.”

by Julie Cogis Photographer

I’M JULIE, AND IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU THROUGH THE PAGES OF MXGP MAG. SOME OF YOU MAY ALREADY KNOW ME, AND FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW ME YET, I’VE BEEN PART OF THE PADDOCK SCENE SINCE 2010, WEARING MULTIPLE HATS AS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND COMMUNITY/SOCIAL MANAGER.

My work takes me across various championships throughout the year—French motocross, supercross, the French Sable championship, WSX, and of course, MXGP. Kicking off the season in Argentina, especially in Patagonia, is always really special. This is my fifth year here, and what a place this is. The first Grand Prix of the season attracts a large crowd of Argentinian fans, some of whom travel far and wide just to see this GP. Let me take you through my journey, which I shared with Eva, my photographer colleague and long-time friend, whom I have been following the MXGP for several years.

After wrapping up the French Sand Championship in Le Touquet on February 4th, I departed off from Paris CDG on March 5th, straight to Buenos Aires where I met Eva. After a night’s rest in the capital, we hopped on our next flight to San Carlo de Bariloche. Touching down in Bariloche, it was time for us to grab a Pick-Up and decided to get a little detour to Chile for a couple of days. The drive was scenic, with landscapes that felt like a world away from Argentina. Our destination …

Puyehue.

Puyehue is located in the south of the Central Valley of Chile and on the shores of Lake Llanquihue. Frutillar

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is located 821 kilometres as the crow flies south of the capital Santiago and 94 kilometres north of Puerto Montt, capital of the Lakes Region. We opted for accommodation with a view of Lake Puyehue to fully immerse ourselves in the beauty of the area.

We spent our time exploring, from visiting the Anticura waterfall in Parque Nacional Puyehue to getting up close to the different amazing volcanoes that you can see across the landscape. But soon enough, we had to hit the road again as Thursday was our first official day in Villa La Angostura for the Grand Prix of Patagonia-Argentina.

Capturing the arrival of the team boxes and bikes is always a highlight and a special moment as everything builds-up toward Sunday racing.

When it came to downtime after a long ‘working day’ we tried to find some nice restaurants, and the local Argentinian food is a must. A thing that is absolutely worth testing, Provoleta! An Argentinian specialty that is found in many restaurants. It owes its name to the “Provolone”, Italian cheese with which it is made. We also stumbled upon a creperie in Villa La Angostura, bringing a taste of Brittany to Argentina. That was a hit!

Going back to the job, each race weekend, my goal, my objective is to provide a quality work from start to finish. As a photographer the challenge is all about capturing each moment in the most beautiful way and converting thrilling action into stunning images.

Photography can translate the beauty and intensity of the event through a moment, an emotion, a beautiful action. This is exactly why we do this job, this passion.

Photography can leave a lasting impression on everyone who sees it.

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SPECIAL FEATURE 50

LARISsA PAPENMEIER ALWAYS ONE MORE YEAR! AS A NEW WAVE OF TEENAGE TALENT WASHES INTO THE 20TH EDITION OF THE WMX WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, RIDERS FROM THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE COMPETITION SUCH AS GERMANY’S LARISSA PAPENMEIER ARE FIGHTING HARD TO KEEP THEIR PLACE AMONGST THE TOP FEMALE MOTOCROSS RACERS ON THE PLANET.

It was way back in 2005 that Stephanie Laier won both races at the single Championship event at Uddevalla in Sweden, on the 2nd of July, to be crowned the first Women’s World Champion on the Saturday before the men’s races, which were won by Josh Coppins in MX1, as it was called then, and Antonio Cairoli in MX2.

