The following press release is from Kawasaki/MXGP:
The Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP is proud to welcome on board Pauls Jonass, who will join the team to compete in the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship. A former MX2 world champion the talented Latvian will be the teammate of Romain Febvre.
For the first time in its long and successful history the Kawasaki Racing Team will line up two former World Champions in 2025 as the 2017 MX2 World Champion will join Romain Febvre. Twenty-seven year old Jonass already claimed his first national youth title at the age of ten and was a two-time World Junior and one-time European champion before joining the adult World Championship ten years ago. He quickly established himself as a front-runner in the MX2 world series with three FIM medals - two silver and one gold - and eleven GP victories in five years before advancing to the premier MXGP class in 2019.
Acclaimed as the rookie of the year with sixth in the final standings of his debut season aboard a 450 his progress was dented the following year as he was sidelined by broken ribs and vertebrae sustained in a practice crash, but he rebounded with top-ten rankings in 2021/22 before a thigh injury put him out of action early in the 2023 season.
The effervescent Latvian bounced back in style this year as he raced the factory riders head-on, taking the first GP victory of his career in the MXGP class at Agueda to hold a solid fifth place in the world standings before being sidelined for the remainder of the series after suffering a dislocated shoulder and broken arm in a start crash at the mid-season German round. A successful recuperation sees him back on a bike during the next few weeks to give him a full winter to become acquainted with the Kawasaki KX450-SR before the first round of the 2025 series in Argentina on March 2nd and 3rd and everyone at Kawasaki looks forward to seeing him create a lime-green sensation, together with Romain Febvre, throughout the entire season.
Pauls Jonass: “First of all I would like to thank my previous team for the amazing four years we spent together, and I’m super excited to join the Kawasaki Racing Team; every rider dreams of racing for a factory team. I have worked with Antti in the past and I see how well he runs the team so I'm delighted to be given this opportunity. It will be the first time that I will be working with a Japanese factory team and, having seen how well the bike has worked the last two years, it is a dream to be riding the KX450-SR. Now it’s time to go to work to achieve the best results and hopefully we can soon battle for some wins.”
Antti Pyrhönen, KRT Manager:
“We at KRT are very excited to have another really top level rider joining the team. Pauls Jonass is still young yet he has already accumulated great experience of MXGP on the World stage. Pauls’ passion for racing, his will and his rock solid determination are second to none, so this really gives great motivation to all at KRT. We can’t wait to see Pauls alongside Romain to race the acknowledged race winning KX450-SR.”
Steve Guttridge, Race Planning Manager, KME:
“It’s great to see the momentum that KRT are establishing for a new season with a stable of riders that represent the pick of the pack. Not only will all Kawasaki fans be delighted to retain the services of Romain Febvre, but the addition of Pauls Jonass sets sturdy foundations for a formidable Championship challenge in 2025 for Kawasaki and KRT.”
