Husqvarna factory riders switch to the orange squad
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is taking its 250-class SMX program from a single entry to a four-rider squad for 2027. The team has signed Ryder DiFrancesco and Daxton Bennick alongside the returning Julien Beaumer and previously signed Sacha Coenen.
All four will race the KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION across AMA Supercross, Pro Motocross, and the SMX Finals. DiFrancesco and Bennick will move over to the orange squad after racing for the now-shuttered Husqvarna factory team. The expanded team gives KTM one of the deepest and youngest 250 lineups in the paddock.
DiFrancesco, 21, arrives off a breakout 2026 in which he finished runner-up in the 250SMX World Championship, took fourth out West in the 250SX standings, and placed fifth in 250MX.
The Californian (pictured above) claimed his maiden 250SX podium at the Anaheim 1 opener, then backed it up through the outdoors and playoffs. "It's been one of the top-tier teams in the paddock since I can remember, so it's going to be a cool feeling being on the orange bike in 2027," DiFrancesco said. "The next thing to do now is to go out there and win."
Bennick, 20, joins after a 2026 campaign that yielded a third-place finish in the 250SX East points and a first 250SMX podium at the Columbus round of SMX Playoff 1. The North Carolina rider, pictured below, came up through the KTM Orange Brigade amateur ranks, so the move is a continuation rather than a leap. "There are a lot of familiar faces on the team and also some new ones," Bennick said.
Returning for his fourth year with the team, Beaumer, 20, signed a fresh deal that keeps him in orange through 2027 and beyond, having been the 250SX West runner-up in 2025 before a post-season injury.
Coenen, 19, transfers in from the MX2 World Championship, where he finished third in the 2026 standings and carried the red plate earlier in the year.
Nathan Ramsey takes over as 250 Team Manager, working alongside 450 manager Ian Harrison. Harrison's side fields reigning SMX World Champion Jorge Prado and new recruit Lucas Coenen, Sacha's twin. The strengthened 250 effort makes its racing debut when the 2027 AMA Supercross Championship opens at Anaheim on January 9.
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