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TRUE SPIRIT VIKING

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RACING CATCH UP

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RIDER OF THE MONTH ISAK GIFTING

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RACING CATCH UP

MONSTER GIRLS

MXGP MAG

Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: MXGP

INFRONT MOTO RACING MEDIA

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MXGP Mag #141 2025

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.

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GIRLS

DEAR MXGP FANS, HERE WE ARE, THE LAST SPRINT BEFORE THE END OF THE SEASON HAS JUST STARTED. AFTER THREE FANTASTIC GRAND PRIX THAT WILL FOR SURE STAY IN THE MEMORY OF THE FANS, WE HAVE ARRIVED TO THE FINAL THREE EVENTS OF THE SEASON WITH ALL THE TITLES STILL TO BE GIVEN IN MX2 AND MXGP, BUT ALSO IN EMX250 AND WMX.

Firstly, in MXGP, the battle between the Belgium rising star Lucas Coenen and Romain Febvre gained in intensity during the last month. In Belgium, in front of record-breaking spectators number, Coenen offered a GP victory that the Belgium fans didn’t celebrate since Clement Desalle!

In Sweden, the full attention was again on the local hero Isak Gifting, who did a fantastic performance by leading the pack in the second race before making a mistake. His example shows once again how unique motocross is inside the Motorsport family. What happened in Sweden with Isak confirms that in our sport the man is still more important than the machine, and his performance will remain in the head of everybody and bring hope to the privateers who participate in the MXGP.

Finally, in Arhnem, Jeffrey Herlings scored a perfect 1-1-1 in front of his home crowd, showing here again that he remains one of the fastest riders on the planet scoring his 110 Grand Prix victory. Now the gap between Romain Febvre and Lucas Coenen is 31 points with still 180 to be given. We will for sure have an emotional end of season until Australia!

In MX2, same story but three actors; after the Dutch Grand Prix Simon Längenfelder saw his comfortable gap on Kay De Wolf being reduced to 15 points, the German will have to give his best to keep the red plate until the end. On the other hand, Andrea Adamo, who never gives up, is still in the game for the title chase as he is only 38 points behind the German star. It will be very exciting to see how these three fantastic young talents will adapt to the upcoming Grand Prix,

where they will have to ride on new hard pack tracks in China and Australia.

In Turkey, it will be the final round of the EMX250cc. On top of it the WMX will be part of the program before their final race for the first time heading to Darwin, Australia.

The Monster Energy Motocross of Nations is gearing up as well as most of the Nations have announced their selection. We will have one of the highest levels of competition since years with the quality of the top teams but also the quality of many riders who are part of other Nations. It is a dream of every Motocross fan to attend a race with riders like Gajser, Febvre, Lucas and Sasha Coenen, De Wolf, Tomac, Deegan, Sexton, Jett and Hunter Lawrence, Cairoli, Roczen and many more, and the MXoN is the only event in the World to make it possible. It will be a celebration of our sport!

It is time to enjoy the last sprint of the season, if you can’t join us around the World, you won’t miss any action on MXGP-TV.com.

Junior World Champion, is sitting only six points back of the Italian talent, Nicolo Alvisi. It will for sure be exciting and emotional.

See you in Lommel.

David Luongo CEO of Infront Moto Racing

COOL SHOTS

DIGgING DEeP

WHAT A MONTH OF RACING WE WITNESSED IN AUGUST, A MONTH WHICH HAD EVERYTHING. WE VENTURED TO THE TOUGHEST CIRCUIT IN THE WORLD, THE LAND OF THE VIKINGS AND BACK TO THE NETHERLANDS FOR ANOTHER BATTLE OF ARNHEM. THERE WERE HIGHS AND LOWS, AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN WE CROWNED OUR EMX125 AND OPEN CLASS CHAMPIONS.

Let’s kick things off with the MXGP of Flanders then, shall we? One week after the hard pack of Loket, we headed 700km west to the epicentre of world motocross, to the circuit of Lommel, or Lommelwood, as it’s affectionately known. On this occasion we were joined by the EMX125 Championship, presented by FMF Racing, who would be lining up behind the gates the final time this season, along with the EMX Open Class riders, for their one-off championship weekend of fun ¬¬– if Lommel can be called fun, that is.

In the Open class, it was Belgium’s home grown ‘hero’ Cedric Grobben who rode away with the gold medal after two stunning performances, where his first race win was followed up with a come-frombehind 3rd place finish which was enough to secure him the overall victory from Latvia’s Mauris Pumpurs. Pumpurs looked to be the favourite after setting the fastest lap in Time Practice, but his nerves got the better of him in race one, where he placed 10th. By race two, he’d had a good old-fashioned word with himself, and took the win by more than twenty seconds, for 2nd overall. Rounding out the podium was Adrien Petit of France, who earlier this year took the overall win at the opening round of EMX250 at a muddy Cozar, and 2nd overall in France one week later at Saint Jean d’Angely. For Petit, a 3-8 was good enough to net him the bronze medal.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

After eleven rounds of competition, Lommel also staged the final round of EMX125 where the top two riders, Nicolo Alvisi and Mano Faure were separated by just six points. For Alvisi, the Racestore KTM Factory Rookies rider fell several times in the early stages of race one, before getting his head back in the game to recover to an impressive 6th place. His

rival Mano Faure though, was equally frustrated, and was a reluctant 2nd behind his Yamaha Europe MJC teammate, Jarne Bervoets, who celebrated his first EMX125 race victory. Heading into the final race of the year meant that two riders were now separated by just a single point, with Faure the new leader.

This time around it was the French rider who refused to stay on two wheels; the ‘295’ fell in turn one when it looked like he’d grabbed the holeshot, and then at least twice more during the race. Eventually, Faure came home in 11th and when Alvisi crossed the line in 2nd, it was good enough to be crowned EMX125 Champion, presented by FMF Racing. The Italian also won the 2023 EMX85cc championship as well, so he now gets to call himself a two-time European champion. Faure was 2nd overall in the series, despite taking six overall victories during the campaign. Filippo Mantovani of Italy secured the bronze medal, after landing three podiums along the way.

The final round podium from Flanders though saw Jarne Bervoets take his second overall win of the season, from 2022 EMX65 Champion, Ricardo Bauer of Austria and Jekabs Kubulins, who finally found his way to the podium after four times placing 4th.

SAND SURFERS

So far, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Simon Langenfelder’s season has been solid, and heading into Lommel, the German held a 47-point lead over Andrea Adamo, with Nestaan Husqvarna’s Kay De Wolf twelve points further back, and 59 off the lead. In short, if De Wolf was going to successfully defend his number one plate, he needed to dig deep, and so in many ways, this Flanders GP couldn’t come soon enough. And, so it proved. De Wolf was outstanding,

going 1-1-1 to collect the maximum 60 points on offer, and not only did he reduce the gap to Langenfelder to 38 points, he also leapfrogged Adamo in second in the championship.

Monster Energy Triumph’s Camden Mc Lellan bagged himself his second podium of the season after racing to 2-3 results, for 2nd overall – the last time he did that was in Sardegna, round four, and rounding out the podium was Sacha Coenen, who sampled his share of the sand on several occasions, but battled on for 3rd in his home GP with 4-2 scores. As for Langenfelder, 7th and 4th left him 5th overall. But as the saying goes, you’d rather be 38 points clear, than 38 behind, right? The next GP in Sweden would be an interesting one, for sure.

