Triumph Motorcycles has a decades-long history in racing of different types, dating back just about to the beginning of the company. On September 23, 2022, the house of Hinckley added to that list with its official FIM Motocross World Championship announcement. Now the world knows that Triumph Motorcycles will line up alongside its competition, starting with the 2024 MX2 championship.
Details of the bikes aren’t available just yet, although Triumph assures us that they’ll be released “in due course.” Fair enough, as there’s still quite a bit of development time in between September, 2022 and the start of the 2024 season. What Triumph has said so far is that the two bikes prepared for competition in the MX2 class will be all-new, four-stroke, 250cc machines. After kicking things off in MX2, Triumph’s current roadmap involves a single 450cc entry into the premiere MXGP class starting in 2025.
It’s not clear at this point what Triumph’s plans are for customer bike development along these lines—but those mysteries, we’re certain, will reveal themselves little by little over the coming months. Also, Triumph took this occasion to announce the introduction of its new Triumph Racing banner—under which the new MX team will nestle alongside Triumph’s previously established Moto2 and Supersport outfits.
Gallery: Triumph Racing Motocross Announcement
The newest team in the FIM Motocross World Championship represents a partnership between Triumph Motorcycles and longtime MX team owner, Thierry Chizat-Suzzoni. Together with Chizat-Suzzoni's longtime team manager, Vincent Bereni, the pair already have more than 80 MXGP World Championship racing victories under their belts.
“Triumph have made a major commitment to build an MX bike and go racing in the FIM World Motocross Championship. I am happy that my team is going to be the official Triumph Racing Team in MX2 and MXGP. Nick Bloor and the Triumph Board of Directors have made their long-term ambitions for the project very clear and I see a huge amount of passion from everyone at the Factory,” Thierry Chizat-Suzzoni said in a statement.
“I am happy with progress on the bike, it looks great, has speed on the track and Vincent and my staff are working with the engineers at Hinckley on building it into a competitive package for entry into the MX2 Championship in 2024. MXGP continues to grow around the world, I am very happy to be back and looking forward to going racing with Triumph,” he concluded.
“The launch of Triumph Racing is a pivotal step in our journey to bring Triumph to the pinnacle of racing across an even wider range of disciplines,” added Triumph global racing manager Jeremy Appleton.
“Building on Triumph’s success as the sole engine supplier to the Moto2 World Championship and our participation in Supersport racing, the move into MX2 and MXGP opens the door on a strategically important new chapter in top-tier off-road racing. We well know the demands of World Championship competition and that is the reason for forming the partnership with Thierry. Together with Vincent, their approach to racing and development of performance is impressive and we are looking forward to building the project together and adding to the success that they have already achieved in the Motocross World Championship,” Appleton said.
What about the bikes, though? Don’t worry—Triumph global off-road ambassador Ricky Carmichael had some thoughts on how those have been developing, which he also shared.
“I’m really excited about today’s news. It’s been a long time coming. Since the start of this project with Triumph, I have been amazed at just how hard everyone has been working. It must not go without mentioning, the whole R&D and engineering group that have been a part of the development of the motorcycles have done an absolutely incredible job,” Carmichael said.
“From the first stages of the prototypes, I was really taken back at how well the performance was, since then, being in the UK testing the newest developments, I can tell you that it has the capabilities of winning at the highest level and I personally believe the riders, from professional to amateur, across the entire range of off road models, will really like what has been developed,” he concluded.