The following year, a 16-year-old German named Larissa Papenmeier entered the competition as it graduated to two rounds, and the opening GP was in her home country. 4th overall behind future WMX titans Laier, Livia Lancelot, and winner Katherine Prumm immediately showed that she was an exciting talent. Teutschenthal was again the opening round in 2007, and the home heroine left as the series leader, having taken a massively popular victory in front of her delighted local fans. “At the time there was no social media, so when I won and got the pink plate as the points leader, I gave it to my boss and said ‘Here you can take that, I won’t need it,’ I just didn’t know what it was! The crowd was crazy, I just didn’t understand it, I couldn’t even get to my camper, as there were so many fans around it, people asking for photos and autographs, it was just the best experience!”

The third and final round in the deep sand of the Netherlands, the particularly unforgiving Lierop in

this case, was unfamiliar going for Larissa, and 9-9 finishes weren’t quite enough to deny the charge of reigning Champion Prumm, and the German was relegated to 4th overall. It was still a meteoric rise to the top of the sport.

So how did Larissa get started in Motocross?

“When I was 5 years old, my family had nothing to do with bikes, but I saw a neighbour who had a bike, and I wanted it straight away but knew I was too small. Then sometime later I saw a small bike in a shop that I could fit on! I told my mother that I didn’t want any dolls, I didn’t want any toys, I just wanted a motorcycle! I was supposed to get one for Christmas, but I was playing hide and seek with my brother and found the bike in October! My brother and sister also had a chance to ride, but after a few crashes they were scared of it, so I was the only one who survived!”

The series extended to five rounds in 2008, and again Larissa came firing out of the blocks, winning the opening race in Bulgaria. A secondrace DNF was a setback she was never quite able to recover from: “They had just watered before our race, and [American racer] Ashley Fiolek jumped into my leg, and I had a deep cut, through my boot, even going through ligaments.

It was a painful injury, even for the rest of the year.” The progress she made was shown with

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a fine second place behind new Champion Livia Lancelot in the final race of the season at Lierop.

A further extension to a seven-round series in 2009 saw Larissa challenge regularly at the front, although Lancelot and Laier just had the edge in pace. An injury to the French star left Papenmeier in a clear second for the series. Although she would have more successful seasons in terms of race wins, she would never quite get as high as 2nd in the Championship again.

A repeat of her victory at Teutschenthal in 2010 – “It was great how much the home crowd shouted for me and supported me. The fans were always amazing for me in my home country” - was followed up with an overall win at Fermo in Italy.

It saw Larissa put a late charge on the title, but Laier and Lancelot were once more just out of reach. “I always wanted to race as a professional, but I wasn’t ever able to. I went to high school, studying accountancy and book-keeping, then I had to do an apprenticeship and study before I could go to work properly. I always wanted to have something for my future and stand on my own two feet. It was my choice and maybe it did cost me a world title, but I went that way, and I am also happy about that.”

IT’S NICE TO SEE RIDERS LIKE DANIELA GUILLEN AND LOTTE VAN DRUNEN GETTING TO THE FRONT, THEY HAVE A GOOD PACE AND THEY ARE STRONG, THE WHOLE LEVEL HAS TAKEN A STEP UP.”

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This caused Larissa to change her race number for 2011 to match her previous scores in the Championship, the number 423 summing up that she had finished in every position apart from 1st. She still runs it to the present day. The WMX series started to race alongside the now defunct MX3 World Championship tour, and Larissa wasn’t much of a fan. “I didn’t really want to support that because I thought that our Championship was being sort of pushed under the table, but I also broke my leg in 2013, so I didn’t want to travel too much when I wasn’t sure how high I would finish.”

newcomer Nancy van de Ven. The super-deep sand of Assen was particularly difficult – “That kind of sand is not my strongest point because I’m not the biggest rider physically. Some sand tracks have a good flow and I can pick my lines, and it also depends on how much sand I ride on before. We have one really deep sand track at Grevenbroich near Cologne, which maybe in winter is the only place you can ride, so if we started the year with a sand GP then I would go there a lot the winter before.”