All eyes in Lommel though were on the premier MXGP Class, as Jeffrey Herlings made a welcome return to action amidst the championship battle between

Romain Febvre and Lucas Coenen. Heading into Lommel, Romain Febvre had a podium streak of twelve consecutive rounds, with four wins, six second and two, third places finishes. By contrast, Lucas Coenen in his rookie campaign held a run of nine consecutive podiums, also with four wins. So, this one was going to be an interesting one. Throw into the mix other established sand riders, and on paper, it wasn’t going to be that straightforward.

Coenen struck first by winning the Blaklader qualifying race ahead of Febvre, with Calvin Vlaanderen 3rd on his Monster Energy Yamaha. In race one though, Febvre rode the perfect race, leading from start-tofinish, as Coenen battled from a poor start to 2nd. But what a race it was though, with Coenen carving through the field in rapid fashion; he even passed Febvre for the lead briefly, before the ‘3’ blasted back by the Belgian four corners later. Vlaanderen placed 3rd.

Another poor start in race two for Coenen meant he would have to charge through the pack again, especially as Febvre sat pretty in 2nd early on in the race. Also looking good was Herlings, who took his first FOX Holeshot since October 10th 2021, at Lacapelle Marival in France. His opening lap speed was impressive too, almost five seconds quicker than anyone else. It didn’t last long though, and on lap six, the ‘84’ was sent through the front door in the wave section, and after a couple more ‘offs’ had to be content with a brace of 8th place finishes for the weekend.

Febvre took over the lead and was joined immediately by Coenen, who was desperate to avenge his race one defeat. This time, the Belgian ‘96’ wasted no time at all and launched a surprising attack for the lead from out of nowhere on lap nine, which was good enough to seal the eventual win. A race win and overall GP victory for Lucas Coenen, to become the first Belgian to win at home in the premier class since

Kevin Strijbos took the win for Suzuki in 2016. Febvre took 2nd overall with Vlaanderen 3rd, for his second podium in three rounds. Great weather, great crowd, great racing and a great result for Belgium at home, once again.

VIKING TERRITORY

Two weeks later we headed north to Uddevalla, Sweden, where EMX250 and the Yamaha YZ BLU CRU FIM Europe Cup were also on the bill. A quick round up of the BLU CRU action first though. This Yamaha-only championship has been running for the 125cc riders since 2016, with the 65cc and 85cc classes being added in 2019. Yamaha riders qualify for this Superfinale via their own national championship, where the highest points scorers (on a Yamaha) get to be invited.

Yamaha create a Yamaha Village within the paddock where all the bikes are kept, the families are supported throughout the entire weekend with advice from Yamaha ambassadors such as Brian Jorgensen, Gautier Paulin and Nancy van de Ven, as well as being provided with hospitality. Another added bonus is, they get to mingle in the paddock and watch MX2 and MXGP do their thing. And what a GP to be a part of on this occasion.

The 65cc class was won by Tymon ANDRZEJEWSKI from Poland, with Holland’s Jann HUISMAN taking 2nd and Biel VILALTA of Spain finishing 3rd. All three riders plus two wildcards will travel to France in November for the Masterclass for more intense training, guidance and advice, where they will learn who will receive racing support for 2026 from Yamaha Motor Europe. The 85cc and 125cc riders will also be

in attendance during the three-day event, where the top three and two wildcards will also be invited along.

In the 85cc class, the win went for Nixon COPPINS of British-New Zealand heritage. What was equally special for him was that 20 years earlier, his father Josh went 1-1 to win the MX1 Class in the Grand Prix of Sweden, so something special to be a part of.

Taking 2nd overall was Holland’s Tijs van den Bogaard with 3rd place going to Willads Gordon of Denmark, who was the 65cc class winner in 2023 when the event was held at the MXoN at Ernee in France.

In the 125cc class, and probably the best race of the day, two British riders took to the top two steps with Drew STOCK taking the win after taking the lead on lap four. As arm pump kicked in, the ‘418’ came under

intense pressure from a host of riders, but eventually he managed to hold out for the win. The runner up spot went to Hayden STATT with Bertrum THORIUS of Denmark taking 3rd. Thorius had the opportunity to win, but fell whilst in the lead on lap four, and again whilst in contention late on.

In EMX250, the title race between Janis Reisulis and Noel Zanocz resumed but when all was said and done, it was the Hungarian Zanocz who took the win on his JM Honda after 3-1 finishes. Joining him on the podium, Francisco Garcia who took his Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki to 1-3 positions, with series leader Reisulis picking up 3rd after going 2-2 on his VHR VRT Yamaha. Heading to the penultimate round in Holland, Reisulis held a 27-point lead over Zanocz with Garcia 40 points further back.

MX2

It seems that every time Langenfelder’s lead is threatened, the German comes back swinging next time out, and that’s pretty much what happened in Sweden. Thibault Benistant took his fourth qualifying race win of the season, and when Langenfelder placed 2nd ahead of De Wolf, there was a one-point gain for the championship leader. When Adamo placed 9th, we thought it was going to be one of the GP’s for the former world champion, but when he bounced back with the win in race one, his title race was back on-track. After placing 5th in the first outing, Langenfelder fought back with the win, and with it, the overall GP win for the fifth time this season. De Wolf climbed the second step of the podium (3-3) as Adamo came home 3rd. After his win in race one, a freak incident which saw a rock smash the buckle

of his race pants meant racing at speed became difficult, and after a couple of mistakes, the best he could manage was 8th in race two. And so, when all was said and done, Langenfelder gained two points over De Wolf as Adamo lost ground to the front two.

MXGP

As far as Sweden goes, this GP will be remembered for one rider: ISAK GIFTING.

The ‘Gift’ kept on giving at his home GP, even more so than he did last year, and even though we saw the return of Tim Gajser, ALL of the headlines were about the Super Swede.

It started at the Media Opportunity in town on Friday where Gifting Viking helmet merch’ was on sale everywhere. In the paddock we had the capes, the blue and yellow flags, costumes and Gifting replica jerseys. On the hillside incredible scenes where the fans set off blue and yellow smoke flares, and on top of all of that, the noise was incredible.

If you were a Gifting fan, Saturday was a bit flat as the ‘517’ could only manage 14th in Timed Practice and 10th in the Blaklader qualifying race,

IF DE WOLF WAS GOING TO SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND HIS NUMBER ONE PLATE, HE NEEDED TO DIG DEEP

but by Sunday, the nerves had left the building. An incredible battle with Gajser was going well until both riders crashed out of 3rd and 4th on the third lap. But that didn’t matter, because Gifting had already shown he was up for the fight at home.

And then race two happened. We won’t go into a blow-by-blow account because by now, you all know what went down, but when Gifting passed Herlings for 2nd and then Febvre for the lead on the final lap, the whole hillside erupted. On the line was a first ever race win for the home hero, which for the fans was long overdue, just over twentyfive years overdue. The last ever Swedish race winner was Peter Johansson (KTM) in the 500cc class at the Swedish GP at Tibro on June 11th 2000 where he went 1-4 for 3rd overall.

