Tomac and Prado join KTM
KTM certainly took their time in making the announcements official, but we have all known for quite some time now that Eli Tomac will spearhead KTM’s American assault in 2026. KTM have also confirmed that Spaniard Jorge Prado will join the Coloradan alongside popular team stalwart Aaron Plessinger. Julien Beaumer will headline the 250 program.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team will compete in the AMA Supercross, Pro Motocross, and SMX Championships.
32-year-old Tomac, who arrives as one of the most decorated athletes in the sport’s history with four 450MX championships and two 450SX crowns to his name, ranks second on the all-time Supercross premier class career wins list (53) and fourth outdoors (32). Way back when, Tomac was also a graduate of the KTM Junior Supercross program at Phoenix in 2001.
After a somewhat controversial year to forget with Kawasaki, four-time FIM Motocross World Champion Jorge Prado makes a welcome homecoming to KTM in 2026. Prado won both MXGP (2023-2024) and MX2 (2018-2019) championships on the back of Austrian machinery, and the 24-year-old enters the new year motivated to further define his career in the U.S. with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Aaron Plessinger, 29, is remaining with Red Bull KTM through 2026, entering a fifth-straight term together, and it’s one that the Ohio native is eager to make count. After achieving five podiums in 450SX this season, including a second-career Main Event victory in Foxborough, ‘The Cowboy’ continues to excel on SMX’s biggest stage.
Headlining the team’s 250 Class program as the sole representative next season is Julien Beaumer, the teenager preparing for his third year with Red Bull KTM. At 19, Arizona prospect ‘JuJu’ claimed the AMA 250SX Rookie of the Year honours in 2024 and recorded a breakout first Supercross victory in San Diego on his way to second in the 250SX West standings this year, but was injured during the SMX post-season. He remains fully focused on his ongoing recovery and will return to competition once he has regained 100 per cent fitness.
Ian Harrison – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“It’s that time of year again when we start preparing for the upcoming season with new riders and bikes. We are really excited to continue working with Aaron and Julien for another season, while we also welcome both Eli and Jorge into the team for 2026. This year started strongly for Aaron, and after spending an extended period on the sidelines, he is focused on getting back to where he was. We are all looking forward to having ‘The Cowboy’ back at the races with the team – he is chomping at the bit to get going.
In addition, it is always interesting to bring in a rider such as Eli, who we have raced against over the last decade and we’ve always looked for ways to beat him, but now we are focusing on how we can support him to win. I am confident that our team and all of the riders will benefit from his experience and maturity.
Jorge, on the other hand, had been in the KTM family for a long time with a lot of success in Europe prior to this past season. He trained alongside our team at the beginning of 2024, so for us it is an opportunity to have him back where he feels most at home, and to help him achieve his goals in the United States. ‘
JuJu’ is doing all that he can in his recovery, so even though there is still a long way to go and we don’t expect him back until Pro Motocross, we know that he’ll be competitive once he’s in a position to do so, and we are supporting him every step of the way.
Collectively, the team dynamic is really strong leading into the new year, everybody is quite familiar even if 50 percent of the rider lineup is new for next season. Right now, it’s time to keep our heads down and to keep progressing leading into Anaheim 1, and we will be ready to go racing together come January.”
Next year’s SMX World Championship is scheduled to commence on January 10, 2026, at Anaheim 1’s Supercross season-opener, with the series set to span 17 rounds. Featuring 11 rounds, Pro Motocross takes off with the Fox Raceway National in Pala, California, on May 30, while the three-race SMX Playoffs and Final will take centre stage throughout September.