Gabriel SS24 KTM launched its 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship campaign this weekend at the opening round of the MXGP, as well as Oriol’s debut in the premier class. With months of preparation behind them, the team arrives at the MXGP of Bariloche, Argentina, determined to start the season focused, motivated and ready to compete at the highest level.
Saturday morning began with a 25-minute free practice session, giving Oriol valuable time to familiarise himself with the track layout and get comfortable on the bike. Despite riding a little tight early on, Oriol focused on building rhythm and gathering important track time throughout the session. By the end of free practice, he finished in P21. Timed practice showed clear improvement for Oriol as he continued to build confidence and refine his pace. Making good progress throughout the session, he was able to improve his lap times and move further up the order by the end of timed practice. Oriol secured P17, earning a stronger gate pick for the upcoming qualifying race.
In Oriol’s first MXGP qualifying race, he got off to a strong start, launching well out of the gate and entering the first corner inside the top ten. Carrying good momentum through the opening lap, he settled into 8th place, putting himself in a strong early position against some big names. He pushed hard to close the gap to the rider ahead, but difficulties with his lines through parts of the track saw him fall just outside the top ten by the halfway stage of the race.
After battling hard until the final laps, Oriol crossed the finish line in a solid P11. Unfortunately, a three-place penalty for gaining an advantage at the start moved him back to P14 for Sunday’s motos. Still, it was a strong race overall.
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The first gate drop of the World Championship took place here. The first moto, Oriol got a strong jump out of the gate and entered the first corner in the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, in the opening moments of the race, he rode over a bike from a fallen rider in front of him and had nowhere to go. The incident caused him to break his gear lever, leaving him stuck in third gear for the remainder of the race. Despite the setback, Oriol continued to push through the race, looking comfortable, making passes with consistent lap times all under difficult circumstances. He finished the moto in a strong and well-deserved fourteenth position, showing his potential.
Moto Two was a little bit dramatic, with a red flag stopping the race just three laps in due to an issue with the gates. The re-run of Moto Two saw Oriol not get the best start out of the gate, leaving him with work to do in the opening laps. While trying to make a pass, he crashed on lap two and rejoined in 16th place. Oriol managed to work his way back up to 15th and pushed hard but began to tire towards the end of the race. He finished Moto Two in 16th place, which gave him 16th overall. Overall, this was a positive weekend for Oriol and the team in his first MXGP. There were lessons learned and plenty to take away, but we’re ready to keep building and continue through the next 18 rounds of the championship.
Oriol Oliver: “Done with the first round of MXGP, I am not satisfied with the results, but I can take some positives and work on some stuff. Saturday I got a three position penalty but P14 was not too bad for the gate pick and how the start was on this track. Sunday I couldn’t make the best starts. First moto I touched another rider and broke my shift lever but luckily I was in third gear and I could make a comeback to P14 closing in the guys in front of me. Second moto was just not good enough and a crash on the second lap didn’t make it easy so finished P16. Now looking forward to a good week of training and enjoying the first round of the British Championship this Sunday at Hawkstone. Thank you to my team for making it possible to race here. We will continue to work!”
Shaun Simpson – Team Manager: “A positive start to our MXGP season in Argentina with Oriol. We still need to work on our all out speed and consistency in timed practice to give us a better start gate position for the qualifying race. But as we have seen before when it comes to the race on Saturday we showed we have good pace to run in the top 12 of MXGP. First moto on Sunday was great considering a broken gear lever and being stuck in third gear, we still charged to the end of the race. Second moto a small crash in the opening laps killed some energy and at half way the track and conditions took their toll and we ran out of steam. Looking forward to Hawkstone Park next weekend and keep building for Spain in two weeks. It’s a long season and we are going in a good direction.”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images courtesy of @jpacevedophoto