Larissa broke her back in 2015, which put paid to her season, but she was able to recover to challenge closely for the World Championship in 2018, winning the opening GP at Trentino and battling with six-time Champion Kiara Fontanesi, fast New Zealander Courtney Duncan, as well as

This paid off massively in the COVID-affected season of 2020, when a win ahead of local ace Van de Ven at Valkenswaard before the break in racing put her in a strong position. When the season restarted, she also took overall victory at the first of two GPs at Mantova. With two rounds to go, Larissa held the series lead.

“Valkenswaard was awesome because I didn’t expect to win there at all, but because of my time at Grevenbroich I was much better in the sand by then.” Ultimately, Duncan was able to win the final two rounds ahead of Van de Ven, those two tying on points, just 7 ahead of Larissa’s total.

Courtney took the title on the race-win tiebreaker!

2021 again saw Larissa not quite able to break the stranglehold of Duncan and co, and despite a final round victory at Trentino she was unable to get higher than fourth in the series. Other challengers started to appear, in the shape of Dutch star Lynn Valk, who took the challenge to Van de Ven in 2022 as Duncan got injured, and the German was once more third in the series,

with another Dutchwoman, Shana van der Vlist, also making her presence felt.

The latest influx of talent, whilst not making it easy for Larissa on the track, is something that she welcomes: “For sure the riding level has got higher, for a couple of years it was just the same old girls at the front and nobody else came through. It’s nice to see riders like Daniela Guillen and Lotte van Drunen getting to the front, they have a good pace and they are strong, the whole level has taken a step up.”

While the racing season for the Women’s World Championship now has seven rounds per year, Larissa also tries to race where she can in series like the German Women’s Championship, also

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mixing it with races against male competition.

“This season has been difficult as we are switching to Honda – it was just a better deal for me – and it is a completely new bike. We have been looking for circuits that are in decent enough condition to ride properly, but the weather has been so bad in Germany that most of the times I am just riding to survive and get some seat time rather than try things and test the bike as we would like to. The only times that we have had good weather have been at the GPs. Even the German Women’s Championship, which would have been great to get some racing time in, has been cancelled with the weather. I have raced some nationals and regional races against the boys, which helps to make me stronger, but it has been difficult so far this year.”

Larissa does have to go to work in the week, currently with her brother’s heating and insulation business where she does the bookkeeping, but otherwise she likes the way that the series is heading. “I would like to see more races, up to maybe 10 rounds because it is a World Championship, and it would be good to race at better times when there are more fans at

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the track. Overseas races would also be nice, for the same reason. The level of the riding is good and the new stars are helping with that.”

How about Larissa’s own future in the sport?

“Well for the last few years I have always been thinking, OK this is the last year for me, then we finish the season in Turkey, which I like, and that track is good for me! So I have been getting good results and then I want to go again for another year! I am running my own team so as long as I want to keep going then I am able to do that.”

Now aged 34 and one of the original big stars of Women’s Motocross, maybe the best to not win a world title, it’s still a treat to see Larissa on track. Many of her new competitors grew up watching her and looking up to her, and it will be a sad day when she is no longer there.

But however well she does in her final years, Larissa Papenmeier can always hold her head high and look to her 8 FIM World Championship medals – one silver and seven bronze – as proof that she has been one of the best female Motocross riders on the planet for over a decade and a half.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

TOMmY SEARLE 2012 KAWASAKI KX250F TOMMY SEARLE WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF GREAT BRITAIN’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MOTOCROSS RACERS, WITH FOURTEEN GP VICTORIES, THREE MX2 SILVER MEDALS AND A BRONZE – NOT TO MENTION HIS MEDALS AND INDIVIDUAL CLASS WINS AT THE MONSTER ENERGY FIM MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS.

