MX2

SHANGHAI (China) 14th September 2025 – After a downpour of biblical proportions on Saturday evening, The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China saw bright sunshine for Sunday at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit.  This made the combination of heat and humidity a major factor for the riders to deal with at the 19th round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships, which saw both red plate holders strengthen their position before the final round of the season!

The MXGP class was dominated by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, with solid starts in both races being backed up by his incredible stamina to hold off late charges both times from Tim Gajser, who took second overall, while Ruben Fernandez completed a Honda HRC double podium with a fighting third place in race two.

In MX2, Sacha Coenen broke the run of victories by the title contenders with his second GP win of the season for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, who celebrated a podium clean sweep with race two winner Andrea Adamo taking second ahead of Championship leader Simon Längenfelder, who increased his series lead to 16 points with one round to go!

The intense conditions made The Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China one of the toughest races of the year, but the riders still gave their all with some incredible racing in both classes, and a huge gain for one title contender in particular!

Jeffrey Herlings continued his domination from the Qualifying Race to post the fastest time in morning Warm-up, half a second quicker than Tim Gajser, as Calvin Vlaanderen got into the top three for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.

For the first time this year, Maxime Renaux took the Fox Holeshot Award for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, with Herlings giving chase ahead of the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP duo of Pauls Jonass and Romain Febvre, although Gajser was rapidly on the move and moved up to third by the end of the first full lap! 

For Championship challenger Lucas Coenen, it was a tough start to what would be a very tough race, as he went through the first sector of the track in 12th place on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine!  He quickly made a sequence of passes, however, to fight his way into eighth place, amazingly finding his title rival Febvre right in front of him after the Frenchman made a few errors to slip back into the Belgian’s crosshairs!

Ruben Fernandez had tucked into fifth, behind Jonass and ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff, whose Fantic Factory Racing MXGP teammate Andrea Bonacorsi was ninth behind the two title combatants, while Jeremy Seewer started well in tenth for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team.

Coldenhoff made a slight mistake after the wave section and suddenly the top two riders in the Championship went either side of the Dutchman, who was closing in on clinching third in the series this weekend.  Coenen looked ready to make a move on Febvre, but was never quite able to pull the trigger, and his target started to disappear as the Kawasaki man re-grouped to pass Fernandez for fifth on lap six.

Renaux was setting a steady pace out front, but Herlings and Gajser kept him in sight.  However, Coenen suddenly seemed to hit a physical wall and dropped behind first Coldenhoff, then Bonacorsi, to finish lap 11 in ninth place.  That’s where he would finish, ahead of Vlaanderen, who had passed Seewer on lap 12 to secure a top ten result.

Jonass made a mistake to slip to sixth on lap 13, still his best result since returning from injury, while the Fantic men took seventh and eighth, Coldenhoff keeping Bonacorsi behind him despite a couple of passing attempts from the Italian.

Herlings put in an incredible late charge to close up on Renaux, attacking the Frenchman in both of the two corners before the finish line straight, before firing past up the start straight to make the race his own! Gajser followed him through on the penultimate lap, but both riders scored their best results since their early season injuries.  Febvre stayed ahead of Fernandez for fourth, stretching his lead over Coenen to 36 points.

The teenage Belgian looked to have got himself into a stronger position as he challenged for the Fox Holeshot Award, which ultimately went to Gajser, at the start of race two.  However, Lucas lost the front wheel in the second corner and had to restart a long way behind the very back of the pack.  Renaux also got caught up in the incident, but was able to get going again with riders directly in front of him.

Just as Coenen hit the deck, Herlings was able to fire to the inside of Gajser to take the early lead, with Febvre third ahead of Fernandez. Sadly for Jonass, he fell on the exit of the third corner, remounting just ahead of Coenen as they chased after the pack in tandem.

Vlaanderen picked up the baton in fifth ahead of Bonacorsi and Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team rider Mattia Guadagnini.  He was passed on lap two by the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Jago Geerts, while Ben Watson started ninth on the MRT Racing Team Beta, with Coldenhoff in tenth, until he passed the Brit on lap three.

