Red Bull KTM have stamped orange on the MX2 series for the eighth time in the last ten years and with six different riders steering the KTM 250 SX-F. Simon Laengenfelder earned the ‘gold plate’ in 2025 thanks to some key alterations to his approach while highlighting the value of maturation. Here’s the story.
By Adam Wheeler.
MXGP fans have been spoilt in recent years with a host of last-round, last-laps, last-gasp championship deciders. In 2021, 2022, 2024 world titles finales have maxed out the tension. 2025 was no different as 21-year-old Simon Laengenfelder steadied his nerves in a storm-hit Australian Grand Prix to become the second German world champion in the MX2 class. Laengenfelder held the red plate for 22 of 40 motos in the 20 rounds and through a sustained calendar of pressure as the series moved from Argentina to Europe to China to Darwin and through a diverse collection of tracks, terrain and (sometimes adverse) weather conditions.
Simon, who had finished 3rd in the MX2 series in 2022, 2023 and 2024, was expected to be a championship challenger in 2025. He vied to be Red Bull KTM’s eleventh different winner since the old 125cc/250cc categories merged to become ‘MX2’ in 2004. In this 4-stroke era, the KTM 250 SX-F has become the motorcycle of reference, winning 15 titles coming into 2025 and holding special status as the most decorated and refined racing tool to emerge from the factory.
In 2025 the technical platform was the fastest and best, claiming 12 of 20 Grand Prix for Red Bull KTM and placing in five of the top six championship positions. Laengenfelder had to win the ‘competition within the competition’ with defending #1, Husqvarna’s Kay de Wolf and 2023 winner Andrea Adamo also pushing for 1st place and being separated by only a few points.
So how did the German make the grade? There are three standout factors. Firstly, Laengenfelder brought changes to his preparation and approach that carried benefits for his physical condition and mental resilience. Secondly, he avoided the injuries that blighted his quests in 2023 and 2024, and thirdly he harnessed the finer points of that #27 racebike to maintain a high level of consistency. After nearly half a decade with the factory, Laengenfelder was able to mature and fulfil the cliché of stitching together all the elements for a campaign of glory.
“We always believed in him, and he’s put in so much these four years,” says Team Manager Davide De Carli. “He’s a hard worker and gives everything to the sport. He only had one goal. We took him in [into the team] in October 2021 and I will never forget our first GP in Matterley Basin [UK] where he won all three races and he took the red plate! Since then, we’ve been working for the title. In 2023 and 2024 he did not have the luck and was injured during the season, but he was still able to finish in the top three both times. This season has been incredible. Simon was more ready physically and improved his technique on the bike. He was also more flexible and open.”
“Last year, in 2024, I was really pushing hard to get that third place overall, and the year before, I needed to push way harder! I needed to be always there, always score because I had injuries. So that set me back a little bit but also made my head, I think, stronger, and made me focus and understand racing a bit better,” the champion himself said.
“The physical side, you can feel. But the mental side is something maybe a bit more difficult to know. Yeah, you learn so much. It's incredible. After every season, I tell myself: ‘boy, you were so stupid the previous year. Why did you do this or why did you do that?!’ You get smarter, you understand everything better. The bike, the training side, the hydration, the food, everything. There are so many parts. You know which people you want to work with, who's really good for you or what is working good for your body.”
Laengenfelder is proof that not all motocross world champions have to be teenage wonderkids. Athletes need time to develop, space to learn and digest the lessons from their errors. Injuries and attitude can sometimes close the window for success before it has even swung open. Simon, supported by the decorated De Carli squad (titles with Tony Cairoli, Jorge Prado and the force behind Lucas Coenen’s impressive MXGP push in 2025) was not overawed and followed his beliefs. He initially moved to Italy but then decided to relocate back to Germany in 2025 for home comforts. He competed in the national ADAC MX Masters when he felt he needed more racing mileage. He also altered day-to-day aspects of the strict devotion necessary for the elite level. “One of the biggest things is food,” he reveals. “Sometimes I was just making it up. I believed I needed to be lighter to make better starts. So, I was on a diet and lost seven kilos. I was pulling holeshots but then I could not last the race. I think everybody has their own adventures like this. It’s what makes motocross ‘motocross’ and makes this such a hard and physical sport.”
One of the characteristics of Laengenfelder’s 2025 championship has been his ability to rebound from small setbacks, underlining his fortitude. When he had weak first motos in Grands Prix in Italy, Spain and Sweden he bounced back with top three results in the second motos. When he lost the red plate at his home Grand Prix at Teutschenthal (of all places) he snatched it again at the following round in Latvia. After the first quarter of the season, he never went more than one Grand Prix without climbing back on the podium the following event. Laengenfelder kept coming and coming for the crown. In Australia a close and dramatic duel with de Wolf culminated when the KTM man kept his bike running and flowing through the flooded landscape. “I think that's part of the game,” he says. “Things can turn around in this sport like crazy. You never know what's really going to happen in the next race. You can never know. We are so many fast guys and you're just going from race to race and hoping that everything goes good.”
Simon cites the team but also his partner and his support system as one of the pillars of 2025. “I could feel that De Carli as a group has a lot of experience. They know how to work with the bikes. They know how to set up a bike. They knew way more than I did. To be honest, it was a very important step in my career.”
“The people around me helped to have different thoughts when not at the races but then be fully focused when I was at the GPs,” he adds. “My girlfriend has been with me for five years and I was quite far away from winning a world championship five years ago. She’s been a big part of it.”
Then there’s the KTM 250 SX-F. Another stable ingredient of excellence. “As soon as we changed the frame, for 2022 I think, and when I came to De Carli the bike was working really well and had improved a lot,” he explains. “Right now, we are on a really high level and I think everybody saw that being on a KTM was key, engine-wise, starts-wise, riding-wise, suspension-wise; all those parts, KTM had the best bike. We kept our engine the same all year long and it was running super-good. All the other teams were pushing and pushing but we could train continuously on the same bike and we knew it really well. I think if you look at me, especially on hard pack tracks, I'm really in control of the bike. I can use the traction quite good. I can really feel the bike. We didn’t have to change or adapt to new things and that was important.”
Are there new things ahead? Due to his age Laengenfelder could compete in MX2 in 2026 and 2027 (but in 2026 if he becomes KTM’s first back-to-back champion since Jorge Prado in 2019 he also has to exit the category) but perhaps the MXGP division beckons? He put any rumors to bed less than a week after covering the KTM 250 SX-F in champagne. “I was thinking of moving up the class…but I confirm next year I’ll be in MX2,” he said in a press conference. Laengenfelder has grasped the #1 and will wear the #1 and, crucially, now he knows how to earn it once again.
Red Bull KTM’s MX2 World Champions with the KTM 250 SX-F since the creation of the MX2 class in 2004