Not many riders from Ireland or Northern Ireland venture to Europe and race full time – perhaps selected events here or there so it’s nice to see Cole McCullough focus on racing in the MXGP paddock.
It has been a strong couple of years for McCullough racing not only against some of the best talents in Europe but also some of the best in the world.
The past two years, McCullough has been riding for his own setup with his father, Philip heavily involved. This year he finished thirteenth in the championship standings on his Maddii Fantic Racing machine. Throughout the season, he had top five and podium pace but didn’t always stay on which hurt his results but that started to improve towards the end of the season as he started to get more consistent. The best moto of his season was at Arco di Trento in race one as he came from outside the top twenty to finish fourth which shows the sort of pace he has.
Going into the 2025 season, a decision has to be made whether or not to move up to the EMX250 championship or go for another year of developing and learning in the EMX125 championship once again – which would be his final year in the class.
We understand that McCullough will once again race the EMX125 series and the 2025 season will be a lot of change for him. We believe he’ll sign a deal with the DreamTeam Fantic team which will see him being based in Italy full time.
This year as he was still in school, he had to travel back and forth but now he has left school he can fully focus on racing. He’ll also have a base in Italy which will be nice instead of having to live the camper lifestyle.
The DreamTeam Fantic had two riders under the awning this year contesting the EMX125 series – Michael Conte and Francesco Zoriaco. The good news for the 2025 season is we believe the team will receive factory support from Fantic.
In a year of change for McCullough living in Italy and being away from home, the good news is he’ll be able to remain on Fantic machinery that he is familiar with. He is also expected to retain his own personal sponsors who have helped him get to where he is today in his career.
Not only will he contest the EMX125 championship, but he’ll race the International Italian Championship as well as the 125cc Italian MX series once it kicks off so plenty of competitive racing which should only help him improve. The plan will also be to race the Dutch Masters of Motocross provided there’s no date clashes.
We’ll bring you the news as and when it is official.