Herlings powered away at the front, setting the Acerbis Fastest Lap on lap two, although Gajser latched onto his tail and kept him in site. Fernandez, meanwhile, sensing that Febvre was unlikely to push to the limit with the title on the line, launched an aggressive attack on the series leader and pushed past him on the final corner of the circuit at the end of lap four.

Coenen was unable to climb any higher than 14th, while Jonass got up to 12th at the flag, good enough for ninth overall ahead of Geerts, who put a strong pass on Bonacorsi to finish seventh in race two. The two Fantic riders finished together again, but this time the Italian was eighth ahead of Coldenhoff, with Guadagnini taking tenth at the flag. Renaux was able to put on a great charge through the pack to take sixth at the flag, one point away from a podium finish, taking fifth overall ahead of Vlaanderen, Bonacorsi, and Coldenhoff in eighth.

This result was good enough to clinch third in the Championship for the Dutch veteran, matching his career best Championship finish from 2019. Febvre, meanwhile, closed in on the medal they all want, the gold one, with fourth overall taking him 47 points away from Coenen as they head to the final round in Australia!

Third overall for Fernandez was the Spaniard’s third podium of the year, but Gajser pushed to the very end of the race in an effort to take the GP victory away from “The Bullet”! The Slovenian finished just seven-tenths of a second behind to take second overall, his first podium since his return from his early season shoulder injury.  The effort from Gajser was acknowledged by Herlings in animated conversation on the podium!

As for Jeffrey, he recorded his 112th Grand Prix victory, moved past Vlaanderen into fifth in the Championship, and now sits only 17 points behind Fernandez for fourth!  It was another incredible effort in conditions he freely confesses to despising!

The final round in Australia promises to be even hotter in many ways!

Jeffrey Herlings: " I did it, but honestly right now I feel like a chicken that’s been on the barbecue for an hour. The heat was so tough. Coming from Holland, I’m not used to these conditions, back home it was 12–13 degrees, and then here it’s just shocking. Carrying the speed was okay, but the heat really got to me. Tim [Gajser] pressured me the whole weekend, every race, and it wasn’t easy at all. Maybe it looked simple, but this was one of the hardest ones for me to win. To make it three GP wins in a row after only six weeks back on the bike, I’m really happy with that. It just shows how stacked the field is, even with fewer riders on the gate, the quality is still really high."

Tim Gajser: "It was a good weekend. Not easy, especially with the hot weather, but I feel like I’m slowly coming back to my old self again after the injury. In the beginning of the season I was struggling, but step by step it’s been getting better. Today the first race was really hot, the second was a bit nicer as the sun was going down, but Jeffrey [Herlings] and I kept pushing each other all the way. The battles were really nice. I even tried on the last lap to make a move, but he was riding perfectly, covering all the insides and not making mistakes. I just came up a little short, but I’m still happy to be back on the podium. Now I want to finish the season strong and carry good motivation into next year."

Ruben Fernandez: "I’m really happy to step back onto the podium again. The last few races have been tough for me, I struggled in the sand and also wasn’t feeling like myself. Together with the team we tried to figure things out with the bike and get me as comfortable as possible. I wanted to finish the season stronger, and this podium definitely helps. In the second race I felt that fire again. I knew I couldn’t waste time, so I made a strong move on Romain [Febvre] and went through because I didn’t want to repeat the first race where I got stuck behind him all race. I also knew it was for the podium, from fourth to third, so that gave me extra motivation. My speed was good, and in the end I just managed my pace and brought it home."

Main Photo: Jeffrey Herlings

Top Photo: MXGP Start Shanghai

Bottom Photos: 1. Tim Gajser; 2. Ruben Fernandez

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:38.944; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:02.502; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.815; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.205; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:34.804; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:37.896; 7. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:38.977; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:41.285; 9. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:56.713; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +1:01.210

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:31.201; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:00.605; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:28.530; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:39.495; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:42.100; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:48.197; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:54.961; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +1:01.411; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +1:03.499; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +1:05.885

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 44 p.; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 36 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 27 p.; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 26 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 26 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 24 p.; 10. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 20 p.