Anyway, with just nine corners to go, with the crowd in full euphoric state, and Gifting gapping Febvre, that elusive race win, was just around the corner, although, what we mean by that is just around the FINAL corner, which Gifting did not reach. He fell with eight turns to go! Nobody could believe it. Despite that, the world found

a new hero in Isak Gifting. Remember, not all superheroes wear capes, unless your name is Gifting on the sighting lap at your how GP. Oh, and helmets, with horns on them. Priceless!

Febvre went 1-1-1 for the first time on what was the perfect weekend for him and Kawasaki. In contrast, Lucas Coenen could only manage 6-712 on a weekend where the lead between the two riders went from 9 points after Lommel, to 41 points after Sweden. Incredible. Herlings took just one week to be back on the podium with 2-2-2 and 2nd overall as Calvin Vlaanderen found the box for the third time in four races. Next stop, The Netherlands.

LET THE BATTLE COMMENCE

Holland saw the return of WMX after a three-month break, and heading into her home round, the Queen of Sand, Lotte Van Drunen held a slender six point margin over Kiara Fontanesi, with Lynn Valk just nine points further back. In fact, the top four were separated by 21 points, with Spain’s Daniela Guillen 4th in the standings.

Race one was a start to finish win for the home favourite as Guillen fought her way to 2nd with Shana van der Vlist 3rd ahead of Fontanesi. Valk fell at turn one and then again early in the race whilst coming through traffic, with the second crash resulting in a

broken leg for the Venrooy KTM rider, who will now sit out the remainder of the season. Get well soon Lynn.

Race two saw Fontanesi grab a holeshot as Van Drunen fluffed her lines, emerging just inside the top ten. Guillen took over the lead on the opening lap when Fontanesi had a huge get-off, eventually finishing 6th, salvaging decent points to keep her within touching distance of the championship lead.

Up front, Guillen started to pull clear as Van Drunen battled through to 2nd, and once she was there, made full use of the clear track ahead of her. Despite the strong ride though, it was Guillen who took the race win, her second of the season, taking the overall win in the process. It also ended Van Drunen’s win streak

at home. Van Drunen took 2nd overall with van der Vlist 3rd, her second podium of the season. With two rounds remaining in Turkey and Australia, this title fight is going down to the final round.

EMX250

Once again Francisco Garcia showed he is a contender for this title, despite the series nearing its end, and after an impressive win in race one, a fall cost him a possible 3rd overall win of the season. Instead, his 1-4 left him 2nd overall.

The win belonged to the championship leader, Janis Reisulis, the Latvian going 2-1 to extend his lead over Noel Zanocz from 27 points to 38 with one round remaining. Zanocz with a 3-5 missed the podium placing 4th overall, and will need to pull out all the stops in Turkey if he is to be crowned EMX250 Champion.

Making the podium for the first time ever was Australia’s Liam OWENS, the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna rider went 4-2 to seal the deal and moves to within three points of 6th placed Nicolai Skovbjerg in the standings.

DUTCHIES ON TOP

For the second successive grand prix, the atmosphere was electric, as the Dutch fans turned out in full-force to support their heroes. In MX2, Kay De Wolf arrived in Arnhem with a 40-point deficit which he was keen to address, and whilst he had issues in the Blaklader qualifying race where he placed 7th, at least he still scored points, unlike series leader, Langenfelder. The German had an eventful weekend, which began with damaged spokes in his rear wheel after a start crash forced him into Pit Lane for a wheel change in the Blaklader qualifying race. Andrea Adamo made the most of it and romped to his fourth quali win of the season, gaining points on his rivals in the process, but come race day, no-one was a match for the defending champ who took both race wins, the first one though more difficult than the first, as Sacha Coenen made him wait until four laps to go before he made his breakthrough.

Rounding out the podium was Andrea Adamo (3-3) and Sacha Coenen (4-2) as Langenfelder (8-5) was forced to settle for 6th overall. Camden Mc Lellan was unlucky to miss the podium in 4th overall, after an impressive second race ride saw him push De Wolf for the win for the entire race. Shame about his 5th in the first race. De Wolf capitalised on Langenfelders tough weekend and the gap has now closed from 40 points to just 15 with three rounds remaining. Game on folks, game on!

SWEET SIXTEEN

After a podium in Sweden, Jeffrey Herlings showed he was back or almost back to his normal self, and

coming into Arnhem, there was only one thing on his mind. Winning! And right from the very first session to the last, it was Herlings all the way, topping all sessions and going 1-1-1 in the races. Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story because there was a very determined Belgian to contend with who was keen to leave his own mark in this grand prix. Make no bones about it, Coenen was fast, but poor starts left him playing catch up in all races, so when he passed Romain Febvre on the final lap of race one for 2nd, that was already impressive in itself, but at what cost fitness-wise? Would he have enough in the tank for race two?

Another poor start for the ‘96’ left him 15th on the opening lap as Glenn Coldenhoff swept to his second FOX Holeshot of the weekend, with Herlings right behind in full flight. Three corners later and Herlings led the way from the Hoff, Febvre and Gajser. Lap two, Febvre crashed from 3rd, and when he remounted, he was just ahead of Coenen, who wasted no time passing his rival, on lap five. From there, Coenen had eyes on the race win, and by half distance was already up to 3rd, behind Gajser. As things stood at that point on lap ten, Herlings was looking at 1-1 and the overall win, with Coenen 2nd, Gajser 3rd and Coldenhoff missing the podium AGAIN, but when Coenen passed

Gajser for 2nd with 6 laps to go, that all changed, and The Hoff was up to 3rd overall.

The fans were going nuts. Now up to 2nd Coenen set his sights on Herlings, and despite catching him with three laps to go, the 18-year-old could not find a way past, and anyway, was Herlings really gonna let Coenen win in HIS backyard? Highly unlikely.

Despite his push, it was Herlings who took the win and the overall, securing his 110th GP victory and his SIXTEENTH on home sand. Incredible. Coenen’s 2-2 saw him close the gap to Febvre by 10 points, with the two now separated by thirty-one heading into the final three rounds, and as for Glenn Coldenhoff, his first home podium with 4-4 scores means he now has a 94-point margin over Ruben Fernandez in their fight for 3rd in the championship. Championship leader Romain Febvre’s 3-3-8 wasn’t the best weekend, but it wasn’t the worst either, but it did mean an end to his podium streak, which ends at fourteen in a row.

The next time you hear from us, all titles will be decided, but as always, if you want to follow all of the action LIVE, then the best place to do that is on www. mxgp-tv.com

See you on the flip side.

MONSTER GIRLS

ISAK GIFTING –INSPIRING SWEDE DREAMS

THE NATION OF SWEDEN, HISTORICALLY SUCH A RICH SOURCE OF STRONG, FAST, AND COLOURFUL MOTOCROSS RACERS, HAS FACED A LONG WAIT FOR A NEW HERO. AT THE 2025 MXGP OF SWEDEN, ISAK GIFTING GAVE US A GLIMPSE OF THE ADORATION THAT AWAITS THEIR NEXT TRUE WORLD CLASS RACER, AND THAT HE HAS EVERY CHANCE OF BECOMING THAT VERY HERO THAT SWEDISH FANS ARE YEARNING FOR.

