Young Italian rider, Nicky Mannini was very highly rated on the 85cc but since moving up to the 125cc and competitive EMX125 class has had injury issues which meant we haven’t seen his full potential yet.
Last year, Mannini did some rounds with the Maddii Fantic team but coming into the 2024 season signed a deal to contest the full series with the Insubria Yamaha team. However, disaster struck over winter when he picked up an injury which ruled him out for over half of the season.
Mannini did return for the final four rounds of the season and continued to improve his speed with the more races he got under his belt. At the final round of the EMX125 series at Cozar he had the best result so far going 4-6 in the moto’s for fifth overall – his first top five result in the class.
For 2025, we understand that Mannini will sign with the TM Moto Steels Dr Jack Racing team managed by Massimiliano Costantini. This means the young Italian will become an officially supported factory rider – there are few factory rides in the EMX125 class so it’ll be a good opportunity.
This year, Brando Rispoli raced the TM and showed the bike has good potential – he was also able to get a number of good starts which is encouraging. The young Italian finished tenth in the championship this year despite an injury meaning he missed some rounds otherwise it would have been much better.
Despite having a good year with TM, Rispoli isn’t expected to stay with the team as TM aren’t likely to run an EMX250 rider. The young Italian is in talks with another team to contest the EMX250 championship in 2025 so will be hoping the deal goes ahead.
As for the TM Moto Steels Dr Jack Racing team, they are on the market to sign up an MX2 World Championship rider to partner Mannini under the awning. The rider they sign will race the MX2 GP rounds that take place in Europe but it remains to be seen who that’ll be.
Yago Martinez was under the awning this year and had some good rides on the TM but due to the U23 age rule in MX2 he isn’t eligible to race the class in 2025 so needs to look for a new challenge.
