The usually quiet New Year’s Day turned out to be a very strange one over in Europe. Sure, everyone knew the two big team changes were coming for the two biggest stars of MXGP in Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser, a pair of five-time FIM World Champions with more than 160 combined Grand Prix wins and very, very long tenures with their respective teams—16 years at KTM for Herlings and over a full decade at Honda for Gajser. It was only announced now because contracts run differently in MXGP compared to the AMA, where most contracts are up in October. The MXGP season does not begin until March of each year, so the contracts over there run to December 31 for the most part. Tom Vialle’s AMA contract with Red Bull KTM ended as soon as the ’25 season was over, which is why he was on his HRC Honda in November. Also, Herlings has been wearing Alpinestars forever, longer than anyone ever has in motocross. So, it was weird to wake up on January 1, 2026, and see The Bullet in red Honda gear made by Fox Racing (with a Bell helmet). And then at almost the exact same time there’s Tiga in Yamaha blue, but not wearing Fox gear after who knows how long? And Herlings without a Red Bull logo anywhere? He’s been a Red Bull athlete forever, but it looks like that may also be over. The only things that didn’t seem to change overnight were their very familiar trademark numbers, #84 and #243.

The last time Herlings was on anything other than orange was the Suzuki RM80 he raced as a kid—with Ken Roczen as his teammate! The last time we saw Gajser on anything but red was 2013 when he rode a KTM as an MX2 rookie.

“Obviously this is a big change for me, but honestly, I am so excited to join Honda HRC and ride a CRF450R,” said Herlings in the New Year’s Day press release. “Having been around the paddock for a long time, you get to see how different teams and people operate, so once I found out that they were interested in signing me, it wasn’t a hard decision to make because I knew that I’d be joining an extremely professional and organized operation that does everything it can to help a rider succeed. From today to the MXGP of Argentina is just over two months, so I don’t have a lot of time to adapt to this brand-new machine, but we are going riding right now, and I’m like a kid at Christmas, just waiting to unwrap a new toy. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be in this position, but now that I am, I can’t wait to get started as a factory HRC rider.”

“I’m really excited to join the Yamaha family,” said Gajser in his Yamaha team’s PR. “After more than a decade with the same brand, it’s exciting to be entering a new chapter in 2026, and a change like this brings fresh motivation. I can’t wait to get on the new bike! My first priority will be getting comfortable with it as quickly as possible. Not being able to ride until the new year gives us limited time to prepare—but honestly, I’m looking forward to the challenge. Once the season begins, the most important thing is to stay healthy, be in good shape, and enjoy the racing. I’m ready to give it my all and hope we can fight for the title.”

Of course, both will be chasing after the actual FIM Motocross World Champion, Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre, as well as KTM’s impressive teenager Lucas Coenen, the 1-2 riders in 2025.