Junior career
Coenen made his debut in the European Motocross Championship in 2016 within the 65cc class where he scored a point in the first race. He returned to this class the following season, with a sixth in race once giving him thirteenth overall. By 2019, Coenen, along with his brother, had progressed to the 85 class. He scored points in both the European and World Championships for his class that season.
For the 2021 European Motocross Championship, Coenen made his full time move to the EMX125 class after being signed by BUD Racing Kawasaki. [2] Despite his young age, Coenen was able to rapidly adapt to the class. By round three he was able to finish on the podium for the first time, repeating this at the following round in France. He would go on to win two of the final three rounds of the season and finish an eventual third in the championship. [3] In addition to this, Coenen was crowned champion in the Junior class of the French Elite Motocross Championship.
250 Career
Following his strong performance in 2021, Coenen was signed up by the Jumbo Husqvarna BT Racing Team to move straight up to the EMX250 class. [4] Coenen was again able to make an instant impact on the class, finishing second overall at round two. As the season wore on, Coenen became a dominant force in the class, winning three of the last four rounds and seven out of the eight races within that. Coupled with these results, Coenen made his MX2 World Championship debut in the Czech Republic, scoring points in the second race.
Coenen was signed by the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing Team for the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship season in the MX2 class. [5] He made an immediate impact on the class, recording multiple top-tens in the opening rounds. By round seven, he was able to take his first world championship-level race win at the French Grand Prix. Three rounds later, in Indonesia, Coenen would win both races to take his first overall Grand Prix win. [6] Two more overall podiums followed, including a race win in The Netherlands and despite not starting either races in Sweden, he finished fifth in the final standings in his debut season. Following this, he made his debut at the Motocross des Nations, helping Belgium to fifth overall and picking up the Ricky Carmichael Youngest Rider award individually.
The 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship saw Coenen battle throughout the season with his teammate Kay de Wolf for the title in the MX2 class. The factory Husqvarna riders dominated the season, with Coenen taking nine overall Grand Prix wins, two more than de Wolf. However, greater consistency from de Wolf meant that Coenen finished runner-up in the class by twenty points. Following this, Coenen represented Belgium at the 2024 Motocross des Nations, his second appearance at the event. There was some controversy in the lead up to the event, as Coenen wanted to ride on a 450 in the MXGP class despite finishing runner-up in the MX2 class of the World Championship. With other riders being drafted into the remaining two spots due to injuries, Coenen was asked to ride in the MX2 class which he initially refused to do, causing the team to briefly withdraw from the event. [7] This later changed and he rode in the MX2 class, where he finished second in his qualifying race. In the first main race, Coenen was the leading MX2 rider, battling with many of the MXGP class riders in the top-ten until he crashed and broke his collarbone. [8]
450 Career
Despite still being 17 years old, after the 2024 Motocross des Nations it was announced that Coenen would move up to the MXGP class for the 2025 season for the Red Bull KTM Factory team. [9] He started the MXGP season wearing wrist braces and by the third round in France was already able to win his first qualifying race and earn his first overall podium. [10] At the following round in Sardinia, he took his first race win in the MXGP category, before recording back-to-back Grand Prix overall wins in Switzerland and Portugal. With injuries impacting Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herlings, Coenen was at this point a distant challenger to Romain Febvre. After winning three Grand Prix in a row in Finland, Czech Republic and Belgium, he was able to close the gap down to just nine points. Struggles at the Swedish and Chinese rounds in particular would see the points gap go back out in Febvre's favour, with Coenen eventually ending the season 39 points behind the Frenchman. At the 2025 Motocross des Nations, Coenen raced a 450cc motorcycle in the event for the first time, where Belgium finished fourth overall and he finished second in the first main race.
Belgian
