NEWLY MINTED 250 WORLD CHAMPION MAXIME RENAUX MOVES TO THE 450 CLASS FOR 2022

Yamaha has confirmed that reigning FIM 250 Motocross World Champion Maxime Renaux will step up to the premier 450cc MXGP class in 2022. The 21-year-old Frenchman signed a two-year deal with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team. Renaux has been in the Yamaha system ever since he was on a YZ85. As far back as 2015, Maxime won three EMX125 rounds on a GYTR-kitted YZ125 and won the 2015 Junior 125cc World Championship. After several seasons marred by injuries, he entered the 250 World Motocross Championships as a wild card entry in 2018 and in 2019, the then-18-year-old Renaux finished seventh in the 2019 250 World Championship. Last year, Renaux established himself as a 250 title threat when he finished third in the 2020 250 World Championships and joined the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory 250 team. In his debut season as a ‘Factory’ Yamaha rider, he scored to 14 podium finishes and 5 Grand Prix wins on his way to 2021 FIM 250 World Championship. For 2022, Renaux will join Jeremy Seewer and Glenn Coldenhoff under the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP awning.

Maxime Renaux said, “I’m really excited for the new challenge and the next chapter, to move to MXGP. I know it’s going to be an all-new challenge, and it is the most important part of my career because once you reach MXGP you are at the top, there is no class to move forward. I feel ready for it, and I am really looking forward to making this experience a good one, and a long one. I have tested the bike, and I feel already really good and really comfortable. I’ve been riding a 450 in the past, so it’s not a new bike for me, but it is the first time on a Factory YZ450FM, and I already feel super ready for it, so now we will spend the winter testing and developing the bike to suit me as best it can, so that we are ready for next season. I’m looking forward to everything.”