One of his most memorable seasons was 2012 where he ran Jeffrey Herlings all the way to the chequered flag in what was a fiercely fought championship on both sides, and although TS100 was pipped to the title, that 2012 MX2 season was certainly one for the ages, and it’s Searle’s 2012

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Kawasaki KX250F that we will feature in this issue of MXGP Magazine

After a two-year stint in America, Tommy Searle returned to the FIM Motocross World Championship in 2011, where he placed 3rd overall behind the KTM duo of Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings, and it was clear to everyone at CLS Kawasaki that if the team was going to be a serious contender for the title in 2012, then more needed to be done in order to make that happen.

The team’s chief mechanic was Harry Nolte, the legendary Dutch tuning guru who’d been around long enough to know what needed to be done and

as he points out, it was a challenging off-season, for him in particular: ‘We worked really hard during the winter because we saw that (what we had) was not enough to beat KTM, so we worked really hard on the engine during that winter, that I remember. We started immediately after the MXoN with testing, the Dyno and riding, and I didn’t take one day off during that time.’

To the naked eye, the bike looked relatively standard, but upon closer inspection, there were a few giveaways which suggested otherwise. Not that this was a factory KX250F – far from it – but what CLS did have at that time, was a team of keen and willing crew who were prepared to go the extra mile, in order to be competitive.

Since 2010, CLS Kawasaki had partnered with Pro-Circuit, and so by now the relationship between Harry and Mitch Payton was well established, meaning the flow of information was constant. It needed to be, because compared to the might of KTM where money was no issue, budgets less restricted and personnel plentiful compared to the small private set-up of CLS, this small group of people on both sides of the Atlantic were nothing but enthusiastic in their quest of winning the MX2 world championship.

One of the biggest challenges with using the renowned American tuning company was the different rules and regulations between AMA Supercross and Motocross, and those in the FIM World Championship. In the USA, noise levels were higher than in Europe, along with higher octane levels for fuel, and so what worked for ProCircuit Kawasaki in America, didn’t necessarily translate in Europe. More on that shortly though, but first, here’s a breakdown of the bike itself.

The chassis was standard and suspended by 48mm factory Showa forks and rear shock. The triple camps were Pro-Circuit, along with the engine, pipe and silencer. The swingarm may have looked standard, and to all intents and purposes, it was, except Nolte was able to increase the wheelbase by around 6 or 7mm for better stability, by machining out the rear axle sleeve. The linkage was standard.

The throttle body was also a Pro-Circuit item. On the inside, the PC piston was married to a Pankl piston whilst the clutch was supplied by Hinson.

The difference here was that the outer basket was a lot better and the inner basket allowed more oil to pass through the pressure plate. Stiffer ProCircuit clutch springs were also used.

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The radiators may have looked standard but actually, not only were they larger in size, but the left rad’ was 15% larger than standard with the right measuring 10% bigger than stock. All of this for more efficient cooling for the demands of MXGP. The filter box also underwent a transformation with the addition of a different filter boot, supplied by Pro-Circuit, something which at the time made a significant difference.

The brake discs were from Braking, which in turn were married to standard Nissin callipers. Titanium nuts and bolts, stronger wheels and carbon skid plate finished off the aesthetics.

As for the Xtrac gearbox, Harry Nolte preferred to stick with the 5-speed option, as he points out: ‘We stuck with 5 gears because we knew if we go to Mexico for example, where we are at altitude, then we needed a first gear. And I also know from my experience that Glen Helen in America for example, you need five gears for the start straight, so yeah, it made not so much sense to screw around with the number of gears at that time.’

Heading into the new season, the team thought they had closed the gap to KTM, to the point where they really believed they could be a legitimate threat, and whilst they had reduced it, it wasn’t until around the third or fourth round that they found another gear. So, what changed?

‘During the winter we just tried to make as much power as possible because we were lacking that in 2011, so we worked really hard in the off-season to level-up with KTM,’ Nolte opined, ‘and I remember the first 3-4 GP’s … and KTM had a lot more budget and more people to get their bike better – and so we were a little behind again, but then we changed again something with the Pro-Circuit pipe and also the ignition and we were like the same as them. Mitch always sent some updates with different header pipes and stuff, and we always discussed with Mitch, because we had to deal with the noise difference between the US and Europe. We also did a lot with the GET ignitions. We also modified cam-shaft timings and all of those kind of things, as well as different cranks with VHM.’

