Kay Karssemakers is taking on a new challenge for the 2025 season. He has signed a contract with the Riley Racing Kawasaki team and will race again in the MX2 World Championship. For Karssemakers, this will be a season in which he wants to get back on the upward trend after he was plagued by injuries a lot this year.
”This was my second season in the MX2 class but unfortunately it didn’t go very well. The first year, on the other hand, was very good. I hardly had any preparation at the time, but during the season it started to go better and better. I learned a lot that year and showed great things. I then signed a contract with the BT Racing Husqvarna team to get back into the EMX250 class. I had a very good year within this team, which allowed me to sign a contract with the Fantic Factory team for this year. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good season. Unfortunately, I had a number of injuries and a lot of mechanical problems that didn’t make it any easier. That’s why I’m really looking forward to having a good winter. I’m full of motivation and it’s nice to ride for a Dutch team again. In addition, I will be working again with William Saris, with whom I have trained in the past and who is closely involved with the team. Through him I came into contact with owner Olaf Haazen and I was able to conclude an agreement. I’m also going to work with Harry Nolte. He has a wealth of experience and I get along well with him, so I’m really looking forward to working with him. It’s very nice to be in a Dutch team again. Communication is usually easier and because we speak the same language, we will probably understand each other better than when you ride for a foreign team,” says Karssemakers.
The MX2 World Championship has twenty races. It starts on March 2 in Argentina and ends on September 21 in Australia. A tough program so you have to be in perfect shape to be able to score high all year round. “It’s true that there are a lot of races with a lot of overseas ones, but on the other hand, I also think it’s nice to experience it all. There will be a lot of racing, and the physical side will also be looked at carefully, which I really like. This allows me to be in top shape next year. Despite the fact that the world championship has a very busy schedule, I hope that I can also participate in all three Dutch Masters rounds. It’s always nice to ride in front of the home crowd and to be able to give something back to the Dutch fans.”
Karssemakers comes from the generation of Kay de Wolf, Dave Kooiker, Scott Smulders, Liam Everts and others. All of them are racing internationally and in the MX2 world championship. Within the Riley Racing Kawasaki team, he has the talented Frenchman Tom Guyon next to him, a rider who has already proven to be able to ride fast. “I really only know Tom from the races. He’s a good rider and that’s a positive thing to have as a teammate. I hope that together we will benefit a lot from each other so that we can start the season strong. It’s nice to see that several riders I’ve competed with in the youth are now also riding in the world championship. I fought a lot of battles with Kay the Wolf in my youth. What he has done this year is very impressive and I have a lot of respect for that.”
In the meantime, Karssemakers has already started preparing for the new season. The first test rides on the Kawasaki KX-F250 have been made and this has all been positive. This gives Karssemakers a lot of confidence for the many training sessions that are to come and the Grand Prix season that awaits him. “Because I was really looking forward to this new challenge, I was looking forward to the moment when I could get on the bike for the first time. I had already heard a lot of good things about the Kawasaki 2025 models and these reports were also completely accurate. I am very satisfied with the base of the bike and with the team behind me I am sure that we can set up the bike completely to my wishes. My goal for 2025 is to be consistently in the top ten and get close to the top five, although I know this won’t be easy because there are a lot of good riders. I’m going to do everything I can to finish as high as possible and make it a great year.”
The coming Months will be all about a lot of preparation for Karssemakers and the team before the pre-season races are starting in early February.