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 929 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 882 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 665 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 599 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 582 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 560 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 525 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 508 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 464 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 368 p.

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 991 points; 2. Kawasaki, 935 p.; 3. Honda, 838 p.; 4. Yamaha, 772 p.; 5. Fantic, 724 p.; 6. Ducati, 468 p.; 7. Beta, 309 p.; 8. Husqvarna, 102 p.; 9. Triumph, 9 p.; 10. GASGAS, 7 p.;

Championship leader Simon Längenfelder set the fastest time by over a second and a half in morning Warm-up, when the track was still soft from the overnight rain.  Mathis Valin took second in the session for Kawasaki Racing Team MX2, with Andrea Adamo showing his intent to improve on his result from Saturday with the third best time.

Sacha Coenen rocketed out of the start gate once again to claim his 16th Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one, while Valin and Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata disputed second overall, until Valin ran out of space and fell on the third corner, getting stuck under the bike until the whole field had gone past him!

Kay de Wolf worked his way into fourth in the first few corners, directly behind Längenfelder, until he pushed to the inside of the German in a left-hand corner, forcing a mistake that also allowed his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts to get past his title rival!  By the end of the first full lap however, the red plate holder was back past Everts, and followed De Wolf past Lata so that the winners of the last seven GPs were in second and third by lap four, but Sacha was already eight seconds up the track!

Adamo closed in on Lata to take fourth with two laps to go, with the younger Italian able to take fifth ahead of Everts. The Monster Energy Triumph Racing teammates Camden McLellan and Guillem Farres took seventh and eighth, with the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing of Rick Elzinga and Karlis Reisulis rounding out the top ten.

Längenfelder got briefly close to De Wolf, but the Dutchman pulled away over the last few laps to make back the two points he lost to the German on Saturday.  Neither of them could catch Sacha Coenen, despite the rapid Belgian crashing dramatically on the final lap, fortunately able to restart quickly and salvage a final winning advantage of a mere 7.865 seconds!

In race two, it was the turn of his teammate Längenfelder to grab his seventh Fox Holeshot Award of the season, a tally only bettered by the mercurial Coenen, and it was perfect timing for the series leader as De Wolf fought into the top five, unable to advance past a battle between Lata and Coenen for second, with Adamo also in the mix!  First Coenen, then the two previous World Champions, moved past the young Honda rider on lap one, while Farres and McLellan also pounced on the beleaguered Italian!  The top six stayed in that order until lap seven, when Adamo sliced past Coenen up the start straight, and McLellan passed Farres to take fifth.  Coenen then crashed hard trying to re-pass Adamo into turn two, messing up his goggles which he soon discarded! 

Everts took seventh from Elzinga with four laps to go, as Valin claimed ninth in the race ahead of Reisulis.  Elzinga and Reisulis took ninth and tenth overall behind Lata, with McLellan, Everts, and Farres taking fifth to seventh overall.

De Wolf closed right in on Coenen in the final few laps, just unable to make a pass as he landed off-track with his best effort over a fast jump, but his title rival was unable to hold back his own pursuer in the shape of Adamo! The Italian, in the race that saw him mathematically eliminated as a title contender, made an inside pass stick that knocked Längenfelder from first to third in the GP, lifted Adamo to second overall, and put the goggle-less Sacha Coenen to the top of the podium for his fourth career GP victory!

Adamo’s race win was his first since Sweden a month ago, and De Wolf was unable to climb the podium, finishing fourth overall as he faces a 16-point gap to make up at the final GP in Australia.  Längenfelder, proving in China that he can deal with the heat much better than he did in Argentina, has just one more testing GP ahead to try and claim his first World Championship!

Will the two red plate holders be able to convert them to gold at the final Grand Prix down under?  It all starts this Saturday coming, as we conclude the season with the MXGP of Australia Presented by Sitzler, at the brand new venue of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex in Darwin!  Make sure you join us mate, it's gonna be a ripper!

