The 2025 season has just come to an end and the main seats for the 2026 MXGP World Championship are already being claimed.
Today, attention turns once again to the Van Venrooy KTM team. We recently mentioned the potential arrival of Hungarian rider Noel Zanocz within the Dutch outfit, which, according to our information are also preparing to make its return to the MXGP World Championship next season.
After a final year of collaboration with Calvin Vlaanderen in 2023 – under Yamaha colours – Van Venrooy took a one-year break in 2024 before returning to the tracks in 2025 to fight at the front with Cas Valk (MX2) and Lynn Valk (WMX). The team’s lineup is expected to be completely reshuffled for 2026: Cas and Lynn are leaving, and the arrival of Noel Zanocz is expected to be accompanied by Mattia Guadagnini, marking a fresh start and new ambitions for the structure managed by Klaas Hattem.
Vice-champion of the EMX250 series in 2020 and fourth in his first MX2 World Championship campaign the following year with Red Bull KTM, Mattia Guadagnini chose to move up prematurely to MXGP at the start of 2022, having been unable to fully realize his ambitions in MX2. Since then, he has ridden for GasGas (2022-2023), Husqvarna (2024), and Ducati (2025). However, his association with the Bolognese manufacturer officially ended at the conclusion of the 2025 season – a year marked by some strong performances, although overall hampered by injuries.
All signs indicate that Mattia Guadagnini will have a strong seat to rebound next year and make his return on an Austrian bike, even if he is no longer expected to hold the full factory rider status he had in recent years.
Seeking to make a comeback in the MXGP World Championship with KTM support, Klaas Hattem went in search of a top-level rider to pick up where things had left off at the end of 2023 with Calvin Vlaanderen. According to our information, following discussions with several MXGP riders, the choice appears to have fallen on Mattia Guadagnini, who will team up with Noel Zanocz – along with a potential EMX250 rider – at Van Venrooy, in order to support the Dutch team’s ambitions in the premier class.
With this promising duo and a wave of renewal at Van Venrooy KTM, the Dutch outfit is shaping up as one of the teams to watch closely for the 2026 season. Combining experience and youth, Mattia Guadagnini and Noel Zanocz could well restore Van Venrooy to a prominent position on the world championship grid, while opening a new chapter for Klaas Hattem and his ambitious project. The offseason promises to be exciting, and the upcoming announcements will gradually complete this puzzle, which now only has a few pieces left floating freely.
