The countdown to round 15 of the FIM Motocross World Championship began away from Glimminge Motorstadion on Friday, as the stars of MXGP and MX2 met the Swedish public at Torp Köpcentrum for the traditional pre-event signing session.
Now a fixture of the Uddevalla weekend, the Torp gathering has grown year on year into the opening event of the MXGP of Sweden. Friday’s edition was no exception, with the entrance of the shopping centre packed well before the late-afternoon start.
The warm-up came courtesy of a freestyle motocross demonstration, the roar of two-strokes and a series of big-air tricks setting the tone and pulling in shoppers from across the centre. By the time the riders were introduced, the crowd was ready.
Leading the line-up was Honda HRC Petronas’ Jeffrey Herlings, joined by his teammate Tom Vialle. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP brought Tim Gajser and Maxime Renaux, while Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP was represented by Pauls Jonass. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing came with Andrea Adamo alongside MX2 duo Simon Längenfelder and Sacha Coenen. Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul’s Kevin Horgmo, the Norwegian who knows this corner of Scandinavia better than most, was joined by Switzerland’s Kevin Brumann and Sweden’s own Leopold Ambjörnsson. They were accompanied by many local Swedish riders form MXGP, MX2 and EMX classes too.
And then there was Isak Gifting. The JK Racing Yamaha rider was the name the crowd had come for, and the reception he received made that clear from the moment he stepped forward. Viking helmets and homemade flags filled the front rows.
After a family photo with the full line-up, a surprise was that the Swedish Federation SVEMO announced Isak Gifting and Alve Callemo on stage to present the Team Sweden MXoN. Third rider on the team Alve Callemo. Alvin Östlund could not make it to the event but he was confirmed in the team.
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Meanwhile the riders settled in behind the tables to sign posters, caps, flags, race jerseys and anything else the fans could hold up. The queue was massive which shows once more the passion that Swedish fans have for motocross.
Gifting stayed on well beyond the scheduled end of the session, working through every remaining fan and making sure no child left without a signature, a photo and a moment of his time. It is the kind of gesture that turns a home Grand Prix into something more than a race weekend.
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The evening then belonged to the generations that came before. A holeshot competition brought the legends of the sport back to the gate, with five-time World Champion Joel Smets and 2004 MX2 World Champion Ben Townley lining up alongside Rasmus Jørgensen, Jörgen Nilsson, Mats “Lappen” Nilsson, Anders Eriksson, Brian Jørgensen, Kenneth Gundersen, Filip Thuresson and Joakim Ljunggren.
So many riders answered the call that the start straight was full, and the atmosphere they created, part reunion, part race, was matched only by the exchange they shared with the fans who had stayed to watch.
The fans were not the only audience. A large slice of the current MXGP and MX2 grid stayed on for the show, and the reaction from the paddock’s younger generation said plenty: the reflexes, the aggression and the sheer commitment to their start had not gone anywhere.
When the gate stopped dropping, it was Rasmus Jørgensen who had been declared victorius and the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team manager took the trophy home. Watching from the sidelines were his own riders, Liam Everts and Kay de Wolf, who had turned up to cheer and maybe offering their insights beforehand.
Attention now turns to Glimminge Motorstadion, where the 2026 MXGP of Sweden runs on Saturday and Sunday.
All the photos from the MXGP of Sweden will be available HERE.
You can find the complete results HERE.
TIMETABLE
SATURDAY:
07:40 EMX125 Group 1 Free Practice, 08:10 EMX125 Group 2 Free Practice, 08:40 EMX250 Group 1 Free Practice, 09:10 EMX250 Group 2 Free Practice, 09:50 EMX125 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 11:50 EMX125 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 12:25 EMX250 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 13:00 EMX250 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 EMX125 Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY:
09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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