DE WOLF AND THE RED PLATE

Having walked away from the opening round of the 2025 MX2 championship in Argentina with a victory, defending MX2 champion, Kay de Wolf of the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory team must have been confident that his defence of the title he won last year, might be heading in the same direction as his 2024 season, where he led from the opening round and never lost his red plate.

Unfortunately, a defence is often harder than that first championship and while he kept the red plate after the mud of Cozar in Spain, for the second round, he didn’t have a dream GP in Spain. Third overall at that round was enough to keep his rivals off the red plate, but he knew this year was going to be a bigger challenge than in 2024.

“It was definitely a challenging weekend with the weather,” de Wolf said. “However, I’m really happy to leave with the red plate. The conditions were tough - deep mud, heavy ruts - but I gave it everything I had. In the first moto, I focused on staying consistent, but a late mistake cost me some time. Still, I managed to bring it home in third. In the second moto, I pushed harder while keeping things under control, and it paid off. A 1-2 for the team is an incredible result, and I’m really proud of everyone at Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.”

At rounds three in France, mechanical issues during the Saturday qualification race, when holding down second place saw him lose major points the red plate to team-mate, Liam Everts, who had won in Spain and also scored big points in France. De Wolf did show amazing concentration after that difficult Saturday to fight back and pick up major points.

“It was definitely a tough weekend, and not the way I wanted things to go. The technical issue in qualifying put us on the back foot straight away, and starting from the outside in the first moto made it even harder. But I gave it everything I had - pushed through the pack, stayed focused, and did what I could in the conditions. The second moto was better, and I felt strong, but a small mistake near the end cost me a chance at third place. Losing the Red Plate is tough, but it’s a long season. I’m more motivated than ever to come back stronger at the next round in Sardinia.”

Now, as we turn our attention to Riola Sarda this coming weekend, you just know the red-headed Dutchman will want to once again have that red plate attached to his machine when the team truck leaves Sardinia. Having won at Riola in 2024, you can be here, he will be a serious contender for another GP win and move to Trentino in Italy a week later, with his confidence intact.

Photo Credit: Fullspectrum