Sacha Coenen: "It was a really difficult weekend for everybody with the conditions, but I still managed to win two races out of three. In the last one things got a bit crazy, I made a stupid mistake trying to pass Andrea [Adamo], crashed, and had to come back. On top of that I had to throw away my goggles because they were full of water, so I rode 15 minutes without them, which was really hard. But overall I’m happy to win here. Even in the first race I had a small crash on the last lap when I lost the front, but I could still win it, so that was good. Of course, I’m never completely satisfied because I want to win all three races, but it’s part of learning. When you win, it’s good, but you can always take something from it."

Andrea Adamo: "It feels really good to be back on the box. In the first race my bad start basically ruined the race—it’s so difficult to come through when you don’t start well, even if the speed is there. Toward the end I had good lap times, maybe even the fastest on track, so that gave me confidence. In the second race I started around fourth, passed straight away, and then was behind Sacha and Simon. I made my move on Sacha when he made a small mistake, and then I really pushed to close on Simon. I tried to set a strong pace, and I could see he was getting more tired than me in the end, so I managed to pass and win the race. The heat was tough, of course, but it looked like the others were suffering more, and I think I was one of the best at recovering between the races. That gave me confidence to keep pushing."

Simon Laengenfelder: "Overall it was a good weekend. I was especially happy with my starts—they were really strong here, and in the second race I even got the holeshot again, which was nice. That allowed me to stay out of trouble and ride my own lines. On the track I felt good, especially in the second race, even though Andrea passed me in the end. It was still a positive result, and very important for the championship. I don’t know the exact points, but I’ve built up a nice gap heading into the last round in Australia. That makes me feel good, but I also know anything can happen, so I’ll just try to be ready for everything. The heat will be a factor again, but I heard it’s less humid there, which is nicer. Here you never stop sweating and it’s hard to recover between races, so hopefully it will be a bit better next week. I’m looking forward to it."

Main Photo: Sacha Coenen

Bottom Photos: 1. Andrea Adamo; 2. Simon Laengenfelder

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification:  . Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:01.661; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:07.865; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:15.303; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:34.955; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:43.950; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:49.201; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:59.168; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:02.290; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.332; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:23.452

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 33:59.017; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:03.294; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:24.322; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:29.759; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:31.284; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:50.788; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:58.789; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:05.116; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:28.396; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:32.029

MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 45 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 28 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 26 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 22 p.

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 884 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 868 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 817 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 756 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 612 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 606 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 461 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 447 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 434 p.

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 1054 points; 2. Husqvarna, 952 p.; 3. Yamaha, 697 p.; 4. Triumph, 687 p.; 5. Honda, 545 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 444 p.; 7. TM, 208 p.; 8. GASGAS, 28 p.;

All the photos from the MXGP of China will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF CHINA QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1680m

Type of ground: Hard PAck

Temperature: 34°

Weather conditions: Sunny

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

Shanghai (China), 13th September 2025 – With morning sunshine making way for cloud cover and rain showers for this afternoon’s Qualifying Races at The Oriental Beauty Valley  MXGP of China, the stifling heat and humidity was still a factor for the riders at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit, but they still entertained with two tense Qualifying Races to set the stage for tomorrow’s Grand Prix and earn the top finishers some Championship points in the process!

In-form record winner and yesterday’s birthday boy Jeffrey Herlings took a rare start-to- finish win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, facing a late challenge from Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser, who took second ahead of Championship leader Romain Febvre, as the Frenchman extended his series lead to 30 points for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP!

A week after claiming his first ever Qualifying Race victory in Türkiye, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flyer Sacha Coenen repeated the feat with his own start-to-finish win, while his teammate Simon Längenfelder increased his points lead with second place ahead of Honda HRC rookie Valerio Lata.

The weather forecast is fluctuating constantly, and could prove to be just as unpredictable as the races in tomorrow’s Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China!

Red plate holder Romain Febvre set the top time in Free Practice ahead of Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and Jeffrey Herlings, but “The Bullet” came in with a late flyer to take the first gate pick with the fastest lap in Time Practice! Tim Gajser came in second ahead of title chaser Lucas Coenen for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, while Febvre was relegated to fifth behind Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Maxime Renaux.

From his usual inside gate starting position, there was a last-second moment of drama for Herlings as he shouted for a change of goggles on the line! Unable to do so, and obviously fired up, “The Bullet” then blasted into the lead to take a rare Holeshot, fighting off Renaux and Febvre who were hot on his heels!

