Two new riders are joining Honda HRC Petronas in the MX2 division as Maxime Grau and Julius Mikula have both been signed to the team for 2027. Grau from France and Mikula from the Czech Republic have both had different paths in their careers but find themselves under the HRC awning at just 20 years old. The two newcomers replace Valerio Lata and are set to compete in pre-season events before the 20-round schedule of the 2027 FIM Motocross World Championship kicks off in February.
“Riding for Honda HRC is an amazing opportunity, and I’m really proud of it,” Grau said. “I’ve worked hard to get here, so I really want to make the most of this opportunity and give it my all. A lot of people have followed me since I started racing at a very young age. Today, I want to make the most of this opportunity with Honda HRC. I’d like to thank the Maddii Racing team for believing in me at the beginning of this year, because without their support, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Now, I want to keep this momentum going, and I’m really excited to race for Honda HRC!”
“It is a real honour to be riding for Honda HRC and just being part of such an amazing team,” added Mikula. “When you see them in the paddock, you can see how professional they are, and it feels amazing that they are now putting their faith in me. While I know that my results this year is what got me noticed, I also know that the real work begins now, because the Honda CRF250R is a brand-new bike for me and it is also a whole new team environment to get used to. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but I really want to work hard this off-season so I can be as prepared as possible for 2027.”
“I think it is an exciting time for the team to have these two youngsters joining our MX2 program,” said team manager Marcus Pereira de Freitas. “For Maxime, it is nice for him to progress from Maddii, because he has been around our team a little bit this year already and knows a lot of our members and the CRF250R machine, so hopefully he should be able to fit in easily and keep up the good work from this year. For Julius, it will be a bigger change from his previous setup, so we will be doing everything we can to make that transition as easy as possible. Both guys are young and hungry and I think there is a lot of potential for the pair to have successful seasons!”
