The guy who is in tenth can win a moto and the guy in sixth is still a championship threat. “In MX2 you might have four-four fast guys but in MXGP there are fifteen. “I enjoy the 450…but the competition is different,” reveals Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s three-times MX2 world champ Jeffrey Herlings at 22 looking to be the third debutant to rule in MXGP but somewhat hindered by a broken hand just one week before the opening round in Qatar. Finding the extra tenths on a 1.6km racetrack in arguably the hardest MXGP field this century is a major mission. Anyone who has ridden a stock 250 and then tried a 450 will know instantly that feeling of inertia and increased sensation of weight, and how the machine needs to be handled accordingly with the extra power on tap. Watching from the fences or behind an LED screen it can be hard to appreciate the physical, mental and technical demands. Demographics of MX2 and MXGP aside (the smaller division focusing much more on up-and-coming talent and with an age ceiling of 23 years), pushing these motorcycles to the limits on Grand Prix tracks requires a very different approach. Even the lap-times are close on some tracks between the categories. Variation in the weight of the actual race bikes is negligible – a couple of kilos – and many OEM models actually share a wealth of components when it comes to chassis, subframe, geometry and other parts between the two bikes. The dimensions of a 250cc four-stroke motorcycle used in the MX2 class of the FIM Motocross World Championship are remarkably similar to the 450cc fire-breathers seen in MXGP. The jump from MX2 to MXGP: how big a deal is it? The premier class means ‘another level’ of experience and pedigree but actually manhandling the factory bikes and touching boundaries of personal and technical performance: what does that entail? In a quest for answers we asked the two athletes who thundered into MXGP with emphatic and immediate results as rookies – 20 World Champions Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser respectively – as well as other Grand Prix winners or podium finishers who’ve had to twist their minds and mettle to the challenge.
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