At the very dawn of World Championship Motocross, Swedish riders, and motorcycles, dominated proceedings. Eight of the first nine World Champions flew the blue-andyellow Nordic cross, from Bill Nilsson to Sten Lundin with his Monark to Rolf Tibblin, Bengt Aberg and Torsten Hallman on the legendary Husqvarna machinery which won the first two world titles in the 250cc class. Torsten was the first rider to win four world crowns, and his clothing brand Thor (Torsten Hallman Off Road), is one of the biggest brands in the sport to this day.

The 1970s saw Torlief Hansen take the first ever GP victories for Kawasaki, while Håkan Andersson claimed Yamaha’s first ever world crown, before his mighty namesake Håkan Carlqvist won the last title for Husqvarna under Swedish ownership in 1979. He went on to win legions of fans as a 500cc Champion for Yamaha and of course for that incredible win at Namur 1988 with the famous beer stop!

The only Swedish World Champion after Carlqvist was Marcus Hansson, who took the last ever title for a 500cc two-stroke rider in 1994. Joakim Karlsson won four races but no overall GP in the 1990s despite winning domestic titles in the UK. Typically tall but smooth on the bike was Peter Johansson, who enjoyed a 17-year GP career with factory rides for Yamaha, the then-Italian Husqvarna, and KTM, took his last and Sweden’s most recent Motocross GP win in the 2000 Austrian 500cc GP at Schwanenstadt. Since then, the Viking helmet-wearing fans have been searching for their next real challenger.

VIKING HOPE

Isak Gifting first started making waves in 2016, as a 15-year-old who immediately challenged the top ten EMX125 runners with his determined aggression, which earned him a fourth position at Trentino, in a race won by Jago Geerts, in just Isak’s third race in the class.

As would often be the case throughout this career, some races were missed with injury, but he returned in 2017 to take a solid third

overall at Mantova behind Mikkel Haarup and Gianluca Facchetti. In EMX250, again injury disrupted his progress, but he first started pleasing Swedish fans with a fifth overall at Uddevalla to close the 2019 season in strong fashion.

The year of transition for Isak was the COVIDaffected season of 2020. With three second places across the first three rounds of EMX250 in the sands of Valkenswaard and Kegums, he caught the eye enough to get a call-up for the Diga Procross GASGAS Factory Racing squad in MX2. Amazingly finishing 12th in the World Championship despite missing the first eight GPs, he finished top ten in 16 of the 20 individual races he lined up for, with a best of second behind Roan van de Moosdijk in the last of six GP races at Lommel within eight days, proving he had put the physical work in

to achieve true factory rider level fitness and endurance.

BRITISH CHAMPION

2021 didn’t quite deliver on that sort of promise, however, and a single third place at Trentino was the best of the year. For 2022 he moved to the British-based Hitachi KTM squad, alongside mercurial British talent Conrad Mewse. The two clashed on more than one occasion in the British Championship, but the Swede was the better rider at GP level, lying eighth in the standings after the MXGP of Germany in mid-season, and second to Mewse in the UK. However, a knee injury derailed his season just when he was looking to be a podium contender, and problems with the team, which folded at the end of the

season, led to him scrabbling for a living at the start of 2023.

A late deal to ride GASGAS, one for the French VHR team in the GPs, and one for the British Champs that was set up for him by Mewse, who had moved to a 450cc for that season, proved fruitful in one respect, as his GP-level pace earned him the British MX2 title, and again a rash of top ten finishes in the World Championship.

MOVING UP IN BLUE

For the man born on Christmas Day 2000, six months after Johansson’s last GP win for a Swede, it was time to go 450cc, with an MXGP ride for JK Racing Yamaha in 2024, competing on Italian turf in-between Grands Prix but set for the full season. Despite a rocky start in

Argentina – “I just felt like I was going to crash in every corner, it was so bad.” – Isak pressed on and adapted his all-action style well to the bigger machine.

Self-confessed as more of a sand lover than a hardpack specialist, he nevertheless scored his best race result of fifth at Maggiora, when coming back from a small injury, but most memorable of all was his home round, donning the national flag and toy Viking helmet for the sighting laps and sending the fans into raptures with an early lead in race one! “My friend Anton, he’s a bit involved normally, we are really close friends. The helmet and cape were his idea, he thought it was looking pretty cool. I think it adds to it a little bit, it makes something special again.” Eighth overall was scant reward for the passionate pace he showed that day, and for sure it attracted

many more to Uddevalla for the 2025 edition of the race!

Gifting was able to pay back the JK Racing squad with the 2024 Italian MX1 title, a feat he has just been able to repeat in 2025, and his head was held high for the new season, able to put in a second full year with the same team for the first time in his pro career.

SOPHOMORE

Isak’s second year in the MXGP class has seen some flashes of absolute brilliance. Gelling supremely with the YZ450F machine, he has regularly challenged factory riders in all colours, including those in blue, and with good starts has been up with the best on many occasions. A crash while battling with Tim Gajser in Trentino put him out for a few rounds, but he returned with a fourth in race two at Ernée, and sixth overall, backed up with a double seventh in Teutschenthal.

The MXGP of Czech Republic saw the super Swede claim a top five overall position for the first time in the class, and again note that these results are coming on hardpack. Sixth overall the following weekend at Lommel, in sweet 70th Anniversary Yamaha colours, backed that up superbly. After a Holeshot in the Flanders Blaklader Qualifying Race, it all built up to that home round, and the fans came out in force to cheer on their new hero!

Isak spoke of his feelings coming into the weekend at Uddevalla: “Yeah, before coming to Sweden I felt great actually, because the last two races were good for me. Lommel and Loket, they were great. I had good results. I felt in good shape. Physically, I could do the 35 minutes, I could push all the way to the end, the riding was good, the speed was good. Everything was clicking, to be fair. I had some small setbacks, with concussion and a small hand injury, but other than that, I still feel like I’ve been improving all the time. It was all lining up to be a good weekend in Sweden. Before that, the rest of the season has also been like a stepping stone to that.”

MASSIVE ATMOSPHERE

Isak was a model professional all weekend at Uddevalla, from the Media Event that featured a separate stall selling only Gifting merchandise, to signing autographs hours after the heartbreak of race two, the home supporters could not have wished for anything more from their star man. How does that level of attention affect the man at the centre of it all? “I think I knew what to expect a bit from

last year, but yeah, it was definitely turned up a bit. It was different, it was a lot more now. And I think actually, it normally doesn’t get to me that much, but on Saturday a little bit, I think it got to me, because I made some mistakes there in the Time Practice, I was struggling, and then I missed the start in the Quali Race, completely. After that, when I just got to go through the first race, go through the Quali Race on Saturday, I was feeling much better for Sunday.”

That poor start in the Blaklader Qualifying Race resulted in a lowly tenth position. He saved the cape and toy helmet for Sunday’s sighting laps, and fed off the energy from the crowd. A great start in race one put him amongst the big guns, Championship leader Romain Febvre, Jeffrey Herlings, and Tim

Gajser, and he did not look uncomfortable. Landed on by Gajser as the Slovenian misjudged a passing attempt, he persevered to finish in 17th. Sore and irritated by the injustice of the crash, as well as the inability to challenge for a good overall result, Isak was inspired to dig out the ride of his life in race two.

