On March 28 and 29, the world's best motocross riders will compete in the MXGP of Switzerland.
This year's Motocross World Championship season also kicked off in Argentina and, with some fantastic racing, immediately whetted the appetite for more. That "more" will be on offer, for example, at the MXGP of Switzerland powered by IXS on March 28 and 29 in Frauenfeld-Gachnang. This will be the third round of the 19-race series, the first in Central Europe.
At the start, some familiar faces were also ahead in Switzerland.
Bariloche, nestled in the Argentine Andes, hosted the season opener of the 2026 Motocross World Championship last weekend. After the next race in southern Spain, the entourage will travel to the glorious Schollenholz motocross track in Frauenfeld-Gachnang for the third round of the World Championship on the last weekend in March. This will be a reunion with the two opening race winners in the MXGP and MX2 classes, Jeffrey Herlings and Simon Längenfelder. But it won't just be a reunion, as both are well known to the Swiss audience and fondly remembered.
Opening winner with good prior knowledge of Frauenfeld
Five-time world champion and, as of last weekend, 113-time (record-breaking) Grand Prix winner Jeffrey Herlings from the Netherlands was already the day's winner in Frauenfeld-Gachnang in 2017 and 2018, back then on the temporary Schweizer Zucker track. A year ago, he had just returned from an injury break two races earlier and showed an upward trend, finishing seventh overall. This year, the long-time KTM factory rider switched to Team Honda HRC PETRONAS and got off to a dream start in Argentina.
The same goes for Simon Längenfelder in the MX2 category. The German rider, who rides for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, is the reigning world champion and immediately put himself back in contention for the title in Bariloche with his tenth GP victory. He also has fond memories of Frauenfeld-Gachnang, as he will soon return as last year's winner. Both had bad luck in their qualifying races last Saturday and failed to score any points. With their double victories on Sunday, the opening weekend still ended on a high note. Both left South America as leaders in their respective classes.
Confirmed as one of the favorites
With the other podium finishers Tom Vialle (FRA, also Honda HRC PETRONAS) and Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP) in the top MXGP class and Guillem Farres (ESP) and Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, both Triumph Racing MX2 Factory Team) in MX2, as well as other top finishers, the riders who started the season as co-favorites provided the best racing action. Notable in this regard are MXGP riders Lucas Coenen (BEL, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Tim Gajser (SLO) and Maxime Renaux (FRA, both Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team) as well as Andrea Adamo (ITA, also Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The same applies in MX2 to Liam Everts (BEL, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing) and his compatriot Sasha Coenen (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
Swiss MXGP riders experience initial difficulties
Things did not go well at all for the two Swiss regulars in the MXGP, Jeremy Seewer and Kevin Brumann. The Bülach native from the Red Bull Ducati Factory MX Team, who secured the first podium finish for the Bologna-based team in the Motocross World Championship last year in Frauenfeld-Gachnang, finished 16th in the qualifying race. He finished 17th in both GP-relevant heats on Sunday. This means that last year's World Championship tenth-place finisher is currently ranked 17th in the very preliminary interim standings.
Kevin Brumann started the new World Championship season with a respectable 19th place. In the first full race, he crashed out early and did not compete in the second race.
Full program ensures entertaining racing action
In addition to the two World Championship classes, the European Championship classes EMX250 and EMX125 are also on the program for the two exciting motocross days in Frauenfeld.
On Saturday, March 28, training sessions for all classes will take place, followed by the first races in the afternoon. After the first of two races in the European Championship categories, as usual, the world's best will take to the track again in the late afternoon (from 4:35 p.m.) to complete their slightly shortened qualifying races for Sunday's starting grid and earn further (half) World Championship points.
On the main day, Sunday (March 29), the second European Championship races will take place, followed by the two Grand Prix heats of the World Championship classes, alternating regularly from midday onwards. The MX2 will kick things off, with the MXGP then taking center stage from 5:10 p.m. to bring the day to a close.
Tickets for this spectacular event are still available for all motocross fans, as well as casual visitors with a general interest in sports, and can be purchased at https://ticketing.mxgp-switzerland.com/access/shop/2026/ticket-list.