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As for Tommy, looking back on 2012 now, it all seems a bit of a blur with regards to the bike, and all he could recollect was, ‘If Harry says it was better, then it must have been because he was the one that would’ve been looking at the Dyno. I mean, I got some holeshots on it, so it must have been there or there abouts, and we were battling with Jeffrey all year. I can’t remember having any complaints about it and I really used to like working with Harry and he was a big factor; I think I even had it written in my contract that he had to be there on the team, so I trusted him in what he did. But it’s hard to know, isn’t it? You just have the bike you’ve got, I can’t imagine it was better than the KTMs at the time, but I don’t think it was too

much off, but then maybe the Kawasaki was better in other ways; like our handling was probably a lot better than the KTM, so it was a bit of give and take.’

At round five in Brazil, Searle went 1-1 to close the gap to Herlings at the top of the table, memorable for the fact that it was a mudder. Searle came in to change his gloves in one of the races and as Nolte recalls, ‘still won the race easily.’ The other stand out GP was at Matterley Basin, which was quite possibly the GP of the year – more on that later – but the title took a dent in Latvia when Searle suffered two rare DNF’s. The first was due to a collision which caused the radiator hose to come off, and the second was when his mousse came off the rim, something which bizarrely, had happened to Herlings in the day before in the

Qualifying Race. With the kind of form that both Searle and Herlings were in during that season, neither rider could afford to lose any amounts of points, and when Herlings went 1-1 to Searle’s 4-4 at Lierop, the title was all but decided in favour of the Bullet.

Looking back on the season, Tommy points to Brazil and Matterley Basin as high points but the bad luck that was dished out in Italy and Latvia still nags at him as well: ‘Coming down the first hill in Fermo, someone got it wrong and smashed into the side of me and knocked something off the bike and it blew up, maybe smashed the radiator or something. Not

from me crashing but from someone crashing into me when I was in 2nd, and the bike stopped.’

‘We had a lot of bad luck that year, freak things, like Latvia, the inner tube thing. But that 1-1 in Brazil put us back in the fight again, which we were doing a lot that year. I won the first moto in Brazil, then there was talk of cancelling it which was good because then I’ve got a bit of money in the bank for the overall, and then they ended up running the race and I manged to get another win, so we gained quite a few points at that round.

I remember lapping Jeffrey in one race, so he obviously had problems.’

By the time we hit the British GP at Matterley Basin, Tommy was 57 points off the lead, and

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whilst there were still four rounds left and a potential 200 points up for grabs, with the way Tommy and Jeffrey were riding, the championship, according to the Brit, was all but done and dusted, but that didn’t stop him from having probably one of the best GP’s of his life, as he recalls: ‘Well, that one was sort of like ‘this is all I’ve got left,’ you know? The championship had pretty much gone with the DNFs and everything that had gone on before, so I thought if I could salvage anything now to win my home GP, it would be a bit of a softener. But that was just an unbelievable weekend really, right from the start to the finish.

I remember I crashed in the Qualifying Race and got an 8th or something, and then Sunday was just a dream day. I got the win in the first race and a holeshot, and Jeffrey came from about 5th and sort of caught me up, we battled for a bit, and then he fell when was right behind me on the last lap. I remember after the first race, I was so relieved because obviously, your home GP you put a lot of pressure on yourself, and with the year that it was, so many British public had got behind me and I felt like I gave them something to cheer for after winning that first race.

