After a week away, the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships resume this weekend for round nine, the first of another three-weekend run of events, commencing with the MXGP of Italy at the Crossdromo Miravalle circuit at Montevarchi!

Ben Rumbold/MXGP Story - JP/KTM Image

The venue is returning to the calendar for the first time since 2006, and with some major revisions to bring it up to modern MXGP standards, it will be a new challenge for all of the MXGP elite as we approach the halfway point of the series!

This will be the eighth MXGP event to be held at Montevarchi (pronounced Montay-var-KEE), with the first one taking place in 1980, a 125cc GP won by local legend Michele Rinaldi.Past winners include such Champions as David Thorpe, Donny Schmit, and Stefan Everts, who won four GPs across three visits to the Tuscan circuit.Yes, he won two in one day in 2003! Twenty years ago at this venue, which is around 50km south of the historic city of Florence, Everts became the most recent GP winner at Montevarchi in his final year of racing in MX1, while David Philippaerts became only the second Italian to win here, in the MX2 class.

Round nine in MXGP sees the tearaway twins, Lucas and Sacha Coenen, both holding the red plates for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, after dazzling the world with their results at the AMA Pro Motocross event at Thunder Valley in Colorado.With both brothers winning on Italian soil earlier this year, they will be looking to extend their Championship leads further at Montevarchi!

In MXGP, five-time World Champion Jeffrey Herlings continues to give chase for Honda HRC Petronas after a successful event in the UK during the weekend off, and he is 62 points behind Lucas after some recent technical issues.Defending Champion Romain Febvre lies in third place for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, as the veteran Frenchman lines up for his 40th GP in Italy this weekend!Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo, still the most recent GP winner from Italy, is the top home rider in the standings in eighth place.

Reigning MX2 World Champion Simon Längenfelder is also fighting to chase a Coenen in the points standings, and will look to take advantage of a run of hard-pack circuits to claw back the 37-point gap to the Belgian.The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders will both have to watch out for Spaniard Guillem Farres of the Triumph Factory Racing Team, who is just three points shy of the Champ in third place overall.Local ace Ferruccio Zanchi is very much on home soil for the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team, although Valerio Lata is the top Italian rider in the points for Honda HRC Petronas.

The EMX250 European Championship also returns for its seventh round, heading into the second half of its season as the Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki pairing of Francisco Garcia from Spain and Jake Cannon from Australia still dominate the series. Garcia returned to winning ways in Latvia to build a 53-point lead, meaning he will keep the red plate no matter what happens this weekend. Danish rider Nicolai Skovbjerg, third in the Championship, makes his EMX debut for the SixtySeven Racing Team this weekend, while local ace and reigning EMX125 Champion Nicolo Alvisi is the top Italian in EMX250 after his podium in Germany for Maddii Racing Team Honda, whose workshop is almost walking distance from the circuit here!

The return to Montevarchi should make for an unpredictable MXGP weekend with the Italian fans sure to make the most of another chance to create an awesome atmosphere for their heroes!

Lucas Coenen has proved himself to be one of the world’s hottest Motocross talents with five GP race wins from the last six, as well as with his exploits in America, so comes into Montevarchi on a roll of great form and with a healthy 62-point lead in the Championship.However, he has yet to taste much success on Italian hard-pack, with his GP win at Riola Sardo in April the only one to his name in this country.

In contrast, Jeffrey Herlings has won more GPs in Italy than in any other nation, with 19 GP wins across 33 events held here, including the most recent one at Trentino this April.He has confessed that he is happier with his new Honda setup on hard-pack circuits, and he needs to start clawing the points back to give himself a hope of a sixth world title.Despite the depth of talent in MXGP this year, the Belgian and the Dutchman have so far had the lion’s share of success in 2026.

Romain Febvre starts a Grand Prix on Italian soil for the 40th time, and he’s currently on a 10% success rate with four victories, including his famous “bent-handlebar” fightback at Maggiora in 2015!Tim Gajser has an even better success rate in Italy, with 12 victories across 46 events in total, and even took his only race win so far for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP at Trentino.He should be able to count on some support from more travelling Slovenian fans!

After missing the opening round of the season, Kay de Wolf has advanced relentlessly up the Championship table, and is now fifth for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, just 21 points behind Gajser! His only Italian success has come in the sands of Sardegna, but with typical quick learning and a further week for recovery, he could be a real force at Montevarchi.The race might hold more promise for Maxime Renaux, who took his first career GP win on the similar surface of Faenza and needs a good result to bounce back for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP after his rough Latvian GP.

