The three junior classes – the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, ADAC MX Junior Cup 125 and ADAC MX Junior Cup 85 – are also packed with potential race winners and title contenders. Here too, title defences, shocks and rookie sensations are all possible.

ADAC MX Youngster Cup: Fredsoe back to defend his title

Reigning champion Mads Fredsoe (DK/Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM) is out to defend his title this season, but will face stiff opposition from international and national rivals in the field of roughly 100 eligible riders. The Dane impressed last year with his calm and composed manner, winning the championship despite having to miss the opening event with an injury. The whole team has switched from Husqvarna bikes to KTM models. While the bikes do have the same basis, they still differ in various ways. However, there were no signs of Fredsoe struggling on his new bike during pre-season preparations.

Fredsoe’s team-mate Liam Owens (AU/ Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM) would also like to consistently be challenging for race wins and the title in 2026. The 2023 Australian junior champion has particularly improved on sand, a fact he demonstrated with a race win in Bitche in 2025. As the riders in the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM train together at all times, Fredsoe is probably best-placed to judge and know what the Dane’s weaknesses may be.

Lyonel Reichl (LIE/KTM Sarholz Racing Team) has also switched from a Husqvarna to a KTM, on which he feels very comfortable. Having spent most of last season struggling with an injured knee, he arrives in the starting gate fit, healthy and well prepared in 2026. The team has given him plenty of backing and brought the feel-good factor into his riding.

Valentin Kees (D/Kosak Racing Team) is probably the greatest hope from a German perspective. The quiet Kosak rider has developed consistently over the past few years and his hungry for even more success. 2026 could be his breakthrough season.

Nikolaj Skovbjerg (DK/MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing) has been one of the fastest in the class for a long time, as he showed with a race win in Tensfeld in 2025. So far, only consistency has prevented him from challenging for the title over the course of a full season. In the MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing team, he has found a new sporting home and completed a change of manufacturer that could just be the missing part of the title jigsaw for the Dane. Scott Smulders (NL/SixtySeven Racing Husqvarna) is another who has switched team and bike manufacturer, and he has impressed with some fine results in pre-season races. The Dutchman must now convert his speed into good starts and race results. If he can do that, he will also have a say in the championship.

2024 ADAC MX Junior Cup champion Maximilian Ernecker (A/SixtySeven Racing-Team) stepped up a class in 2025, and showed from the word go that he has the pace required to compete at the top of the ADAC MX Youngster Cup. However, a viral illness stopped him in his tracks early in the season. On a tried-and-tested bike and in a familiar environment, he has the potential to consistently finish on the podium and win races.

Other rapid riders hungry for top results include Linus Persson (S/RGS Racing), Jaroslav Katrinak (CZ/Motoprox MRA Racing Team), Jan Krug (D/Dörr Motorsport Triumph Racing), Maximilian Werner (D/Dörr Motorsport Triumph Racing), and Linus Jung (D/KTM Sarholz Racing Team), as well as the two racers stepping up into this class, Ian Ampoorter (B/Becker Racing) – reigning champion in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125, - and Oskar Romberg (D/Meyer Racing).

ADAC MX Junior Cup 125: Experience meets rookies

With the champion and many other top riders having stepped up a class, the status quo has really been shaken up in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125. This class forms the bridge between the 85cc category of the ADAC MX Junior Cup 85 and the 250cc four-stroke bikes of the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, and has great strength in depth. Riders with one or two years of experience on the 125cc two-stroke bikes come up against rapid and determined rookies, who are spending their first season on the “big” bikes. Of the 80 plus applicants for the coveted starting places, the two Germans Finn Lange (D/KTM GST Berlin Racing/ADAC Hansa MX Junior Team) and Max Meyer (D/Meyer Racing) are regarded as the favourites. They have plenty of experience and are among the fastest riders in Germany in this class. They have shown this in both the German DMX125 championship and last year in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 125, where they claimed a number of top results.

Dawid Zaremba (PL/SHR Motorsports by Hartje) is by no means new to the class either. Together with his team, he has set his sights firmly on winning the title. These “old stagers” will be up against the flying Lucas Leok (EST/KTM MX Futures), Jarno Jansen (CH/ADAC Südbaden e.V.) and Marten Raud (EST/MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing), who are stepping up to this class in 2026. Leok, the reigning ADAC MX Junior Cup 85 champion, regularly trained on the 125cc bike last year, and feels more than ready to take on the new challenge. Jansen and Raud are also expected to fully develop their potential on the more powerful bikes, as they had almost outgrown the 85cc machines.

German eyes will be on the German Motocross champion in the 85cc class, Neo Nindelt (D/TYK Team Yamaha Knobloch sponsored by A.T.E.C.), as well as John Kranhold (D/ SixtySeven Racing-Team) and Simon Hahn (D/Kosak Racing Team). Following good preparations in the winter, they have already shown in the first pre-season races that they have the speed they need to fare well. The challenge is now to convert that into good results in an international environment.

ADAC MX Junior Cup 85

There were also roughly 80 applications for the youngest racing class in the ADAC MX Masters. Last year’s top three have changed class, leaving Harry Dale (GB/KTM MX Futures) and Luca Nierychlo (D/KTM MX Futures) as the biggest favourites for the title this season. Only 12 years of age, Dale made a brilliant start to the season in 2025, and only dropped back to fourth place in the final third of the season. Now that the top three have moved on, he is one of the two hot favourites in the 85cc class. In contrast, Nierychlo has developed consistently and, having got the monkey of his first event podium off his back, established himself among the leading group of riders. He finished just one point behind Dale in last year’s championship, so fans can look forward to a thrilling battle between these two exciting young riders.

Robin Robert Mooses (EST/MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing) and Gregor Lootus (EST) are also expected to have a say at the front of the field. They certainly have the speed and, with another year’s experience under their belt, should be able to achieve their best results more consistently. Lootus, in particular, impressed in Bitche in 2025, when he kept champion Leok in check for large stretches of two races.

Jaggar Townley (NZ/Yamaha NZ) and Nixon Coppins (NZ/JCR/Altherm) are the sons of a former world champion and a top world championship rider. They were given their first taste of the series last year, and were impressed with the standard of riding and the high level of organisation. The young New Zealanders benefit from the vast wealth of experience possessed by their fathers, who know what it takes to be successful in Motocross.

As well as Nierychlo, German racing fans will also be keeping an eye on Jamiro Peters (D/AMX Racing) and Felix Siegl (D/Husqvarna Pfeil). Siegl will contest his first full season in the ADAC MX Junior Cup 85, having had his first taste at the 2025 season finale. He can also call on the experience of his father Daniel Siegl, who used to be one of Germany’s top riders.