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‘I struggled to eat that day and I had real bad stomach cramps in between moto’s, so even though I was so depleted in energy and my body, I managed to somehow pull off another win. Jeffrey had another 5th place start, managed to close down a 4-5 second gap, he passed me in the

waves and I managed to slingshot back past him and he was on me the rest of the race, and I think he crashed again on the last lap, and then yeah, I genuinely couldn’t believe it.’

Herlings dominated the Dutch GP next time out before clinching the title in Faenza with a round to go, but looking back, the opportunity for a private team to win a world title was there for the taking.

But sadly, it just wasn’t to be.

In terms of bikes that could have won a world title, then Searle’s 2012 Kawasaki KX250F is certainly up there as his season stats suggest: •

11 Race Wins / 10 x 2nd / 6 x 3rd

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13 podiums: 6 x 1st / 6 x 2nd / 1 x 3rd

• 27 top three race finishes from 32 starts: (2 x 4th / 3 x DNF) Searle’s fourteenth and final GP victory came at the final round at Teutschenthal, Germany, when he cruised to a comfortable double-race victory, where ironically, Herlings failed to score in the first race. Had Tommy and the team not suffered those three no scores earlier in the season, we could have potentially seen a different outcome to the 2012 season. But, if’s, but’s and maybe’s, won’t change anything.

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HALL OF FAME

JEAN JACQUES BRUNO He finally got his first French license in 1973 and won the regional championship.

One year later entered and dominated the 250ccFrench Junior championship, winning eight of twelve races. Moving to the International 250cc class in 1975, he finished runner up behind French start Daniel Pean, and had a first taste of a Grand Prix when he entered the 250cc French round at Thomer la Sogne.

Racing several rounds of the 250cc World Championship in 1976, he collected his first injury that year with a broken collarbone, but scored points in several occasions, including a fourth position in a moto during the German GP. Tenth of the 250cc World Championship in 1977, he finally beat Daniel Pean in France to collect his first 250cc French title, and signed a contract to race the 500cc GP’s with KTM Factory in 1978.

Teammate in the 500cc KTM factory team with his longtime friend Andre Malherbe, he finished ninth in 1978 for his first season with the ‘big boys’ and improved his results in 1979.

He gained only one position in the standings, with a WINNER OF THREE 500CC GRANDS PRIX WHEN THIS ninth overall, but CLASS WAS THE TOP CATEGORY OF THE FIM MOTOCROSS that season was brilliant with some WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, AND IN THE TOP TEN OF THE top results. At the SERIES DURING SEVEN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS, JEAN French Grand Prix in Thouars, second round JACQUES BRUNO WAS WITH DANIEL PEAN (HALL OF of the series, he beat FAME #107) AN EXAMPLE FOR MANY YOUNG FRENCH Graham Noyce and RIDERS WHO LATER WALKED ON HIS FOOTSTEPS. Brad Lackey to become the first French rider to ever win a World championship moto; Lacky won that day the second moto ‘Born on 28th April 1957 in Aibes, a little and the GP, but with a fifth place in that village in Northern France close to the heat, Jean Jacques secured his first GP Belgian border, Jean Jacques discovered podium with a second overall. Two months motocross when he watched some Belgian later at Beuern, Germany, he won another races with his parents, who were farmers moto and his first ever Grand Prix ahead in his native village. He wasn’t ten years of André Malherbe and Roger De Coster. It old when he borrowed his mother’s moped to was the first ever French win in the 500cc go riding and have fun in a field near the class, just two years after the first ever family’s house. When he came back home he French victory by Daniel Pean at the 250cc was afraid of being told off, but his GP of Yugoslavia. Thanks to these good parents were smiling and three years later results he signed a contract with Suzuki he lined up for the first time behind a to replace Roger De Coster, being the gate in some local races in Belgium. At first French rider to ever join a Japanese that period, you couldn’t get a license in factory which was a ‘must’ in the 80’s.

France before you turned sixteen.