The pre-race atmosphere was something to behold, Isak taking it all in as the crowd showed their support with noise and smoke flares: “This year, the pictures were really good, but you couldn’t even, like, really see the audience anymore, because there was so much smoke. The pictures are just like, me and then just smoke. That’s it! You can’t see it,

it’s like I’m alone! It’s like a green screen, but when you see the tapes and like the movies and stuff, from the other mountain and from around the track, it looks quite spectacular.”

FROM ECSTASY TO AGONY

It’s a race that will live long in the memory. Starting just behind the impeccable Febvre, Gifting was quickly picked off by Herlings, and then Gajser nearly cleaned him out again in a collision approaching turn one. Challenged by the factory Yamaha duo of Calvin Vlaanderen and Maxime Renaux, he held firm but looked vulnerable.

Something clicked on lap eleven though, when Gajser fell in some ruts and put Gifting up to third. The roar from the crowd fired him into action, and in an amazing charge he caught “The Bullet” himself, forcing a brilliant pass on the Dutch legend that almost had Jeffrey applauding! “First, the right-left corner was where I made up all the time, really. I was riding that line the whole race, and I felt like it was kind of faster, but it was a little bit more difficult to manage. Since I was riding that line

WALKING BACK, THAT MADE IT EVEN MORE SPECIAL. I DON’T KNOW IF IT WAS WORSE OR BETTER. I’VE HAD A LOT OF SUPPORT, A LOT OF PEOPLE REACHING OUT TO ME

Isak Gifting

for the whole race, when I actually wanted to make up time, and I just like really pushed in that section, I made up like a second or two like this, straight away on that line, and I noticed it. So obviously I used that, and then coming down the hill, the first pass on Jeffrey was a bit random, to be fair, I feel like he went a bit slow there one time, and I just felt like I have the chance now! If I just don’t brake, and instead just jump into the corner, I’ll probably pass him. So, I just did that randomly, and it worked out!”

The venue was shaking, and on the very final lap Isak repeated the move on a stunned Febvre, bringing a roar from the crowd that will never be forgotten! “The crowd was getting louder and louder towards the end, but especially when I made the passes. I just gave everything to close in the gap on Febvre, and with just a lap to go I was like, yeah, now I’m going to go all in for this section. And yeah, when I’d done the first two corners, I knew I had him because I knew he was going on the outside. So, it was already done there!” Everyone, even rival team bosses, was amazed and thrilled for the man in blue and yellow! “I could just hear the whole crowd revving up, like it was amazing, it was like a Motocross of Nations or something.”

Just a handful of corners later, though, the dream was smashed with a simple fall in a corner that left the heartbroken Swede unable to restart, suffering the indignity of a walk back to the paddock, where the tears inevitably flowed. “Walking back, that made it even more special. I don’t know if it was worse or better. I’ve had a lot of support, a

lot of people reaching out to me. It’s been great in that way, but yeah, it was a hard time walking back to the pits after that. It was a lot of emotion, like from up here, and then all the way down there. I’ve been a bit down there all week,” Isak said at the MXGP of Netherlands the week after. “Everything went the right way. And then it went wrong. It would have been different if maybe I tried to make a pass and I crashed, that would have been reasonable. But now I made all the work, everything was done, and then I threw it away. So that’s really hard to take. I mean, it was an amazing event and race, but really, I don’t even want to remember it anymore. Not at this moment. Maybe when I’m older, but now, I just want to forget it.”

It was the most memorable performance for anyone that ever finished 18th overall in a GP. The results from the day will never tell the story of that incredible race where Gifting truly showed what he could be capable of. Brave in

facing up to the reality of what happened, he stated that he is “Here to stay” in MXGP, after proving that he has the ability to take on the world’s best, and one can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like if he is healthy to race at Uddevalla next year.

He is still a raw and unpolished gem, still in need of adding a brush of consistency to the raw pace and determination that he is capable of. However, as he is still only 24 years old, the hopes and dreams of the success-starved Swedish fans could well be realised if Isak Gifting can reproduce that sort of ride on a regular basis. If he inspires more crazy young Vikings to follow in his wheel tracks, we could even see a tide of young riders from Sweden try to etch their own names alongside the legends of the past. The fire of Isak Gifting could well light the torches for more Nordic Motocross Gods to come.

KIARA FONTANESI – WORLD’S FASTEST MAMA!

KIARA FONTANESI, THROUGH DETERMINATION, SPEED, CHARISMA AND SHEER STAR QUALITY, BECAME ONE OF THE FIRST FEMALE MEGASTARS OF THE MOTOCROSS WORLD WITH A RECORD OF SIX WORLD TITLES OVER AN ASTONISHING SEVENTEEN-YEAR CAREER. NOW IN THE MIDST OF A HEATED TITLE BATTLE WITH A NEW STAR NEARLY HALF HER AGE, THE STEELY-EYED ITALIAN IS DETERMINED TO BECOME THE FIRST EVER MOTHER TO BECOME A MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPION.

In an echo of this year’s MXGP World Championship, the 2025 WMX season has become a straight-up fight between the teenager, reigning Champion Lotte van Drunen, and the veteran, although there is a third party coming

into play in the shape of the strong Spanish flyer Daniela Guillen. Having battled back to the very top level after giving birth to her second daughter, Alaska, in 2022, three years after first daughter Skyler, she finds herself in the unique Motocross

position of dealing with motherhood while also fighting for a world title. With her records for World Championships and GP wins (she recently drew level with Courtney Duncan for the most WMX victories of all time, on 23) all open to being matched in the future, being the first mother to be World Champion would be a record that she would hold forever!

GYMNASTICS

Drawn into the sport by her brother Luca, who is six years older than her, Kiara rode a bike from the age of just two, then began to race against the boys at the age of five. Her parents always told her that she would have to stop racing when she became a teenager, as the boys would obviously get stronger… “but yeah, this never happened!” Kiara became more professional towards a budding gymnastics career, training harder until the age of 12, when she focussed on Motocross and, a year later, travelled to the USA to race against girls for the first time at the massive Loretta Lynn’s amateur event in Tennessee. “I won all of the qualifying and all of the races there, so that’s when we realised that I was, actually, seriously good, talented, and could think of it as a career.”

Racing the Italian Championship against male opposition, she then got a proposal from Yamaha to enter the WMX series from 2009, still only the second year of it as a fully recognised FIM World Championship. On a 125cc machine at the age of 15, she was immediately a threat with tenth in both races at the opening round in Bulgaria and finished the season with a 1-2 card in the deep sand of Lierop, only losing the GP win on a tiebreak with new Champ Steffi Laier, who was nine years her senior!

“I raced against Steffi at the start of that month in a race at Lommel, and she lapped me! It was strange for an Italian girl to race in the sand, but by the end of the month I beat her in the first race and nearly did again in race two. I was able to learn quickly and that really helped me, especially in the beginning.”

OTTO

From there onwards Kiara adopted her brother’s number eight – “I hate number one! You can be number eight for today and the rest of time, but if you are number one then you don’t know if you’ll be number one tomorrow! And it keeps showing up in our lives ever since then, restaurant tables, hospital bed numbers, everywhere,

it’s really strange!” She took her first overall victories in 2011 with double wins in Finland and France, as the series raced alongside the MX3 Championship for a few years. “The final round was cancelled when I was just nine points behind, so I never got the chance to try to win it at the end, when I was so strong.”

