The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team officially announced their 2026 rider roster for the SuperMotocross World Championship season. Aaron Plessinger and Julien Beaumer return to the squad while Eli Tomac and Jorge Prado break cover for the first time on orange machinery.
Eli Tomac officially joins the Red Bull KTM team for 2026. Photos: Simon Cudby
Tomac joins Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for 2026. With four 450MX championships and two 450SX crowns to his name, the Colorado native ranks second on the all-time Supercross career wins list (53) and fourth outdoors (32). He won the 450SX main event in San Diego this year and later finished third overall in both 450MX and 450SMX. Notably, Tomac was also a graduate of the KTM Junior Supercross program at Phoenix in 2001.
Tomac makes the switch to orange after a long tenure with Yamaha. Also note he’s a Red Bull athlete for the first time. Tomac’s KTM 450SX-F Factory Edition. And yes it has a cable clutch.The orange number three will take some getting used to.Tomac.
Plessinger is slated for another year with the team, entering a fifth-straight term together. His 2025 season was highlighted by a second-career main event victory in Foxborough along with five podiums in 450SX.
Plessinger returns for his fifth year with the team.Plessinger’s 2025 season is highlighted by a win at Foxborough.
Prado returns to the Austrian manufacturer for 2026 after an ill-fated run with the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. The four-time FIM Motocross World Champion made his mark with the group by winning a pair of championships in both MXGP (2023-2024) and MX2 (2018-2019). The Spanish rider made his Supercross debut in 2024 and enters the new year motivated to find success in the U.S. with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Jorge Prado makes his return to the KTM brand in 2026.Prado keeps his Fox contract but makes the switch to KTM after one year on Kawasaki.Prado’s KTM 450SX-F with his new number-26.
Beaumer is the team’s sole 250 class rider and enters his third year with Red Bull KTM. “JuJu” claimed AMA 250SX Rookie of the Year honors in 2024 and recorded a his first Supercross victory in San Diego en route to second overall in the 250SX West standings. An injury in the SMX post-season sees him focused on recovery and will return to competition upon regaining 100 percent fitness.
Julien Beaumer is the team’s only 250 rider for 2026 and is likely to miss Supercross due to an injury sustained during the SMX Playoffs.
“It’s that time of year again when we start preparing for the upcoming season with new riders and bikes,” said Ian Harrison, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager. “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.”
