The SuperMotocross World Championship is in the offseason, but that does not mean the excitement is not over.
Over the past two months, some high-profile racers have changed teams.
In the 450 class, the 2023 450 Supercross and 2024 Motocross champion, Chase Sexton, has left Red Bull KTM Factory Racing to join Monster Energy Kawasaki. The team will field Sexton along with Garrett Marchbanks.
Marchbanks, who rode for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team in 2025, is moving up from the 250 to the 450 for the 2026 season. He has had a career of uncertainty, but now he has a strong support base to work with.
The 2025 Monster Energy Kawasaki team fielded Jason Anderson and Jorge Prado. Anderson dropped out midway through the season, and no one had heard from him until a few weeks ago, when it was announced that he was moving to the Suzuki HEP racing team to race alongside Ken Roczen.
Jorge Prado had, arguably, the most attention on him when the 2025 season started. The two-time MX2 and MXGP champion was one of Europe’s most dominant racers. He amassed a total of 49 wins between 250 and 450 racing, all while racing for the factory KTM/GasGas team. In 2011, he started racing as a youth amateur for KTM, and he had continued through his professional career.
But after a few years of preparation, Prado moved stateside to race for the Monster Energy Kawasaki team with hopes of winning. But this hype was killed immediately, when he was injured three weeks into the Supercross. When Motocross rolled around, there was still hype around him, because MXGP racing is strictly Motocross. However, yet again, it was a major disappointment. He had no podiums and only two out of 11 top five finishes.
In 2026, Prado is going back to his roots to race for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. He has a lot to prove in his second full season stateside. He claims to feel way more confident being back on a bike he is familiar with.
Alongside Prado, Aaron Plessinger and Eli Tomac will be racing for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Plessinger, who has been with the team since 2022, has looked more and more comfortable each season on the bike. Tomac is one of the biggest names to switch teams. Having raced for Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha since 2021, he has made the switch this offseason.
The biggest question with the team change was the fact that the KTM has a hydraulic clutch. Tomac has always raced with a cable and prefers it. This sparked a debate across the internet over whether KTM would give him the preferred clutch. When it was announced that he was joining the team, his bike had a cable clutch equipped, thanks to his mechanic Jade Dungey.
Yamaha wanted to keep Tomac around, but it would not have been financially possible fielding four 450 riders. They will field Cooper Webb, Justin Cooper, and Haiden Deegan.
Webb, a multi-time champion, has been with Star for multiple years now, along with Cooper and Deegan. Cooper is a consistent top-five finisher, and Deegan is moving up from the 250 class to race for the 450 premier class.
Deegan made his 450 debut at the World Supercross Championship on Saturday in Argentina. Although there was not as much competition as the SMX World Championship, Deegan still battled his way for a third-place finish, behind his teammate Cooper and Roczen, who won the event.
Two teams are making their debut in the 450 class this year: Factory Triumph Racing and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing. Both manufacturers have on-road motorcycling backgrounds, but are expanding into the growing world of off-road racing.
Triumph spent its first two years racing in the 250 class, where Jordon Smith brought the team their first professional win this year. In 2026 Triumph will field Smith for the entire season, along with European Triumph racer Mikkel Haarup for the 450 MX Championship.
Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing is taking the opposite approach and making their debut season in the 450 class. They will field veterans Justin Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis for the 2026 season.
Between the World Supercross Championship, Australian Supercross Championship, and the Paris Supercross, racers will make their debuts with their new teams, and the Purbalite will continue to report on the racers and their new beginnings with their teams.
With less than 60 days until the first gate drop of the 2026 SMX World Championship season, all eyes this upcoming season will be on the racers and their fresh starts.
