Swiss talent, Nico Greutmann is gearing up for another season in the ultra-competitive EMX250 championship, and after an impressive sixth-place finish last year, he’s looking to build on that momentum. The 20-year-old has faced his fair share of setbacks over the years, but with a full, injury-free season under his belt, he’s more determined than ever.
Sticking with the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna team for 2025, Greutmann has his sights set on success in both the EMX250 series and the ADAC MX Masters, where he’ll aim to defend his Youngsters Cup title. We caught up with the Swiss rider to chat about his decision to stay in EMX250, overcoming a finger injury ahead of the season, his MX2 aspirations, and his passion for filming on the side.
GateDrop: Nico, let’s start with last year… Sixth in the series, very impressive! How would you reflect on your season?
Greutmann: Reflecting on last year, I think it was a pretty decent season. We had our ups and downs, but I think all in all it was a pretty good season. It has been the first full season without any bigger issues or injuries since almost six years, so I was pretty happy with that.
GateDrop: At the end of the season I guess you had a decision to make, stay in the class or move up to MX2 or even MXGP. What was the decision to stay in the EMX250 class?
Greutmann: At the end of the season, I had to make a decision. The decision was pretty easy, because I wanted to stay with Cat Moto because I said either I wanted to go to a better team or stay with them. And by a better team, I mean a semi-factory or factory team.
So the decision was pretty easy because my results just weren’t good enough to go to a factory or semi-factory team. So I stayed with the team because I’m really happy with the team and with my mechanic, with my team boss and the trainer, Andre from the Pro Sports Alliance. So I’m really happy with them and also with the other guys from the team. It was a really easy decision that if I stayed in the EMX class, that I stay with the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna.
GateDrop: I believe you are carrying a finger injury heading into the EMX250 series. When/how did this happen and how it is before heading into the opening EMX250 round?
Greutmann: The finger injury, just some stuff happened, it was pretty unlucky. I caught my finger between the plastic part and the metal part and it just bent over, dislocated it and broke it in eight pieces. I have had now two times on the bike before the first race and I had five weeks off the bike.
I’ve done a lot at home to prepare my fingers so I’m as good as possible being back on the bike. I think I will be, yeah, I’m really good already. I feel pretty good already on the bike but for sure, not 100% yet.
GateDrop: When do you think you’ll be 100% again?
Greutmann: I think it’s pretty difficult to calculate when I’m 100% back again, but we are training and we’re doing our best. We are hopefully already nearly 100% back on the bike again.
GateDrop: You are quite a big guy for a 250cc so starts can be a problem for you and they’re important. Does this concern you?
Greutmann: So I have no bad thinking about going to the start or anything. I know if I do everything at the start like I used to do and how I do it in training, then I will be up at the front also even from the start. The starts are important if you’re a heavy guy or not a heavy guy, and I’m training with some not heavy guys. My starts are lately pretty good.
GateDrop: Do you plan on racing any MX2 World Championship events this year when there’s no clashes with the EMX250 series?
Greutmann: We’re also planning to do some World Championship races. We have already two picked out, we already know which ones we are doing. I just forgot which ones, but we are going to do two World Championship races in 2025.
GateDrop: You’ll also race the ADAC MX Masters, what are your goals for that series? After winning the Youngsters Cup last year I guess that means you’ll be racing the MX Masters class on the 450cc?
Greutmann: It used to be if you got a top three in the ADAC Youngsters Cup that you had to step up into the 450cc (MX Masters) class. But this year it has changed again, so I can defend my Youngster Cup Championship title. That’s pretty much also what we are going to look to do and what we are going to aim for this season as well in the ADAC. I want to to be up at the front like last year.
GateDrop: Have you ever rode a 450cc or anything during practice? I can’t wait to see you on the bigger bike in the future – you must feel like you should have a bright future on one!
Greutmann: I have been riding already in the off-season on the 450cc and I think it’s a good bike for me. But right now I just feel better on the 250cc because I like the aggressive riding style. That’s more my preference to stay on the 250cc right now. When the time is there for the 450cc, the time will be there for the 450cc anyway. But I want to really enjoy the 250cc this year, having fun on the little, strong, aggressive bike.
GateDrop: You got over looked for the Swiss MXoN team last year. How motivated are you to get selected this year?
Greutmann: The MXoN last year was a big bummer because I was really looking forward to it because I was one of the three Swiss guys in the big classes. Not Ryan Oppliger as he was still racing on the 85cc. So it was pretty much Jeremy Seewer, Valentin Guillod and myself competing in the international big stage. So, I was pretty looking forward to get selected and to be able to race at Matterley Basin, but all of a sudden they decided to pick Arnaud Tonus. That was their decision and I could do nothing about it. It was not my decision so I had to live with it sadly. Then I went to Matterley Basin to watch and support the team.
GateDrop: I actually saw you at the Matterley Basin and you were doing some video – is that something you do/into as a hobby?
Greutmann: In my free time I do some vlogs on YouTube and I like to film a lot. There I had the chance to get some really good camera equipment to film the Swiss guys. So, I took the opportunity and had a full weekend of filming with some really good camera equipment. So yeah, that was a lot of fun for me.
