Andrea Adamo finished 3rd overall at Maggiora Park for the Grand Prix of Italy, the penultimate round of the calendar, and clinched the 2023 FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship. The Italian capped a consistent first season as a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider by bringing the team a fifteenth title in 20 years and is the tenth different racer to earn the gold plate with the KTM 250 SX-F.
Words & Images: Red Bull Factory KTM
Speaking in a virtual media press conference yesterday, Andrea still found it difficult to believe he was World Champion, even though he knew it was on the cards during his last couple of laps at Maggiora.
“I am usually able to look around me on-track and know if I am going to be on the podium overall, or able to take a win, so I knew that once I was into 4th and then 3rd, even if Liam was behind me then I could win the title. I heard Liam’s name on the speakers so I thought he had passed Benistant, but then of course I see him on the side of the track after his crash. I felt bad for him, because I would prefer not to win like this, I am glad that he is OK and still able to fight for 2nd place in the points.”
When asked about his plans for the future, Adamo was adamant on one thing: “I will be wearing #80 next season, with maybe a small #1 somewhere! I don’t like to think too far into the future, but I have no plan right now for the USA, only to stay in Europe. I lived in Sicily until I was 10 years old and my family moved to northern Italy, partly for their work but also to help my Motocross. It has been an amazing journey to say that I am now a World Champion.”
The highlights for Red Bull KTM were many at Maggiora:
• Adamo goes 3-3 for a tenth podium finish of 2023 from 18 events at a rough and slick Maggiora Park north of Milan. Adamo is the first Italian MX2 champion since Red Bull KTM Team Manager Tony Cairoli in 2007.
• Red Bull KTM Factory Racing are MX2 world champions for the second year in succession and two decades after earning the inaugural crown in 2004.
• Liam Everts rues a second moto crash to finish 12th overall and will head to the final round in the UK next week as part of an intense three-rider fight for P2 in 2023. Sacha Coenen was 14th overall.
• Jeffrey Herlings is recovering well from his fractured collarbone but will not make the gate for the season-ending British Grand Prix nor the Motocross of Nations at Ernee. Sights are set on 2024.
• MXGP closes with the trip to the popular Matterley Basin circuit in southern England, one of the best motocross tracks in Europe, for the nineteenth and final date on the world championship slate.
A rainy climate in northern regions of the country created a soft, wet and muddy first day of the Grand Prix of Italy at the historic Maggiora Park Circuit. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing came to the steep hillside venue with Andrea Adamo and Liam Everts in 1st and 2nd positions in the MX2 championship and with chances to confirm the title in round 18 of 19.
Adamo, cheered on by a noisy supportive home crowd, took 4th position in the RAM Qualification Heat on Saturday while Everts was 17th. Sunday was sunny, and the improved weather helped to dry a rough and slippery course. Despite the risks, the pressure and the near misses, Adamo was able to ride to 3rd position in the opening race just ahead of Everts in 4th. The Italian had carried a 48-point lead to Maggiora. He made a gain on Saturday and again after the first moto. Everts didn’t have the best start in the second outing while Adamo was able to move up from 5th to occupy another top three slot. When Liam crashed out of 5th just before the finish line with three laps to go then Adamo mathematically secured the MX2 crown in this third full season in the class and his first with the potent KTM 250 SX-F.
Everts was unhurt but failed to finish and is now 3rd in the standings, tied on points with Simon Laengenfelder and only 4 points behind Maggiora winner Jago Geerts. Elsewhere rookie Sacha Coenen went 15-15 in the tricky conditions for 14th overall and can still break into the top 13 of the championship table.
The British Grand Prix at Matterley Basin will draw an orange curtain across the MX2 campaign and the MXGP calendar. Adamo and Everts will not be able to rest too much as both will represent their countries at Ernee, France for the Motocross of Nations on October 8th.
Andrea Adamo: “I cannot believe it. This really is like a dream. Thank you to everyone. I came to Maggiora not thinking about the GP win and mainly about the first chance to take the title. I’m really happy with my motos. They were very consistent even though I didn’t have the best starts. It wasn’t easy but I wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture too much and just wanted to enjoy the races. I saw Liam when I came through to start the last lap and that wasn’t so nice but this is part of the sport. I hope he is fine. An unbelievable day for me. Maybe I got lucky at times this season but every single race I tried to do the maximum I could: sometimes it is P2, sometimes P5 and sometimes P1. Nothing more. I can accept when someone is faster than me and I held this strategy all season; now I’m world champion!”
Tony Cairoli, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “We finally did it! Andrea took his first title in what was a surprising season because we didn’t have this expectation at the beginning of 2023, but he rode well from the start of the year and showed that he could be a contender. He made good results and also some wins and was the strongest all the way through.”
