Eli Tomac and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing have made it back-to-back victories to open the 2026 AMA Supercross Championship, extending their advantage at the top of the 450SX standings following Round 2 in San Diego tonight. Two-time Supercross champion Tomac set the fastest combined qualifying time in the premier class during Saturday's afternoon sessions, displaying immediate comfort onboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION at Snapdragon Stadium. The decorated racer from Cortez, Colorado, powered to a strong start in his Heat Race, finishing P2 to secure a favorable gate pick for the upcoming Main Event. Another fast start in the Main Event saw the 33-year-old exit the first rhythm lane in third position, which would set the tone for the remainder of the race toward the front of the field. A race-long back-and-forth fight for position saw red plate-holder Tomac take control of the lead with six minutes remaining, fending off additional challenges late in the race to deliver his second win of the season and the 55th of his career. Eli Tomac: “It was quite a back-and-forth race tonight! At the beginning, I tried to play the patience game as Hunter [Lawrence] and Ken [Roczen] were really dicing it out, so I tried to warm into the race from there. It was close racing all Main Event, but of course, it was a great night, and to get two race wins in a row is massive. I feel very happy with what I am working with right now. As far as winning two in a row to open the season, you dream of it, but making it happen is a whole different deal. So, it’s been a great start for us – I feel really at one with the KTM and it’s showing.” Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450SX teammate Aaron Plessinger’s night in San Diego also was a promising one, with the number 7 overcoming illness to finish third in his Heat Race, directly behind Tomac. Equipped with the KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, ‘The Cowboy’ featured among the top-five for a large portion of the Main Event, before recording a hard-fought P7 finish. With his combined results, Plessinger sits eighth in the 450SX Championship as the series returns to Angel Stadium in Anaheim next Saturday. Aaron Plessinger: "San Diego was pretty good! I’ve been sick all week, but I was feeling better in practice than I did last weekend, and I was actually feeling really good going into the Heat Race. Once I got done with that one, my chest was on fire and I had a headache, so it was tough... No excuses, though. I went into the Main Event and did what I could – I was around sixth for a while, and then was there until the last lap before a lapped rider held me up. It's racing, but we’ll go back this week, return to 100 percent, and then be ready for A2.” In his second AMA Supercross appearance as part of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, multi-time MXGP World Champion Jorge Prado posted the second-fastest 450SX qualifying time in the afternoon onboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, before capturing the holeshot in Heat 1 and racing to a P2 result, which continued his impressive form following a podium at the season-opener. Upon launching to a top 10 start in the Main Event, the Spaniard posted a measured performance on a deteriorating circuit, eventually claiming 13th position by the time the checkered flag flew to continue building important experience in the discipline. Jorge Prado: "Round 2 was a positive day. Even though the Main Event didn’t go as well as I would have liked, I was still P2 in qualifying and then was also second in the Heat Race, so up until then, things were going very well. Then in the Main, I missed the start and after that I was riding tight. I didn’t really ride like myself, I would say, and it was a bit of a struggle. I kind of fell into some other riders’ pace around me, so I’ll need to learn from this, and again, it's a good learning experience to be better in the future. We'll come back solid for A2." Next Race: January 24 – Anaheim, California Results 450SX Class – San Diego 1. Eli Tomac (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 2. Hunter Lawrence (Honda) 3. Ken Roczen (Suzuki) 7. Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 10. Malcolm Stewart (Husqvarna) 12. RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna) 13. Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 14. Justin Hill (KTM) 19. Kevin Moranz (KTM) 21. Grant Harlan (KTM) Standings 450SX Class 2026 after 2 of 17 rounds 1. Eli Tomac, 50 points 2. Ken Roczen, 42 3. Hunter Lawrence, 40 8. Aaron Plessinger, 27 9. Jorge Prado, 26 14. Justin Hill, 16 15. RJ Hampshire, 14 16. Malcolm Stewart, 12
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides has conquered the 2026 Dakar Rally in the most dramatic fashion imaginable, sealing overall victory by just two seconds after a never-give-up fight across Saudi Arabia. Refusing to surrender despite setbacks, pressure, and one of the closest battles in Dakar history, the Argentine delivered when it mattered most, attacking right to the final kilometer on his KTM 450 RALLY to claim his first Dakar Rally victory. Daniel Sanders and Edgar Canet both reached the finish of the world’s toughest rally-raid in fifth and 32nd positions respectively, completing an extraordinary Dakar campaign defined by resilience, belief, and relentless determination from the Red Bull KTM team.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia has raced to a solid fifth place overall at his home round of the 2026 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship, held in Bilbao, Spain. Fighting hard on the tight and technical track, Josep secured 6-5-8 results in his third wildcard ride in the indoor series. Teammate Manuel Lettenbichler was forced to sit out of the event after sustaining a finger injury while training.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides has delivered a strong ride on stage 12 of the 2026 Dakar Rally to finish as second fastest. Edgar Canet completed the special just outside the top 10 in 11th, with Daniel Sanders posting an excellent result of 15th, despite his injuries.
