2026, Fantic Odyssey: riders constantly sidelined—only the stand-in in the Netherlands

Bitter 2026 World Championship for Fantic: a chain of injuries, a decimated team, and the Dutch MXGP without their top riders...

A bleak year for the Lombard-Venetian brand in the Motocross World Championship. So much so that at the next MXGP event in the Netherlands (here the preview and schedule) both Fantic Factory MXGP riders will be absent. Alberto Forato is still recovering from a shoulder blade injury, and now Brent van Doninck is out as well with four fractured vertebrae from an accident last weekend in Sweden. In Arnhem, only Jörgen-Matthias Talviku (standing in for Forato) will race, so it won’t be an easy trip. And we’ve told you about the rumor that Fantic’s team, officially JM Racing, might (conditional is a must) already be targeting another brand-new project called ZXMOTO...

The Lombard-Venetian manufacturer isn’t reaping what it might have expected in this 2026 Motocross World Championship. For both Alberto Forato and Brent van Doninck, the path has been far more complicated than anticipated, mainly due to crashes, technical issues, and injuries along the way. The latest setback for the Italian from Cavaso del Tomba was another blow in his adaptation to the XXF 450, marking his third consecutive world season heavily impacted by physical problems. Things aren’t going better for his teammate, who has already dealt with some troubles and is now further sidelined by the fracture of four ribs at Uddevalla.

As noted, the team led by Louis Vosters had already called up the Estonian Talviku for a few GPs to field the second Fantic, replacing the injured Forato, who is out indefinitely (no news yet on recovery times). After the Swedish GP comes a second blow: the second factory rider is also out of competition for an unknown period, leaving the Fantic factory team forced to line up only the substitute Talviku. A season to close and file away as soon as possible...

-> Follow us on Instagram: @Corsedimoto