HISTORY

From 2012 onwards, however, Fontanesi made history, winning six titles over the next seven years and bringing home 20 winner’s trophies in the process. “All of the titles were special. I won the first one at Matterley Basin, such an amazing track for that, and then in 2018 I won it in my own country, and from the podium at Imola I still have

THE INAUGURAL DUAL-CLASS EVENT TOOK PLACE IN SPAIN AT TALAVERA DE LA REINA WHERE THE 85CC CLASS WAS WON BY AMERICAN SUZUKI RIDER, BROC HEPLER.

the picture in my eyes of my fans, my family, and from there I realised that I wanted to grow my family. I was 26 years old and wanted a family before I was 30. It all came together, meeting my husband at the right time, and I stopped for a year just to have a baby, my daughter Skyler. I had no idea what was to come next though.”

Once more Kiara was breaking new ground. The process of childbirth, not just once but twice in three years, has given her a challenge that no other Motocross Champion has gone through before in terms of trying to get back to where she was beforehand. “I expected it to be different, but it was such a strange feeling. I have always been an athlete, even back when I was a gymnast, always been strong both physically and mentally. Coming back from pregnancy is so tough, it’s worse than an injury because my body has been modified, of course I was unable to do anything for a long time, and when I started to ride again my core couldn’t handle it. My legs were fine, but the upper body was just completely different to before.”

Winning just a single GP in the two years between children, Kiara stopped again to give birth to another girl, Alaska, in 2022. Returning to action in 2023 left her without a WMX race win for the first time in her career, and again she faced a serious battle to get back to where she wanted to be. “Skyler gave me the motivation actually, to keep racing, to try and win again. I was never 100% in 2023, struggling for results, because of course the strongest part of my mind

was messed up. I was like a ping-pong ball, being knocked between being a mother and a racer. Sometimes I could even hear them when I was on the start line! You are busy but of course they always ask for you. It’s not their fault, but they are always fighting, screaming, like kids do. I was wasting a lot of energy, and for what, to lose races and Championships? So, we decided to make a change for this season.”

FULL STRENGTH

The switch for Kiara has been to not have her daughters at the races if at all possible. The focus needed to return to make it all worthwhile, as she is still only 31 years old, strong, and physically back to top condition. “At the track I need to think only like Kiara the professional, not Kiara the mama! Thinking about being a mother at the races instead of being an athlete is not the way to win world titles. It is the best feeling ever, to get back to full strength. Sardegna was the only time that the kids were there, and it was my worst race of the year! I know that I can win in the sand, but on hardpack I can do more damage. I am amazed at what I am doing now, winning at Lugo for the first time as a mother of two, I couldn’t believe it, and then to win at Teutschenthal was also incredible, with a lot of mud at both races.”

Leaving Germany just six points behind Lotte van Drunen, the new star of WMX and self-titled “Queen of Sand”, it’s interesting to hear Kiara’s take on the two young guns with whom she’s fighting for the world title this year. “I believe

Daniela is more competitive in every situation than Lotte, but Lotte seems to make zero mistakes, and she had a bit of luck with Guillen’s crash in Sardegna.” The strong Spaniard is just a single point behind Fontanesi in the points after the MXGP of Netherlands, where she truly spoiled Lotte’s home GP party by snatching the overall victory away with a second race win. Meanwhile Kiara suffered with starts and an early crash in race two. “There are more fast girls out there now, instead of getting back to second from a first corner crash like I could in the past, now it is more like sixth, as it was at Arnhem.”

BIGGEST EFFORT

With 20 points between Lotte and Kiara at the top of the table after Arnhem, the Italian is pretty clear on the mission from here as the series moves to Türkiye, and then to Australia for the first time ever. “The only thing I can do is win four races; this is all I can do. Arnhem didn’t make me weaker, it made me stronger, because I have nothing to lose now. I will definitely make the biggest effort, because of the big expensive trip to finish the Championship.”

The battle for the title should be a fascinating one between the teenage reigning Champion, the veteran multi-Champ, and the hungry Spanish matador-ette. Kiara’s dream to be the first “Mama Champ” is alive and well, and it would take bravery to bet against her making history yet again when the pressure is really on. It’s a confrontation to look forward to, so let the fastest lady win!

by Kresimir Prsa

Team Coordinator of Monster Energy Triumph MX2 Team

THURSDAY, 02:50 AM, �AKOVEC, CROATIA; MY ALARM RINGS. IT’S TIME TO GET UP AND HEAD TO ZAGREB AIRPORT, 100 KM AWAY, MARKING THE START OF MY TRIP TO ROUND 13 OF THE MXGP CHAMPIONSHIP, WHERE I WORK AS A TEAM COORDINATOR FOR MONSTER ENERGY TRIUMPH MX2 TEAM.

Even after 15 years of being involved in world championship level motorsports, ranging from WSBK, MotoGP, F1, WRC and everything in between, these early wakeups are still my nemesis. An hour later I’m in Zagreb’s airport departures lounge, ordering my “usual”; an espresso and a plain croissant. Working in MXGP means a lot of travel, which also means the early morning shift bartender is on first name basis with me.

I board my first plane of the day, to Munich, where I change planes and head to Helsinki, which I reach one hour before the rest of the crew; just enough time to get another coffee, rent the 9-seater people carrier and retrieve it from the distant rent-a-car parking. Once the rest of the team arrives, we’re on our way to Kymiring, a new racetrack for everyone. On the way I catch up with the rest of the team which I haven’t seen from the last round; I’m one of the few people on the team who is not a full-time employee, so I get to go home between the races; in the meantime the rest will go to our workshop in the south of The Netherlands, prepare the bikes, spare parts and our race trailer.

We get to the track, a big road racecourse with a motocross track built next to it, find our bearings and our race hauler, where Jos, our truck driver, has already set up the plastic cliptogether flooring inside the paved paddock. We quickly say hi to our hospitality staff, who are set up alongside us with our double-decker trailer, the cause for fascination of many paddock visitors. From then it’s all hands on deck and we set up the tent, which attaches to the trailer, and all other necessities in under 90 minutes. Our team manager Vince is proud as we’re once again very fast and efficient.

As the rest of the crew slow down and touch up the last details around the tent and the truck, it’s my busiest hour; I need to collect our guest passes from the MXGP Office, print and laminate the team schedule which I’ve worked on during the week, print the track maps and distribute them to all of our staff, double check our radios, prepare the envelopes containing the guests passes, check the rider gear and their changing rooms, cross many T’s a dot a lot of I’s.

Before dinner I even find time to walk the road racing course, as I’m a big fan of new tracks. After dinner it’s a 15 min drive to our hotel in Kouvula; as I’m responsible for booking the hotels, I’m always a bit nervous before getting there: will it really be there? Do they have our booking? Is there enough rooms? Will the rooms be good for everyone? Disaster is yet again avoided as

the rooms look fine, albeit a bit hot; we’re in the middle of a heat wave in Finland, which doesn’t happen all that often. A quick chin wag over a camomile tea with our team manager Vince Bereni and crew chief Manuel Volpato (just to name-drop) and I’m off to bed.