Febvre made a slight mistake and was passed on either side by Gajser and the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Jago Geerts, before the Belgian dropped the bike in the following corner!  His teammate Calvin Vlaanderen, meanwhile, was causing trouble for Coenen by relegating him to eighth place! It was not a good start for the teenage title challenger.

Gajser jumped past Renaux into second at the end of the first full lap, with Febvre in fourth ahead of Fernandez, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass, Vlaanderen, Coenen, and the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP duo of Andrea Bonacorsi and Glenn Coldenhoff.

Coenen started to move forward with a pass on Jonass for seventh, and was closing in on Vlaandeeren, but the De Carli teamster was unable to advance any further than seventh as the drizzle intensified and made the track a difficult one to pass on.

Febvre had carved inside Renaux on lap two, and fought hard to get onto the back wheel of Gajser, but the Slovenian had other plans and instead began to reel in Herlings!

Geerts did well to recover to 12th after his early fall, but of course didn’t collect any points. Jonass took eighth at the flag ahead of Bonacorsi and Coldenhoff, and Coenen stayed in seventh behind Vlaanderen.  Febvre, Renaux, and Fernandez finished close to two seconds apart in third, fourth, and fifth, but in the intense heat and difficult conditions many of the riders seemed to be conserving energy for tomorrow’s brutally tough races.

Gajser got the closest to making a move, but still finished just over a second behind Herlings, who took his fourth Qualifying Race win of the season, leaving him just a point behind Vlaanderen in the battle for fifth in the Championship!  Meanwhile, Febvre made four further points on Coenen today, building his cushion to exactly 30 points in the Championship with just five gate drops to go!

Will there be a further twist in the tale tomorrow?  Any result is possible on what could be a wild day in The Magic City!

Jeffrey Herlings: "I felt really good out there today. Time practice was solid and I managed to get the inside gate, which helped. I did run into a bit of an issue with my goggles fogging up because of the humidity, but once I got the holeshot I could clear it with some tear-offs and settle into my rhythm. Leading the whole race and taking the win felt great, and I’m really happy with how it went. The travel was tough, I only got here yesterday morning and barely slept but last night I finally caught up with some good rest. Hopefully we can keep it dry tomorrow, get another good night of sleep, and go for it again."

MXGP - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 24:35.560; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:01.346; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.042; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:16.024; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:18.686; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:20.957; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:23.892; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:30.159; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:40.950; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:42.806

MXGP - World Championship Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 893 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 863 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 639 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 563 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 533 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 532 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 490 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 482 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 420 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 358 p.;

Main Photo:  Jeffrey Herlings

Top Photo: MXGP Start China 

Bottom Photos: 1. Tim Gajser; 2. Romain Febvre 

It was no surprise at all to see teenage flyer Sacha Coenen take the fastest time in both Free and Time Practice sessions, while Italian pair Andrea Adamo for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and Valerio Lata for Honda HRC, completed the top three in Free Practice.  In Time Practice, Simon Längenfelder backed up his teammate Coenen with second ahead of his main title rival Kay de Wolf, third for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.

Coenen pulled a trademark Holeshot, and in fact it was a 1-2 for the De Carli team’s Red Bull KTM machines with Längenfelder right on the Belgian’s shoulder. Lata was in a fighting third ahead of Jens Walvoort, but the KTM BTS Racing Team rider dropped down the order on the opening lap, and would eventually retire early with machine trouble.  Instead it was Guillem Farres who took fourth for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, whose other rider Camden McLellan had fallen in the first corner, holding up the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pilot Rick Elzinga in the process!

Halfway round the first lap, Liam Everts was running in eighth, just behind his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Kay de Wolf, but the Belgian dropped his bike halfway round the first full lap with a simple washout in the loose topsoil!  De Wolf, for his part, was behind the leading Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Karlis Reisulis, who put a brilliant switchback pass on Farres to take fourth on lap two! De Wolf had got up to sixth ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 rookie Mathis Valin, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing challenger Andrea Adamo, Kay Karssemakers on the Bike-It Kawasaki, and KTM Australia wildcard Byron Dennis!