The large and popular Matterley Basin circuit was hit by a variety of weather conditions, from incessant rain on Friday, to showers, strong winds and cold on Saturday to sunshine and bright conditions on Sunday. The track was rough, rutty and a decent technical challenge for the riders and a fine stage to open the 2020 season. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing lined-up with Tony Cairoli, Jeffrey Herlings and Jorge Prado (with a combined total of fifteen titles) in MXGP and Tom Vialle as well as Rene Hofer in MX2. MXGP All three MXGP riders made a fast start in the sunny first moto at Matterley Basin and it was Herlings who hit the front early and controlled the race until the chequered flag. Cairoli was a steady 4th in front of Clement Desalle while Prado rode to a solid debut MXGP inside the top ten to 9th. Herlings could do little about the escaping Tim Gajser in the second moto once he passed Cairoli for 2nd place. The Dutchman kept a consistent pace to ensure a 1-2 for the day and confirm his overall triumph; the 87th of his career. Cairoli’s 3rd place was good enough for the same step of the rostrum – equalling Stefan Everts’ all-time record – and a satisfactory result considering it was his first Grand Prix since last summer and with the nagging doubt of a stretched right knee ligament. Jorge Prado claimed 12th for 10th place overall and 21 valuable points after precious little time riding his motorcycle and just three months after breaking his left femur. Jeffrey Herlings: “The first race out of twenty and I was consistent: two good starts, led the whole first moto, got into third pretty quick behind Tony and took second. The track was sketchy and the sun was really low. It is still that time of the year where it gets dark quite early, so it was hard with the shadows. I didn’t want to take any risks and I was happy with second. It was a good weekend and I think we improved the bike over the winter because this was the first real test, let’s say. I am looking forward to Valkenswaard now and my home GP.” Tony Cairoli: “It is nice to be back on the podium after so many months without racing. My shoulder has improved a lot in recent weeks but last week in Belgium I twisted my right knee and heard a crack. I thought ‘the season is finished already’. I went to the doctor and he confirmed a second-degree PCL tear. I taped the knee very hard yesterday and today and all the ruts out there were not helping. I just need to work as much as possible on the muscle to make it as stable as possible. So to be on the podium at this track and these conditions is amazing and I’m motivated again to work really hard and try to build it up. We will see what we can do next.” Jorge Prado: “I’m a world champion so finishing 10th is not something I am used to; the last two years have been really good. But if I look at it the other way and after just two weeks of riding then I have to feel very happy about today. I didn’t have any pain and I have been working hard: this was the best I could do. I would say that last 6-7 minutes and two laps of the second moto were quite hard. The track was super-rough and I was pretty tired. I did not want to crash, and the sun was very low. First race of the season, first race with the 450 and the last time I raced was in Assen: what a weekend.” MX2 Vialle established a big margin as leader of the opening MX2 sprint but then cased the uphill triple with almost two laps remaining and stalled the bike, losing positions. The Frenchman frantically tried to react but ended up with 6th; two places in front of teammate Rene Hofer who was part of an entertaining battle for the top five for most of the moto until the rookie slowed his pace in the closing stages and a late mistake was costly. The Austrian was 8th. Both Vialle and Hofer made up for their mistakes in the second race: Hofer earned the holeshot and led for ten of the thirteen laps until Vialle, hunting him just behind, moved ahead and earned his very first moto victory in just his second season. Hofer’s runner-up slot placed him 5th overall as Vialle classified 2nd behind Jago Geerts. Tom Vialle: “I was feeling really comfortable with the bike in the first race but I made a mistake on a big jump and came too short. It was difficult to restart and I then finished sixth. The second race was better! It was tricky to pass Rene and also it started to rain a bit and I had a problem with the goggles. So I waited and then pushed hard. I won my first race and finished 2nd in the first GP of the year so I’m really happy with that.” Rene Hofer: “Just amazing. My goal was to take two good starts and to try and ride like I do in practice. In the first moto I was 5th at the start and made my way up to 3rd and had nearly half the race there but could not make the pass on [Mathys] Boisrame and dropped back with some arm-pump. I was 6th on the last lap – and was OK with that – but made a small mistake, tipped over and lost two positions. In the second race I made the holeshot and passed Jago on the second lap. I really enjoyed the track. It is one of my favourites of the year. I almost led until the end. Anyway, it is the first GP of the year it feels incredible. I’m really happy.” KTM 125 SX rider Liam Everts dominated the first event of the EMX125 European Championship with an undisputed 1-1 set of results. One of the motos was held in muddy and treacherous conditions on Saturday afternoon. The teenage Belgian is an early holder of the red plate in the eight-round competition. Round two of MXGP takes place next weekend at the Eurocircuit near Eindhoven for the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Results MXGP Great Britain 2020 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (1-2) 2. Tim Gajser (SLO), Honda (8-1) 3. Tony Cairoli (ITA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (4-3) 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI), Yamaha (2-8) 5. Mitch Evans (AUS), Honda (3-7) Other KTM 10. Jorge Prado (ESP), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (9-12) Standings MXGP 2020 after 01 of 20 rounds 1. Jeffrey Herlings 47 2. Tim Gajser 38 3. Tony Cairoli 38 4. Jeremy Seewer 35 5. Mitch Evans 34 Other KTM 10. Jorge Prado 21 Results MX2 Great Britain 2020 1. Jago Geerts (BEL), Yamaha (1-4) 2. Tom Vialle (FRA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (6-1) 3. Mikkel Haarup (DEN) Kawasaki (3-3) 4. Jed Beaton (AUS), Husqvarna (2-6) 5. Rene Hofer (AUT), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (8-2) Standings MX2 2020 after 01 of 20 rounds 1. Jago Geerts 43 2. Tom Vialle 40 3. Mikkel Haarup 40 4. Jed Beaton 37 5. Rene Hofer 35
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Edgar Canet has raced to third place on stage 11 of the 2026 Dakar Rally. Luciano Benavides retook the provisional overall lead of the event with his fourth-place result, while Daniel Sanders, racing injured, battled through the pain to complete the stage in 13th.
