Kove Just Confirmed a Factory MXGP Team, and I Did Not Have That on My 2027 Bingo Card

Every few months a Chinese manufacturer I’d only ever seen on a spec sheet announces it’s going racing, and every time it still catches me off guard. Kove’s turn just came.

Kove confirms a factory MXGP team for 2027

Kove has officially confirmed it will enter the FIM Motocross World Championship’s premier MXGP class with a factory team starting in 2027, fielding two riders. The team is described as “the beginning of a long-term project” rather than a one-off marketing exercise, and it’s being built on the former TBS Conversions team infrastructure already established in the Grand Prix paddock. Tom Steensels, who previously managed that TBS Conversions KTM operation, is running the new Kove program. Rider names haven’t been announced yet — Kove says the full line-up will follow at a later date.

Kove isn’t the first Chinese brand to make this move, but MXGP is a bigger swing than most

Kove is following Triumph and Ducati into MXGP — both relatively recent arrivals to the class themselves — but jumping straight into the premier 450cc-class world championship is a considerably bigger commitment than the EMX250 support-class entry that had previously been rumoured for the brand. Going straight to MXGP means competing head-to-head with KTM, Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Ducati factory efforts from day one, rather than working up through the support classes first. It’s a similar leap of ambition to what we’ve already seen out of Kove’s road-going line-up, where the brand has been stacking up middleweight adventure bikes faster than most riders can keep track of.

Manufacturers announcing factory racing programs well ahead of their actual debut isn’t unusual — KTM’s own CEO confirming the RC 790 and RC 490 months before either bike is ready to sell is the same playbook, building anticipation while the actual hardware and riders get sorted behind the scenes.

I’ve got zero business having an opinion on which factory motocross team is going to be competitive in a season that’s still eighteen months out, and yet here I am, already mentally sketching what a Kove works bike ought to look like in factory livery. This is exactly the kind of thing that used to send me down a three-hour YouTube hole instead of doing anything productive on a Sunday. Some habits don’t need a new bike to resurface.

When does Kove’s MXGP team debut?

The 2027 FIM Motocross World Championship season, competing in the premier MXGP class.

Who will ride for Kove in MXGP?

Not yet announced. Kove says the full rider and team line-up will be revealed at a later date.

Is this Kove’s first factory racing program?

It’s Kove’s first confirmed entry into the FIM Motocross World Championship. The team is built on the former TBS Conversions infrastructure, with ex-TBS manager Tom Steensels now running the Kove program.

Which other Chinese manufacturers race in MXGP?

None yet at factory level in MXGP itself, though Kove joins a wider trend of Chinese brands like CFMoto and QJMotor expanding aggressively into markets and segments long dominated by European and Japanese manufacturers.