While Sacha got the hammer down, despite the rain starting to fall, the scrap was going on behind Längenfelder and Lata, as Reisulis took advantage of De Wolf’s attacks on Farres to pull away from the duelling pair!  De Wolf eventually made an aggressive pass on the last corner of lap six to take fifth, then hauled in Reisulis to pass him at the far end of the circuit and take fourth place on lap nine.

Elzinga and Everts made great recoveries from their early issues to finish ninth and tenth, the Belgian just keeping McLellan out of the points in 11th, leaving him just five points down on the South African in the battle for sixth in the Championship!  Valin held off a disappointed Adamo for seventh, leaving the Italian now a massive 68 points behind the Championship leader. 

Farres showed great spirit to re-pass Reisulis for fifth with three laps to go, while Lata, aware that De Wolf was closing in on him, made his HRC Honda extremely wide to keep the defending Champion behind him for his third-best Qualifying Race result of the year!  This leaves the Husqvarna man with a larger points deficit to Längenfelder, who gratefully took second to build his slight lead to 14. 

Sacha Coenen, however, enjoyed a six-second cushion by the chequered flag to claim his second career Qualifying Race win a week after his first!  Now mathematically uncatchable in fourth with the absence of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s injured rider Thibault Benistant for the rest of the year, he is now 63 behind Adamo and looking in great form!

As always though, MX2’s results can be wildly different between Qualifying and the GP races, so nothing is easy to call in this wild series, especially not the destination of the World Championship trophy!

Both Championships will add more to their story tomorrow, so tune in and join us for more enthralling action from the Magic City in the Far East!

Sacha Coenen "I’m feeling really good. It was hot and a little tiring for everyone today, but I had a strong race, led all the laps, and just did my race. I’m really happy with it, and tomorrow the plan is simple: try to do the same again."

MX2 - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 24:02.438; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:06.532; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:16.124; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:16.924; 5. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:22.415; 6. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:23.915; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.538; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:33.133; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:36.776; 10. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:41.123

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 842 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 828 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 774 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 711 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 582 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 577 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 433 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 421 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 413 p.

Top Photo: Sacha Coenen

Bottom Photos: 1. Simon Längenfelder; 2. Valerio Lata

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All the photos from the MXGP of China will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF CHINA QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1680m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 31°

Weather conditions: Cloudy

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2’s Thibault Benistant will not participate in the final two rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, scheduled for Shanghai, China, and Darwin, Australia, due to a minor knee injury sustained at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Despite racing with considerable discomfort at last weekend's MXGP of Türkiye in Afyonkarahisar, where he impressively finished eighth overall, the 23-year-old Frenchman returned to France this week for a specialist consultation. A thorough medical examination revealed a small fracture in his patella, prompting the decision to end his season early to focus on recovery.

This injury marks the end of a significant chapter in Benistant's career and his successful partnership with Yamaha, which began with his championship win in the EMX125 class in 2018 and his EMX250 title in 2020. Since joining the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team to start his professional career in 2021, Benistant has consistently proven himself as a podium contender, achieving nine race wins, 35 top three finishes, and 18 podium appearances, including three Grand Prix victories.

Yamaha Motor Europe and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 team extend their heartfelt gratitude to Thibault for his invaluable contributions to the Yamaha family over the past decade and wish him a speedy recovery and every success in his future endeavours.

Alexandre Kowalski

Yamaha Motor Europe Off-Road Racing Manager:

“It's unfortunate that our journey with Thibault concludes prematurely due to injury, but we acknowledge that such challenges are inherent in the world of racing. We are extremely grateful for Thibault's contributions to the Yamaha family over the past decade. Together, we have celebrated numerous memorable achievements, including his titles in the EMX125 and EMX250 classes, his first Grand Prix victory, and many podium finishes in MX2. We take great pride in these accomplishments, and it has been a pleasure to witness Thibault's growth as a professional athlete. On behalf of Yamaha Motor Europe, I wish Thibault a swift recovery and success in all his future endeavours."

Photo credit: Yamaha Racing