The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team has had a busy season with plenty of highs, some setbacks, and major storylines heading into the next rounds of MXGP. We caught up with KTM’s factory team manager, Joel Smets, to get his thoughts on Andrea Adamo’s resurgence, Lucas Coenen’s impressive wins in MXGP, Marc-Antoine Rossi’s recovery, and the latest on Jeffrey Herlings.
GateDrop: Joel, let’s start with Andrea Adamo… He ended the weekend on a really high note, that second moto… He was unbelievable after, you know, a mistake in the first one. You must be happy with how he ended the weekend on such a high note?
Smets: Yeah, absolutely. I think the way he was riding the second moto is the way of riding that we know he can do. But of course, it’s not always as easy to reach that level, let’s say. But okay, that’s for everyone the same but no, it’s always good, it’s always a good boost to go into next weekend if you can end the weekend on a high.
GateDrop: He’s a real fighter, you know, no matter what setbacks he has, he always bounces back. You must be really happy with his mentality, he just never gives up?
Smets: Exactly. He reminds me a lot of myself, but I did not have to teach him that, let’s say. Okay, I told him, of course, many times that championships won’t go easy, championships are not for free. You have to fight on the good and the bad days, and even more on the bad days. But it looks like his Sicilian nature, I don’t know, he is really a fighter. And of course, as I said already, I really like that aspect of him. That’s something you need if you want to fight for a championship.
GateDrop: And Simon Längenfelder obviously isn’t part of this team, but he’s still part of the same brand. You know, after the last round, he had questions to answer this weekend and he had all the answers. He was phenomenal and such a good style. And even in that second moto, he was looking a bit more aggressive than usual too! You must have been pleased to see a KTM man on top again?
Smets: Yes. I think I already said in previous interviews, he doesn’t really surprise me. I think already from when he was on 80s, but especially on the 125s, he has already regularly shown his potential. It all seems to be coming together now and I’ve always been a fan already from his riding style. He has that, style… let’s say the smooth criminal, more or less. It’s good to have one, two and three from the group in the top three of the championship.
GateDrop: In MXGP, Lucas Coenen, big points gained this weekend. Again, anytime he gets into a class and figures out how to win, he just can’t stop. Very, very impressive for such a young rider in MXGP…
Smets: Yeah, but the strange thing is by now we start considering it as normal, you know. Every time you have to remind yourself that the boy is only 18 years old with the maturity that he’s shown. Okay, we knew he could ride a bike already, but the way he has adapted his riding style to the 450, looks like he’s been on the 450 for years. Also, how he tactically takes the races. Honestly, there are really no negatives about it. There’s only positives and that’s really crazy. But again, I really have to always, even myself, have to say another win…but the kid is only 18, so I haven’t checked the history books, but by now he must be the most winningest rookie already now, even if he wins the championship or not. It is so impressive, that’s the only word.
GateDrop: On Andrea Adamo, I think he’s been riding a 450 quite a lot of practice. What’s he looking like on the bigger bike? And do you think that helps him when he gets back on the 250, maybe to be a little bit more aggressive, or not?
Smets: He has been riding a bit of 450, of course, because at some stage they all need to move. He has one more year in the 250 class if he wants it. We haven’t fully decided yet whether he’s going to do 250 or 450, but let’s say we are ready for both. And maybe pure technically, if you compare for example with Kay or Simon, he’s maybe just one step down pure technically riding-wise, but he’s very smart with his riding. He has good line choices, the times I’ve seen him ride on the 450, he’s pretty good with the throttle control and stuff like that. I liked it, even if he would go 450 already in 2026, I’m pumped to see how he’s doing.
GateDrop: Marc-Antoine Rossi, we were hoping he’d be back in Finland, he’s did do a French Elite. I think he’s got inflammation in his shoulder or something like that. Can you just give us an update, what’s the story?
Smets: Unfortunately, Marc-Antoine Rossi is not on the bike yet again. Indeed, after the surgery and the rehab, he started riding again. Shortly after that French Elite which he did, unfortunately, he caught an inflammation on the shoulder, kind of a reaction. We’re struggling with that, it’s not disappearing as quick as we were hoping. So no, he hasn’t been on the bike anymore since that French Elite. So, let’s say we’ve stepped it up a little bit now, we’ve stepped up the intensity on the rehab, let’s say on the treatment. So we hope that maybe in one week’s time, in 7-8 days of time, he can start riding a little bit again. And then, who knows, he can maybe do Sweden and Arnhem. But at the moment, we don’t want to rush it anymore, we have to take it day by day.
GateDrop: Did you go to the French Elite that he was racing? He looked good, I mean, he was already better at the start of the season, so it was positive, it’s just a shame about the setback…
Smets: No, I wasn’t there. We were really stoked, because honestly, I wasn’t expecting that. So no, we were prepared, let’s say, also on the physical side and stuff. I was really surprised by his level already back then, and how easy he made it look. We all know that he has that natural French talent, the skills. But unfortunately, we got dropped back quite a bit with that inflammation.
GateDrop: The big question, Jeffrey Herlings, what’s the update there? What’s it looking like for Lommel? I did hear he tried to ride on Thursday, I don’t know if that’s right or not…
Smets: That’s correct, he’s going to try to ride by the end of the week. With Jeffrey, you never know whether he’s going to attempt to race in Lommel or not. That’s not decided yet, of course. We need to see how the riding goes, how comfortable and how strong he feels. Then we’ll see if it makes sense to go into Lommel and race or not.
GateDrop: Tom Vialle, somebody that you worked with in the past. He won a couple of world titles with you. I believe you’re still in a lot of contact with him. Rumours are he’ll be back here next year, riding a 450… He could be another contender in MXGP. Do you think he’ll suit the bigger bike?
Smets: Yeah, Tom, we talked about Frenchies already. And Tom, I think that he’s quite technical. He doesn’t maybe have the height, he isn’t that tall. But that doesn’t mean everything, Ricky Carmichael wasn’t that tall. Tom has a big heart and a lot of desire, I think with his technical riding skills, I’m quite confident that he can come away with it. Okay, is he going to win five championships like Jeffrey or like Tim? That’s difficult to predict. The competition will be tough but I can see him coming and fighting for podiums, that’s for sure. Perfect, thank you very much for your time.
