2024 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing SX/MX/SMX Team Intro

After a year of somewhat tempered expectations, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team is even more optimistic with the four-rider lineup it brings to the table for 2024.

Fan favorite Aaron Plessinger returns for his third year in orange and will be joined by new recruit Chase Sexton, who brings the coveted No. 1 plate to the squad on his 450 SX-F Factory Edition when the 2024 AMA Supercross Championship begins next month.

In 250SX, expect Tom Vialle to consistently be among the front-runners, now that he’s had a year to get used to the venues, style of racing, and bike setup that are far different than what he grew up doing. Joining him on another 250 SX-F Factory Edition will be newly signed Julien Beaumer, whose meteoric rise from the B class a year ago at this time to factory rider has been astonishing.

Related: 2024 AMA Supercross, Pro Motocross, and SuperMotocross Numbers

KTM invited enthusiast media to its test track at RD Field in Murrieta, California, to meet the team, watch as the riders spun laps on the track, and gobble tacos on a chilly evening under the lights. We took the opportunity to chat briefly with all four riders.

“I never thought I’d be at this point, especially in December of last year,” Beaumer shared. “I was pretty much on my own and to be here now a month out from A1, I couldn’t be more excited.”

From being a privateer to a rookie on a vaunted factory team like Red Bull KTM has taken some adapting and he admitted, “Obviously, it was just me and my dad [before]. Life was good, the bike was good, but I never had to test or do any of that.

“Just relaying information back to the team—suspension settings and going back and forth between stuff—I think that’s the biggest thing I had to learn was just be honest with everyone, if I like something or don’t like something and go from there.”

Although he traveled to a number of different countries while racing motocross in Europe and then chasing the MX2 world title he eventually won in 2022, Vialle hadn’t spent much time in the United States before being signed to the team last year. Naturally, that required him to move here from France, which brought with it a tectonic shift just in life in addition to learning what supercross was about. The language was different, the food was different, the cars and roads were different, the money was different, and he had to make new friends. In other words, he had a lot to digest in 2023.

“I’ve been learning the life [in the US] and supercross, of course,” he said. “I never rode supercross before, so it was a lot of new things for me. Also the bike setup is way different than for a motocross track, so just learning how to ride the stiff suspension and stuff was quite a lot [to absorb in addition to] learning a new track every weekend and going to different places to race.

“So I’m looking forward to 2024. I know what I’m going to do [every week now], so that’s already pretty cool. The winter [testing] is going good so far so, yeah, just getting ready then take some time off before the first race.”

He continued, “I train together with Chase Sexton, so that’s pretty cool. We ride together and train also physically together, so for me it’s pretty nice to have him close [by] and I can learn a lot from him.”

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“I haven’t changed much of my program,” Plessinger mused. “It’s similar—a few different gym workouts here and there to kind of [address] what we lacked last year. Everything could be a little bit stronger, you know?

“We didn’t have a lot of time off this year, which I think really plays in our favor as far as a base of training goes. I only took two weeks off and I didn’t really do too much in those two weeks, then I was back training. I think that could play in our favor down the road. Who knows?

“I think that took my mind and hit a reset button because I really haven’t felt overwhelmed with anything as far as riding or training goes and I haven’t been super tired or over it. The training’s been fun as well; the group we’ve got down at the Baker’s Factory is really, really cool and we keep it fun, so I think that plays in our favor as well.”

Finally, for Sexton, the switch from Honda may prove pivotal, though he acknowledged he received some pushback from his fan base: “It’s been mixed,” he said. “Some people are happy, some people are sad I left Honda, but for me, I did what I thought was right. I guess we’ll see. I’ve been really happy so far and I’ve found a group of guys that’s really been like a family to me. I’ve known them since I’ve been even on 250s—not even on the same team, just kind of around the pits, the people I felt comfortable with.

“Like I said, I had a really good relationship with the people at Honda; I like all those guys personally and we had a good relationship. I just felt like I needed a change and for me that was KTM, and I’m really excited.”

On his new bike, Sexton offered, “I think this bike is, overall, a little bit of a stiffer feeling; it’s more of a dead rebound feeling compared to an aluminum frame, which I actually like. I’ve always liked that kind of character, even on the Honda.

“I’ve taken a liking to it, even from the first time I rode it when I was just testing it. It kind of suits me, being kind of a bigger bike than the Honda and I’m somewhat of a bigger person. It’s nice and I feel like I don’t look as big on it, which is cool.

“Overall, the KTM is way different than the Honda [and] it’s fun to learn a new bike.”