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His first season in yellow was not the best, as he contracted a shoulder injury early that season and felt discomfort all year long. French champion one more time – his fifth of seven – he had a better season in 1981. Runner up behind Malherbe at the opening GP in Austria, he then missed consistency as he finished only half of the races during the first six of twelve rounds. Luckily the second part of the season was better with race podiums in Great Britain and Netherlands, and another GP win in Czech Republic when he beat André Vromans and Hakan Carlqvist. One week later he won the first moto in Namur to enter the top five of the series and saved his factory ride. It was his best ever season, and even if he won another GP in the Finish sands in 1982, he couldn’t race the entire season due to a knee injury. He did his last full GP campaign in 1983, with a minor support from Suzuki, got another top ten result with an eighth position in the series, and then focus mainly on the French races as a privateer.

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He stopped racing motocross in 1988, discovered jet ski and entered another racing career in this sport where he became one of the best French athletes, winning races and a French title. Back a few years later in the motocross world as a private coach, and later as a trainer for the French Federation, he had the opportunity to share all his experience with some young French riders and to train some young hopes such as Antoine Meo, who claimed later several enduro World titles.

Text & Photos : Pascal Haudiquert

1977

FRENCH JUNIOR CHAMPION (KTM)

1975:

2ND IN THE 250 FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM)

1976:

17TH IN THE 250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM) WINNER OF ‘THE CUP DE L’AVENIR’ 2ND IN THE 250 FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIP

1977:

10TH IN THE 250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM) 250 FRENCH CHAMPION

1978:

9TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM) 500 FRENCH CHAMPION

1979:

8TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KTM). WIN 1 GP 500 FRENCH CHAMPION

1980:

7TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (SUZUKI) 500 FRENCH CHAMPION

1981:

5TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (SUZUKI). WIN 1 GP 500 FRENCH CHAMPION

1982:

9TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (SUZUKI). WIN 1 GP 2ND IN THE 500 FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER OF THE FRENCH ‘SUPER CHAMPIONSHIP’

1983:

8TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (SUZUKI)

1985:

26TH IN THE 500 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (KAWASAKI) 2ND IN THE 500 FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIP

JORGE PRADO GARCIA 2023 MXGP WORLD CHAMPION

ANDREA ADAMO

2023 MX2 WORLD CHAMPION

“WE SELL WHAT WE RACE, WE RACE WHAT WE SELL”

PADDOCK TALKS 1

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1 Queen of the Sand. Lotte van Drunen keep her status of new best world female rider in the sand with two epic races wins in the tough sand of Riola Sardo. Lotte is now the red plate holder of WMX championship.

2 MXGP & MX2 family photo! All the best world championship riders gathering together for a very pleasant moment under the Sardinian sun of Riola Sardo.

3 Jorge Prado dominated the start a 2024 MXGP season with an impressive four wins in a row and 79,2% of the time in front of the GP races!

4 Like a tradition, Tim Gajser received a tremendous welcome in Trentino, which he considers like his “Home GP”. 2/4 for 2nd overall for the 5-time World Champion.

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5 Andrea Bonacorsi is now a MXGP rider! To replace Maxime Renaux, the reigning EMX250 champion step up in the main class from the MXGP of Portugal in Agueda with a factory 450 YZ-F machine.

6 MXGP Media Event in the town of Riola Sardo highlighted beautiful sharing moments with local producers and fans, and with a Sardinian folkloric show. The beauty of a world championship!

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7 Roan Van de Moosdijk clinched a factory bar from MXGP of Sardegna on the prestigious HRC CR450F to replace Rubén Fernandez. Unfortunately, physical issues stop his adventure with the Japanese factory after one GP. 8 Enduropale du Touquet winner Todd Kellett came in Riola Sardo to defend the blue color of Yamaha on his beloved sand texture. With 21/16 races results, Kellett took points in his pocket and a great experience of racing.

9 Actual EMX125 championship leader, Noel Zanocz wears all the Hungarian hopes for the future of Motocross at the top level.

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