Fridays at MXGP races are a bit long for me; a lot of waiting around for the start practice at 16:30. But this time my day is full, as I spend it by first worrying if the trip which I arranged for our riders Camden and Guillem will be uneventful, then, as they arrive, by taking them to the MXGP TV compound for a round of interviews, as our team is in the focus for a new episode of “Behind the Gate”. I must hurry everyone, TV crew included, as the riders must be in time for the track walk with Vince. During start practice I’ll film our riders for further analysis of their technique. The rest of the day is spent catching up with some members of the media and Filippo, from one of our gear suppliers.

It’s Saturday and everything becomes ever so slightly more serious. Our two riders are still cracking bad jokes, but at a bit of a slower pace. The bikes are gone through once again and double checked before the Free Practice, and I double check the rider’s gear, the track maps, the

schedules and reset the Star Link for the 5th time this weekend.

As each session finishes, I collect the rider gear and wash the boots and helmets and make sure they’re clean and dry and ready to go for the next session. As it’s approaching noon, I’ll make sure the hospitality staff has the rider’s lunch ready, and I’ll confirm the timing for the team staff lunch. From that first Free Practice until the end of Race 2 on Sunday, it’s a cycle of getting the rider gear cleaned and prepared and making sure that everyone is watered, fed and happy.

Race 2 has finished; unfortunately none of our riders on the podium, so I can skip the press conference and go behind the truck, where I’ll take the statements of the riders who are cooling down in the small pools filled with ice. After that it’s straight to dismantling the tent. I’ll start by whipping down all the staff radios and headsets, followed by taking down all the advertising panels, as the mechanics quickly wash the bikes and put them away in the truck. 90 mins later we’re ready to go to the airport hotel, where we’ll stay the night before our flights around lunch time; myself back home, the rest back to The Netherlands. In 10 days we get to do it all over again.

JOSH COPpINS 2007 YAMAHA YZ450FM

THE 2006 FIM MOTOCROSS SEASON WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS THE ONE WHERE STEFAN EVERTS ALMOST RACED TO AN UNDEFEATED SEASON IN THE MX1 CLASS, BUT THE ONE THING THAT GOT IN HIS WAY WAS NEW ZEALAND’S JOSH COPPINS, WHO TOOK THE OVERALL VICTORY IN NORTHERN IRELAND, WITH JUST TWO ROUNDS REMAINING.

Coppins was racing for Honda, but for 2007 switched to Yamaha in the hope of winning the world title, and it’s Coppins’ Yamaha YZ450FM which we will feature in this issue of MXGP Magazine.

It’s not easy lining up behind the gate, knowing that you are probably on a hiding to nothing,

because the rider you have to go out and beat is about to go down in history as the G.O.A.T with ten world titles and 101 GP victories. Throw in a bunch of MXoN wins and you get to the rider that is Stefan Everts. But what happens when he retires and walks away from the sport whilst still at the top? Suddenly, everybody believes that they now have a shot at that title themselves.

Yamaha knew that Everts was retiring at the end of the season, and so began the task of finding his successor, and so who better to tap-up than the rider who had just ended his perfect season, Josh

Coppins. Sounds straightforward, right? Hmm, not necessarily so!

As Josh points out, the whole negotiation progress was a process. Yes, Michele Rinaldi was in talks with the Kiwi about switching red for blue, but as Coppins recalls, it wasn’t just a case of saying ‘where do I sign’, so to speak:

‘It was an interesting time around Matterley (at the Motocross of Nations) because Stefan was trying to stay on at Yamaha in a job role, and so I wasn’t that keen (to sign), only because it was hard for me mentally to go from being such a massive rival. You know, he was the pinnacle and I’d tried to beat him for many years, and obviously couldn’t, so then to try and turn that into us working together like, what line should I take and all this sort of stuff. I never got asked about it directly, but then pretty quickly he moved to KTM, and that was announced at Matterley at the Nations, but leading up to Matterley, Michele never said to me ‘do you want to work with Stefan …’ but Stefan had already said to me he was trying to do something, and then yeah, that was the weekend KTM announced him.’

So, with Everts now at KTM, the road was clear for Josh to secure his own future, and by the end of

that same Nations weekend, the deal was done, as he recalls:

‘The contract was signed at Gatwick Airport on Sunday night of Matterley MXoN. I left the track in my motorhome and we went straight to Gatwick. Michele Rinaldi was at a hotel ready to fly back to Milan on Monday morning, and we met in his hotel room and signed the contract, and that was done there and then.’

No sooner had the ink dried on the contract, Yamaha’s latest signing was on his way to Italy, ready to start work for the new season, and despite spending the last five seasons in red, the transition wasn’t as difficult as it might have been, with Josh commenting that, ‘my first test was the week after the MXoN, in Italy, close to Michele’s place, but I don’t think there was anything official out in photo’s until November 1st, I believe, but we tested a lot in that period at his private track, did a lot of laps there, worked through everything and got comfortable pretty quickly.’

‘We started on a complete production,’ 07 bike, and then we tried Stefan’s bike (from ’06) and ended up with sort of a hybrid version of Stefan’s and production. I remember clearly, it wasn’t like WOW, because the Honda I had was just really good, and obviously I had a lot more options with

Rinaldi in terms of parts to test, and I wasn’t super good at testing because with the Honda we didn’t have a lot of options, so it was sort of what you got, you just got on with it, to a point. So, we just worked really slowly and built up something that was pretty good and then went from there.’

One thing Coppins did know immediately though, was that he could win on that bike, and it was nothing to do necessarily with the fact that Everts had won on this bike that season, as he points out:

‘We did that testing and I’m like this is good, this is not gonna be an issue, like, we are not far off at all, and there’s not a lot of work to do here, and we rode a lot of different tracks. Mino, the team manager, was pushing to do more, because I

IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT THIS BIKE WAS A FULL FACTORY SPEC MOTORCYCLE, FROM THE ENGINE, THE INTERNALS, THE AMOUNT OF CARBON AND TITANIUM, THE SUSPENSION AND THE EXHAUST PIPE

was like, I’m kind of done, and he was like okay, let’s try some more conditions, try some more venues, so we moved around a little bit. The first test not so much, but the second test was more in that November period and then we started riding more down towards Bologna and Rimini area, in different conditions.’

With the bulk of the work done, Josh headed back home to New Zealand for the winter, where he continued to get dialled in with his new surroundings:

‘I went home to NZ and rode a production bike and Manu, (Manuel Volpato) one of the team mechanics, flew out with some suspension, triple clamps, a pipe and a few things and I did a couple of races out here in NZ and I was already happy. I then went back to Europe, and I think the first race might have been Valence (pre-season) which I think I won, and it all ran pretty smooth.’

The bike itself had already been fully overhauled for 2006, and the new aluminium chassis was already a proven winner. Suspension was supplied by KYB and Technical Touch, based in Belgium, with Coppins already familiar with their work:

‘I knew Gunther (Geerts), who I’d been with at Suzuki for the last couple of years I was there, so I already had a good relationship with him; he knew

me, I knew him so that ran really smooth and then in terms of the bike and the power, it was all good.’

