The 2017 MX2 FIM World Championship was largely defined by the sight of the Red Bull KTMs of Pauls Jonass and Jorge Prado vying for the holeshot on a weekly basis. The factory team will field their seventh different MX2 world champion in fourteen years with Jonass’ #1 plate in 2018 and, worryingly for their rivals, claimed to have squeezed even more power out of the fierce 250 SX-F motorcycle for the twenty rounds next season.

“There are competitors coming with new bikes and we would like to stay ahead of them, especially in that class,” commented MX2 Team Manager and general Technical Co-ordinator Dirk Gruebel. “We have done our homework and we found a little bit more horsepower again…and that always helps at the start! The riders are already happy. It is a ‘makeover’ and the handling is different but the guys like it, so we are going in a good way.”

The team will again count on their Latvian star and Spanish teenager Prado: the duo contributing nine wins and twenty podium results in 2017 to keep the squad firmly at the top of the standings.

“We had a title in MX2 last year [2016] but people expected that with Jeffrey [Herlings],” says Gruebel. “With Pauls he started the year strong but had his struggles in the middle of the season; finally he brought it home. I think the level dropped down a bit in MX2 with Jeffrey gone but it was more equal and it was better for the racing. Jeremy [Seewer, 2017 runner-up] did a very good job; I have to say. He challenged Pauls until the end. From our side it was a case of pushing ‘100%’ through the winter and nothing has changed.”

Nevertheless there are two elements that have slightly altered the MX2 set-up. Prado is now under the stewardship of Claudio De Carli and Jonass’ rider coach, Marc de Reuver – who seemed to be instrumental in the 2017 title campaign – is no longer advising the reigning champion.

“The change with Marc came as a surprise to us but that is his own deal,” observes Gruebel. “He chooses who trains him. They were a great team and what they did ‘in the dark’ and during the week was great. Maybe he learned some stuff by himself by now and he is evolving as a person. He is 21 soon. To see him riding at the track he is 100% and always gives 100%. The competition will be high next year…even within the team.”

Photos by Ray Archer