This is set to be one of the wildest off-seasons in a while. Several riders had multi-year deals end this year, which offered the potential for huge moves in 2026. They happened! Here’s a quick guide to the biggest new team and rider signings you’ll see over the coming months.
Eli Tomac: Eli is going to Red Bull KTM. After repeated seasons saying he was setting up for retirement, Tomac instead wants to keep racing, but Yamaha ran out of room with Haiden Deegan moving to the 450 class soon and Cooper Webb locking down the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship. Would Tomac ride at Yamaha for a significant discount? No. He’s still a race-winning podium-earning 450 guy. That is supposed to pay.
There’s a well-established team that needs a guy like that, and it’s Red Bull KTM. That squad will lose Chase Sexton. We also heard Tomac had looked into TLD Ducati, but Tomac is still in win-now mode and at one point it wasn’t even known if the Ducati would even be ready for Anaheim 1. So Tomac went to the most logical spot. Look for the announcement—and Tomac in a Red Bull hat—soon. But can he get comfortable on a European bike after a lifetime on Japanese machinery?
Chase Sexton: It’s pretty obvious by now that Sexton’s time at Red Bull KTM wasn’t going to end well. Emotions were high at the final race together with this rider and that team in Las Vegas. Kudos for trying to keep the train on the tracks for Team USA’s sake, but they didn’t make it to the ‘Nations.
Chase is moving to Monster Energy Kawasaki. That will put the pressure on, because he’s already left two teams and bikes behind recently. Honda wanted to keep him, he left, and KTM wanted to keep him, he left. Is Kawasaki the cure?
Jorge Prado: This one got so complicated. Prado was one of the few big-name riders who didn’t have to worry about finding a deal. He had a three-year Monster Energy Kawasaki contract. At first. Instead, his summer turned horrible and he wanted to out so badly that he was willing to leave tons of money on the table to do it. Prado wanted back on an Austrian bike, and Red Bull KTM just happened to have an open 450 slot that was supposed to go to Tom Vialle (Vialle didn’t take the deal). It was tough for Prado to get over there though because Kawasaki and Monster didn’t exactly make it easy to get out of his contracts. This week Monster Energy Kawasaki announced that both sides came to an agreement and Jorge will be free on October 16th . This should mean the Red Bull KTM deal will happen. Yes, this is for AMA SuperMotocross racing, not a return to MXGP, by the way.
Tom Vialle: The 250SX rules were forcing Vialle to the 450 class, so KTM offered a one-year 450 deal. Then a different option came along, from Honda HRC in Europe, which was about to lose Tim Gajser. Honda sent a multi-year deal, and Vialle took it, sending him back to the MXGP circuit. Vialle leaving is the only reason KTM here in America had a 450 slot for Prado.
Tim Gajser: Wait, Gajser is leaving Honda!? Yes, one of the longest-running relationships currently on the pro side of the sport ended at Motocross of Nations, which was Gajser's last run on red. He’s going to Yamaha next year in MXGP, but there’s going to be an even weirder sight in that series next year.
Jeffrey Herlings: You think Gajser on a Yamaha is going to look weird? How about Herlings on a Honda! Yup, you heard right. Herlings has been with KTM forever. Don’t expect to see these new MXGP deals in public for a few months but the deals are done.
Jason Anderson: This piece became public this week, with JA21 going to Twisted Tea Suzuki presented by Progressive Insurance. He’ll be racing soon, when WSX kicks off in November. By Anaheim, Twisted Tea will be the title sponsor for Anderson’s side of the Suzuki team, but the photos you see this week only show Progressive. That’s because these photos show his WSX look, but Twisted Tea is a U.S. brand. Hence, Anderson runs a blank helmet without drink logos, for now. Ken Roczen also signed an extension with Suzuki, but, due to his Red Bull deal, he runs Progressive and Ecstar logos, even in AMA races. Same team, though.
What else is left? For one, no one seems to know who will take Prado’s vacated Kawi 450 slot. Sexton will have a teammate, but who?
