It was a dream start to the 2026 EMX125 season for Austrian talent Moritz Ernecker, who left the opening round with the overall victory after an impressive display of speed, composure and race craft. The young KTM factory rider showed exactly why he’s considered one of the brightest prospects in the paddock, taking a commanding win in the first moto before battling through adversity in race two to still secure the overall.
While the result might suggest a perfect weekend, Ernecker remains grounded and honest about the areas he can still improve, particularly after a second moto clash while fighting for the lead. Still, it’s clear that the confidence built during a strong winter — and the momentum from a breakthrough rookie 125cc campaign last year — is beginning to pay off.
We caught up with Ernecker after his standout performance to discuss his weekend, the incident in race two, his off-season progress, working within the KTM factory setup, and his goals for what promises to be an exciting season ahead.
GateDrop: Moritz, that’s the first EMX125 round of the year. I thought you done amazing, but I know you’re not 100% content. Can you just talk me through your weekend, first of all?
Ernecker: Yeah, it was a good weekend. In the first race, took a mid-start but took the lead on the first lap and then I won the race, I was really happy about it. The second moto was a bit different… I was in third and then got into second, I tried to pass for the lead but then crashed and finished in third place. I took the overall win, so I was really happy about that one.
GateDrop: Can you just talk me through what happened with you and Bertram? It sort of looked like he pretty much cleaned you out from what I could see, but I’ve only seen it once.
Ernecker: I was just going for the outside, it was maybe a mistake from me, I wanted to pass too early. We just came together and crashed, so yeah – that was it.
GateDrop: I mean, coming here this weekend, what were the expectations, what were the goals? Obviously, you can never win the championship in the first round, but you can definitely lose it. So, it’s important to be consistent…
Ernecker: Exactly. I was just thinking, I want to be top five consistently, so it would have been a good weekend. Yeah, to take the overall win was a bit unexpected, but I was really happy about that one.
GateDrop: I mean, what does it feel like to win at this level? It must feel amazing?
Ernecker: Â Yeah, it’s quite a good feeling to win in this championship. It’s the highest championship in the world we have in the 125cc class, so it’s quite good.
GateDrop: Just talk me through your winter. Obviously, last year was your first year on the 125cc. You went from not qualifying at the first round to getting top tens. Did that give you confidence going into the winter?
Ernecker: At the beginning of the last year, it wasn’t the best, but towards the end it was getting better and better. Over the winter I was training a lot with my brother, and then I got faster and faster all the time, so it was a quite good winter.
GateDrop: What sort of things did you work on over the winter? Was there anything specific?
Ernecker:Â No, nothing really specific, but I just tried to improve everywhere a bit.
GateDrop: Where did you spend most of your time in winter? Back in Austria? It seemed you did a lot in Sardinia?
Ernecker: We kind of went everywhere but not Spain, we went to Sardinia and the weather was good.
GateDrop: What’s it been like working with this team, a factory team? Probably a dream come true for you to sign, to be an Austrian with the factory Austrian team. Just how is it? And working with Thomas Traversini as well, he seems to be very, very good…
Ernecker: Yeah, exactly, he’s really good. They’re doing good work, and I can just focus on my riding, so that’s really good for me.
GateDrop: This time last year you were very small, you’ve grown quite a bit, so that must help and you’re still getting your good starts as well.
Ernecker: Yes, for sure. I’ve grown a bit, so it helps a lot.
GateDrop: Goals for the rest of the season? Are you just going to take it race by race and not put too much pressure on yourself, even though you have got a really good chance of winning this?
Ernecker: We’ll just try to race by race and hope to continue like this and we’ll see.
GateDrop: I mean in this sport we’ve got the Lawrence brothers, we’ve got the Reisulis brothers, we’ve got the Coenen’s and we’ve now got the Erneckers. What’s it like sharing this story with your brother? I mean, he’s a bit older than you, so does that help? I know it helps Jett a lot to have Hunter…
Ernecker: We train most of the time together, so it helps for sure a lot. Especially for me, to have a faster rider always on the track, it helps a lot… But also for him, we can push each other really a lot, so it helps for sure a lot.
GateDrop: What was your thoughts on the track this weekend? I was happy to see them leave all the bumps overnight, so it was rough today as well. Obviously, you look to be good in the sand… I don’t think you’ve raced hardpack yet. How are you feeling in the hardpack?
Ernecker: I feel good of course. In Austria we only have hardpack, so I think in the hardpack we can ride quite properly. It was quite a good track and with some bumps inside, so it was a different track again, so that’s quite good.