Of course, it goes without saying that this bike was a full factory spec motorcycle, from the engine, the internals, the amount of carbon and titanium, the suspension and the exhaust pipe. Maybe it didn’t look that ‘factory’ from the outside, but in terms of quality, there was nothing better at that time, something which wasn’t lost on Coppins:

‘I was probably expecting a lot in terms of the level of the bike, and I got that, but I was also coming off a really good package, so as soon as I rode it, I was like this is good, I can win on this. The power was really smooth, and to be honest, the bikes (Honda and Yamaha) weren’t that far apart in terms of power delivery and in terms of feel they weren’t far apart; it didn’t take long to get used to it. It was nice, usable strong power, a smooth power curve and I didn’t change a lot. It was pretty good, I don’t know what they thought but for me it was like, nah it’s good, let’s just do our training and riding, I feel comfortable, I feel good and that was it. I’ve got the team around me, I was the only guy to beat Stefan all year, and the mindset is a massive thing, right? So, in my mind nothing was

gonna be a problem, he’s not there, I’m gonna win. That was the plan and felt pretty confident.’

The season started of perfectly, by winning the opening round of the season in Valkenswaard, and from there, Coppins continued to extend his lead over his rivals. From the first five rounds (10 races) Coppins won seven times and placed 2nd twice, and by the time the series had completed ten rounds at Faenze in Italy, Coppins held a lead of 107 points over Steve Ramon, his closest rival.

And then, Loket happened. Coppins picks up the story:

‘Loket come as a bit of a shock, because I hadn’t qualified so well (6th), I sort of struggled a little bit and then got an okay start in the race. From the start, I went through the first few turns, and up over the finish, and when I went to the stepdown, when I landed, I just had no rear brake and went straight to the floor, so whether I’d tagged someone or something had gone through and pushed the calliper open, and the hill was super steep and rough …’

‘I couldn’t stop and it was super rutty and rough, and then I got booted over the rut and then went into the barrier. They had like a rubber mat up, and I got thrown into it backwards and I just happened to catch my shoulder blade on a post, but I also certainly had a concussion and sort of didn’t really know what had happened, because I was a wee bit dazed, and then it all sort of came around and I worked it out, and I left there and thought it was no problem, I’ve still got such a big lead and I can be back, but it was a slow recovery and once I saw Dr. Claes and he kinda wasn’t super confident at that point, he was oh yeah, this is not good, the scapula was broken right down the middle.’

Suddenly, Coppins was in a different race, a race against time, and whilst he sat out the next couple of races, all he could see was his championship lead receding. He needed to get back to action, but when he tried at Donington Park, England, it was all in vain; the injury proved to be too stubborn, as he explains:

‘I rode on the Thursday before the GP, because I hadn’t ridden, and I remember Dr. Claes texting me and asking ‘did it hold?’ And I’m like, does he mean, did it hold? And what he meant was, did the

fracture hold, and I’m like yeah, it held, it hasn’t rebroken but it’s sore, and I knew at that point it was gonna be super tough, because the pain … I could do maybe four, five laps and then the pain just got so bad, I knew it was gonna be hard at that point. The speed was gonna be fine, it was just the pain. But anyway! It’s what it is, and at that point, I’d sort of done so well, that I was like, I’m just gonna win next year, that’ll be no problem at all; I’ll just win next year, because it sort of come so easy. I was also frustrated because I had picked two grand prix that I wanted to win, one was Namur the other was Lierop, and obviously, I couldn’t do them so, they were two pretty iconic races that I thought it would be cool to win.’

After a painful 14th in race one and a DNF in race two, it was clear Coppins’ run for the title was over, and sadly, he never had such a good opportunity again, due to other injuries, and setbacks. But, for a kid who came over from New Zealand with a dream to ride the world championship, it wasn’t all bad. Three times he placed 2nd overall in the world and twice 3rd, picking up eleven GP victories.

‘I learnt a lot, and a lot of people say to me now, aah you should’ve or you could’ve (won) but to be honest it’s like another life to me now; it seems like that long ago and it doesn’t change my life today. I’d still be doing what I’m doing now and it hasn’t really changed anything and I’m still fairly happy with what I achieved and did and yeah, it probably exceeded my expectations. Well, when I came over actually, I didn’t have any expectations, I didn’t even know what I was getting myself into, so in the end it was not all bad.’

CHAD REeD

FOR RIDERS COMING FROM NEW ZEALAND OR AUSTRALIA, THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A STAGE IN THEIR CAREER, AS MOST OF THEM DREAMED TO RACE ALSO IN USA. MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS BEFORE THE LAWRENCE BROTHERS, AUSTRALIAN CHAD REED REVEALED HIMSELF WHEN HE BECAME THE FIRST AUSSIE TO EVER WIN A 250CC GP AND LATER TO FINISH RUNNER UP IN THE 2001 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. claimed

second season on a 250cc he claimed the Australian Supercross title and renewed it in 2000. That same year the 500cc World Championship kicked off at Broadford, Australia, and many mangers noticed that a couple of young Australians were performing well in the GP as well as in the supported classes. With such good results in the National series, Chad got an offer from Jan De Groot, who was in charge of the Kawasaki Racing program in Europe, to join his team. Chad moved to Europe during winter to start testing and training alongside teammate Michael Maschio and he entered his first ever GP on the 18th of March 2001 at Bellpuig,

Born on the 15th March 1982 in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Chad was a kid and had a horse when he saw his cousin Greg Anderson riding a bike. He decided to trade in his horse in place of a PW50 and as the family purchased a property outside of the city Chad had a perfect place to train on his little bike! His parents Mark and Robyn always supported him, traveling around Australia to offer Chad a chance to compete against many riders. Racing in the 50cc class and then in the 80cc class, he won the Australian Junior Championship in

After that title at the age of 16, he began his professional career and competed straight away in the 250cc class instead of the usual 125cc step. In his

National Spain. with celebration and team his

At that period the GP format was a single moto and Chad scored an encouraging top ten result with an eighth position. After a DNF at the second round in Valkenswaard he showed his capacity and potential with a sixth and a fifth place in Australia and Belgium. But it was during the sixth round of the series at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, that Chad enjoyed for the first time a GP podium celebration with a third position behind Frenchies Mickael Pichon and Frederic Bolley. From then on, he only missed one podium in the last eight GPs of the season, and at the Dutch round in the deep sands of Lierop he won his first – and single – Grand Prix and beat Mickael Pichon, who had been crowned World Champion two weeks before. Second in the penultimate round in Italy and third at the final one in Austria, he ended the season in Namur, Belgium, with team Australia at the Motocross of Nations. He won the qualifying race and the 125/250 moto, but one of his teammates got injured and the team finished sixth overall, which was the team best result since 1992!

Thanks to all these great results, Chad picked up a ride in the Yamaha of Troy team to race the US Supercross championships. Thanks to his past experience in Australian Supercross he was competitive straight away, winning in his first attempt the 125cc East Coast

championship. Moving to the 250cc class in 2003, he finished on the podium in Supercross (2nd) and Motocross (3rd), and in 2014 he claimed his first title in the main class on his factory Yamaha! Chad raced in the US until the end of the 2020 season, with a huge track record: four US titles (3 in Supercross, 1 in Motocross), ten other overall podiums (six silver medals and four bronze medals), forty-nine Supercross

wins and eleven Motocross wins. And in 2011 at Saint Jean d’Angely he had the opportunity to offer to Australia its first ever podium at the Motocross of Nations, alongside Bret Metcalfe and Matt Moss. Then Australia had to wait thirteen more years to celebrate its first ever win, but

that’s another story!

Text & photos: Pascal Haudiquert

AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR MOTOCROSS CHAMPION