Cycle News Staff | December 7, 2022
The 2023 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team will be made up of five riders: Cooper Webb, Marvin Musquin, Aaron Plessinger, Maximus Vohland, and Tom Vialle.
Webb, Musquin, and Plessinger will head up the 450cc class, while Vohland and Vialle will compete in the 250cc class.
The new SuperMotocross World Championship season is a combination of both Monster Energy AMA Supercross and outdoor Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championships, which culminates into an end-of-the-year three-race playoff that will determine the SuperMotocross World Champion.
Webb hopes to win back the number-one plate in Supercross and win his first title outdoors. “I’m really looking forward to the upcoming season,” Webb said. “It’ll be another great year with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team. We had a bit of a rough year last year, but we’re looking to get things back on track for this year. The crew’s been working hard, and we’ve been doing a lot of testing. I’m back with Aldon Baker, so we’re back exactly like we were in 2021 and 2019. I’m looking forward to getting back on top this year, the goal is to go out and try to win a championship again.”
Musquin is back full-time with the team. “Right now, it’s obviously the off-season with bootcamp and hard training,” Musquin said. “The team is working hard to learn the bike even more for the second season and we still have a couple of weeks before the racing starts for 2023. We had a trip in Paris and raced – it was nice to get behind the gate and do one race, at least, before the start of the season. I’m still based in California and following the program with DV [David Vuillemin]. I really like the program, and DV gets to know me a little more, so hopefully, we can be better for next year.”
Vialle, the 2022 MX2 World Champion, is new to the team. “For me, it’s a new life,” said Vialle. “After winning the title in 2022 in MX2 World Championships, I moved to the U.S., and it was a tough decision, but so far, everything has been so good. I’m training in Florida with Aldon and the group at The Baker’s Factory, and everything so far so good. I like it a lot. I enjoy riding supercross; it’s a new discipline for me, so I have a lot to learn. I’m doing a good job training with the team and mechanic – everyone is really nice to me, so we’ve really moved forward. I’ve never raced a supercross here in the U.S., so I’m really excited about it. Just to go there and see what it’s going to be like to ride at night in the stadium and to ride in front of so many fans is going to be a big thing for me. And then, I will move to motocross in the summer; I am also excited for that. That will be a new challenge for me – a little bit closer to what I’ve been training for the last four years in Europe – but I’m really excited about racing both SX and MX for the first time in the U.S. For me, a lot of new things are coming, and I can’t wait to start racing.”
Team Manager Ian Harrison said, “We have made some progress on the bikes, and it seems like it’s working well at the moment for the riders – you never know until you go racing. We have a big team, the biggest we’ve had since I’ve been a part of KTM – with five riders. We have 250 riders on each coast, which we are excited about. With the 450 guys, they all seem ready to go, so we just have to keep them safe and keep building until January comes.” CN
See the action from this year’s team intro here –