After what has been a frustrating and injury-plagued season so far, Marc-Antoine Rossi is finally edging closer to his long-awaited return to racing. The talented French rider, who signed a factory contract with Red Bull KTM for the 2025 MX2 World Championship, has endured a tough campaign and has barely been able to show his potential since making the switch from the de Carli GasGas setup last year.
Since sustaining injury at the start of the year and then again after the opening round in Argentina, Rossi hasn’t been able to show his true potential since making the move up to the MX2 World Championship. He’s only recently resumed riding, but after a couple of weeks back on the bike, the 19-year-old has now decided it’s time to line up behind the gate again.
Rossi is set to make his racing return this weekend at the final round of the French Elite Championship. It’ll be a good first test for the French talent with a strong field expected including Jake Cannon, Francisco Garcia, Mathys Boisrame, Alessandro Lupino, Ivano van Erp, Janis Reisulis and more. The event should provide a good first benchmark for Rossi as he works his way back to full race speed and confidence.
A return to the MX2 World Championship at the next round in Finland is perhaps more likely than it looked just a few weeks ago.
Speaking after the German GP, Smets explained the careful and long-term thinking behind Rossi’s situation:
“We have his gear set ready for Finland but I think honestly it’s also too early because please remember that he got hurt here one year ago. Actually since then he almost hasn’t been on the bike – just a little bit before Argentina. After Argentina he got hurt again so he has been out of competition for pretty much one year. This is going to be a long road back, he’s only 19 so we should not make any mistakes there and we won’t want to rush it. We will take the time to build that up…”
Smets also reaffirmed KTM’s belief in the French rider’s potential, making it clear that despite the lack of recent results, Rossi still figures into the team’s plans beyond 2024 although a decision is yet to be made on his future:
“This is definitely on the table internally because we still do believe in the potential he has. He has that raw talent, raw speed that in the past more French riders have had. Okay, he’s also a little bit more that southern type laid back style, so we need to see. We do believe if we can get that package together, if we can create a good structure around him that there is still a lot of potential. So it’s for sure not decided yet that he’s not in the team anymore – we consider him as part of the team and as part of the discussions absolutely for next year even if the results… as I said, he has been one year out. I do not expect him to come back and go for podiums, this is not realistic. So we’re going to see how we build some confidence – like we’ve talked about Jeffrey already. This can sometimes take time and we need to take the time to avoid that he gets eventually injured again or something. With him, we need to keep him in mind regardless of the results because if we keep him, it needs to be for next year. I do not expect miracles when he comes back this year”.
While the road back to the top will require patience and careful management, the return of Marc-Antoine Rossi to competitive racing is an exciting step forward. Whether he’s back on the GP grid in Finland or later in the season, it’s clear Red Bull KTM are committed and Joel Smets believes in his talent.
