Ahead of the 2024 MX2 World Championship kicking off, we’ll take a look at the championship contenders in what is set to be a very exciting season – it is very open at the front!
You can read our other previews below as well:
There’s no better place to start that the reigning world champion, Andrea Adamo who throughout his career has been: improving, improving and improving! Five or six years ago you definitely wouldn’t have predicted him to be a future world champ and that is credit to him, he has put in an awful lot of hard work and it’s paying off. Joel Smets deserves a lot of credit in his development as well.
What a year Adamo had in 2023, a dream come true winning his first world title. He might only have won two MX2 GP overalls but he was super consistent and made a big step. The one weak he has is starts, he had the speed last year to win more GP’s but it’s hard to always play catch up. If he can improve his starts there’s no doubt he can win more GP’s but coming into this season he will have a target on his back being the reigning world champion. How will he handle that? Time will tell but the kid has a great mentality.
One very exciting talent is Simon Längenfelder and he will be surely one to keep an eye on. If it wasn’t for an injury last season ruling him out of three rounds, he may have been champion last year but in the end he did a great job recovering to third in the championship.
The young German has ten moto wins to his name and three overall wins. He’ll certainly add to that next year and one positive regarding Längenfelder is that his starts seem to be a lot stronger than a lot of his rivals. He’ll be a hard man to beat in 2024 so don’t be surprised to see him become a world champion – he’d be the first Motocross world champion since Ken Roczen!
Coming into the season, Liam Everts would have had big expectations. In 2023, he ended up exceeding expectations by finishing fourth in the championship being a solid and consistent top five guy during his first season as a factory KTM rider. Despite only one moto win he won three MX2 GP overalls (more than Adamo!) in 2023 which highlights his consistency.
Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago in a practice crash, Everts picked up an injury and will miss the season opener. The Belgian will hopefully be back for round two – perhaps this rules him out of the title threat but never underestimate an Everts, stranger things have happened.
There was a lot of expectation on Thibault Benistant last year being the title favourite alongside his team mate, Jago Geerts. You’d have to say Benistant didn’t really deliver and it’s the first real set back he’s had in his career. Of course, an injury in the second half of the season really didn’t help and completely ruled him out of championship contention.
It is a big year for Benistant as he only has two years remaining in the MX2 World Championship. The French talent has an EMX125 and EMX250 championship medal but he’s chasing the big one: the MX2 World Championship crown. He is also Yamaha’s main man this year, perhaps that will add more pressure but he’ll be looking to thrive and remind everyone of his talents.
There’s no doubting Kay de Wolf’s talent but injury hit him at the worst possible time last year as he was still in the MX2 title chase (even if he was an outside bet). The Dutch talent, who is now 19 years old will be very very motivated for the 2024 season.
Until now he has one MX2 GP win but there’s no doubt he’s going to add to that total next year, the kid is really good but 2024 is his time to deliver. The one area he needs to try and improve are his starts which are always important but with his heavy build it’s not going to be easy but hopefully he can. If he is at the front on the opening laps it’ll make his life way easier. He got his season underway at Lierop during the weekend and looked incredible so if he rides like that in Argentina he’ll be at the very sharp end.
Last but by no means least is Lucas Coenen who was just a rookie last year and learnt a lot during his first year in the class. Fifth in the championship as a rookie isn’t bad at all and it’s already quite clear that speed isn’t his issue. When he turns it on he might even be the faster rider in the field this year.
In 2024, he’ll want to win more and add to his sold GP overall win and really go for the title. It’s no real secret that it’s not if he goes to America but more a case of when and he’ll want to go there with a world championship crown. Provided he stays injury free and cuts out some rookie mistakes he certainly won’t be far away!
Article: Andy McKinstry
