TEAM AUSTRALIA READY FOR 2026 WJMX

A six-rider squad for Team Australia are set for the 22nd running of the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship, with a blend of returning talent and first-timers set to tackle one of the toughest tracks on the junior calendar in the Czech Republic this weekend.

The WJMX has long been the talent factory where Australia’s next generation of factory riders first put their hands up on the world stage, including Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence and Jay Wilson to name a few. This year’s 22nd edition, set for the Czech Republic on July 4-5, is no exception as a six-rider squad across all three classes will compete, headed by team manager Ross Beaton.

Seth Thomas and Blake Bohannon are the two riders with previous WJMX experience under their belts, joined by four first-timers – Ryder Madafiglio, Hudson Francis, Jayce Stocker and Cooper Ford. All six riders come into the event off the back of solid 2026 Penrite ProMX Championship campaigns. Madafiglio currently leads the KTM Group MX65 Futures class after two rounds, with Francis right behind him in second. Bohannon went unbeaten to claim the Fox Racing MX85 Cup, while Stocker backed that up with a runner-up finish of his own.

Australia’s also making a welcome return to the 125cc class after sitting it out in recent years, with Thomas and Ford up against a stacked 100-rider field dominated by Europe’s EMX125 regulars. Thomas will fancy his chances, though – he finished third in the 85cc class at last year’s WJMX, adding his name to an honour roll that includes Wilson, Jett Lawrence, Bailey Malkiewicz, Tye Simmonds, Hunter Lawrence, Kayden Minear, Ky Woods and Caleb Grothues.

If the calibre of the field wasn’t daunting enough, the Jinin circuit – a hard-pack, technical layout 130km south of Prague that’s hosted the event twice before, in 2005 and 2013 – is shaping up as a proper leveller. With 282 riders entered across the three classes, more than half won’t even make Sunday’s motos; only 40 per class survive Saturday’s qualifying. Racing kicks off Saturday, July 4, with motos on Sunday, July 5. Every race from Jinin will be streamed live on MXGP-TV.com.