Honda HRC Petronas rider Ruben Fernandez has scored four podiums in 30 GPs in Italy, but has the smallest points gap to defend in the top ten, over home hero Andrea Adamo, who is only six points out from seventh position for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. The former MX2 World Champion has won two GPs, including his first one ever, on Italian hard-pack.

Honda HRC Petronas could be back to full strength at Montevarchi with the return of Tom Vialle, who is still ninth in the Championship despite missing the last two GPs, and has won six times in Italy.Moving into tenth after his home GP last time out was Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass, meaning that all eight World Champions in the class are now in the top ten!The others are Fernandez and, oh yes, the series leader Coenen!

Fighting to get back into that top ten will be the popular Italian Alberto Forato, who will sport a special home GP livery for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP and show it off on the official GoPro Lap around the circuit!His best career moment yet came on Italian soil, with his Qualifying Race win at Maggiora in 2023, so he could be one to watch if it rains!

Sadly, home riders Andrea Bonacorsi and Mattia Guadagnini will not be on track due to injuries, and we wish them both all the best in their recovery.

The biggest question of all though, is who can beat Lucas Coenen?Will Jeffrey be able to replicate those hard-pack triumphs from Trentino and France and take his 20th win in this country? Or will there be another challenger? Join us to find out!

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 404 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 342 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 310 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 294 p.; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 273 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 261 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 247 p.; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 241 p.; 9. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 219 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 175 p.

After taking a race victory last weekend in his American Pro Motocross debut, Sacha Coenen returns to the MX2 World Championship with the series leader’s red plate, searching for his third GP win on Italian ground, which of course is home for the De Carli side of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.He holds a 37-point lead over Simon Längenfelder, whose last four GPs have all ended off the podium.The German needs to capitalise on this run of hard-pack circuits if he is to successfully defend his title.

The two Red Bull KTMs are being chased by the Triumph Racing Factory Team pairing of Guillem Farres and Camden McLellan, with the Spaniard only three points behind the Champion and keen to repeat his podium result from Trentino this year. The South African is building up towards his home GP and would love to go there with some momentum, and let’s not forget his first ever GP race win came on similar ground at Arco in 2025.

Liam Everts is hoping to fight back for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing after a troubled start to the year, and the weekend off will have helped his recovery from a foot injury. Mathis Valin is only six points behind the Belgian, however, and on a career-best run of four straight GP podium results, which started in Trentino!The Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 lone wolf is always a force on this sort of ground.

Behind the Frenchman come the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 brothers Janis Reisulis and the elder Karlis, who fought back into eighth in the series after just missing the podium in his home GP.They have both fared well in EMX races in Italy and can’t be counted out of the reckoning for a first Yamaha podium of the year! Everyone will have to watch for Valerio Lata, however, who is determined to score well at the home GP for both himself and his Honda HRC Petronas team! He has yet to replicate his four EMX wins on home ground, but he could spring a surprise at Montevarchi!

Rounding out the top ten is Kay Karssemakers, the top non-factory rider in the class for Dixon Racing Kawasaki, who will be hoping to improve on his best results on a hard surface, while behind him in the series are Maxime Grau, whose Maddii Racing Honda ABF Italia squad are based just a few kilometres from the circuit, and Ferruccio Zanchi, who hails from nearby Florence and will have a heap of local support onboard his equally Italian factory Beddini Ducati machine!

The Italian fans always bring the noise, and this unfamiliar should provide a spectacular occasion in the Tuscan hillsides!Make sure you tune in for round nine of the FIM Motocross World Championships!

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:10.618; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:06.484; 3. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:08.987; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:15.292; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:15.761; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:16.471; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:43.354; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +0:54.660; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:09.447; 10. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:14.865;

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY: 08:00 EMX125 Group 1 Free Practice, 08:25 EMX125 Group 2 Free Practice, 08:50 EMX250 Group 1 Free Practice, 09:15 EMX250 Group 2 Free Practice, 09:50 EMX125 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 11:50 EMX125 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 12:25 EMX250 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 13:00 EMX250 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 EMX125 Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.

SUNDAY: 08:40 EMX125 Race 2, 09:25 MX2 Warm-up, 09:45 MXGP Warm-up, 10:30 EMX250 Race 2, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.