MXGP

DARWIN (Australia) 17 September 2025 – It all comes down to this! Round 20 of the FIM Motocross World Championships, the final round of the season, takes place this weekend to decide the fate of all three world titles at the brand-new Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex not far from the centre of the Northern Territory’s capital city of Darwin.  The 2025 MXGP, MX2, and WMX World Champions will all be crowned at the MXGP of Australia Presented by Sitzler!

This will be only the fifth time that World Championship Motocross will be run within the world’s biggest island nation, at adult level anyway, as the first event was held way back in 1992, when the Team USA line-up of Billy Liles, Mike LaRocco, and Jeff Emig won the Motocross des Nations at the south-eastern venue of Manjimup. The first GP was held at the same circuit a year later, and saw Dutchman Pedro Tragter clinch the 125cc World Championship with second overall behind Italian Andrea Bartolini. Eight years later and the 500cc class visited these shores, at the south-western venue of Broadford near Melbourne. Current Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Joel Smets was victorious in Victoria that day, and he was back there the following year as the 2001 three-class format was run for the most recent Grand Prix in Australia. James Dobb, Mickael Pichon, and Stefan Everts took the single-race GP wins that weekend.

Australia also hosted a World Junior Motocross Championship event in 2018, at the Horsham venue, also in the southern state of Victoria.  Local riders Bailey Malkiewicz and Braden Plath took titles that day, as did American Caden Braswell.  Several riders who are lining up this weekend were also there at Horsham seven years ago, and will be hoping to take advantage of their southern hemisphere experience!

Fast forward to 2025, and Smets’ top rider Jeffrey Herlings brings a three-GP winning streak to the event down under for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.  However, the Championship battle is between French veteran Romain Febvre, red plate holder for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, and the teenage Belgian tearaway Lucas Coenen for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. For the second year running, Coenen heads to the final round with a mountain to climb if he is to come away with gold, but he also knows that nothing is over until the final chequered flag flies!

As per usual, things are much closer in MX2, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s red plate holder Simon Längenfelder holding a slim margin over reigning World Champion and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Kay de Wolf. The German is looking to end a run of three years of bronze medals by striking gold this weekend, and top three positions in all three races will do the job, even if his Dutch rival takes all three race wins. In the wild and unpredictable MX2 class, however, anything is possible with a hatful of contenders able to get amongst the title combatants!

In the Women’s World Motocross Championships, there’s another teenager versus veteran battle as reigning World Champion Lotte van Drunen leads the series for De Baets Yamaha by just 16 points from six-time WMX Champ Kiara Fontanesi on her MX FontaRacing GASGAS.  Just a point behind Fontanesi is the RFME Spain National Team rider Daniela Guillen, also in with a chance of depriving Van Drunen of her second straight world title. Amazingly, Lotte finished fourth in the 65cc class of the 2018 Junior World Championships in Australia, and will be looking to add to her good memories of life down under! With many fast Australian wildcards likely to get in the mix this weekend, the Championship finale might not be as straightforward as some would think!

As with last weekend’s event in Shanghai, the heat will be higher than most Europeans will be used to, so the physical challenge will be tangible for every competitor in the final Grand Prix of what has been an epic 2025 season!

With strong consistency over the last two Grands Prix, Romain Febvre has rebuilt his Championship lead to a mighty 47 points over Lucas Coenen, who struggled in the heat of Shanghai last weekend with 12^th place overall, his worst result of the entire season. After a second corner crash in race two, the young Belgian seemed resigned to his fate, and needs major issues for the red plate holder in order to deprive him of the title.

Febvre, aiming to take his second world crown, ten years and eight days (maybe seven!) after his first, could wrap things up in Saturday’s Qualifying Race if he scores four points more than Coenen.  He only needs to score 14 points across the whole weekend to be Champion even if the Belgian wins all three outings.

Behind them, Glenn Coldenhoff has wrapped up third place in the World Championship for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP.  It’s the second bronze medal of his distinguished 16-year GP career, and the 35-year-old Dutch veteran could well be lining up at a Grand Prix for the final time this weekend if some rumours are to be believed.

China saw a welcome return to form for Ruben Fernandez, taking his third podium of the year for Honda HRC, and he needs to stay on the gas this weekend as he holds just a 15-point advantage over Jeffrey Herlings for fourth in the Championship.  In the form Jeffrey’s in, he might need every point of that gap! The Bullet’s three-GP win streak has moved him past Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Calvin Vlaanderen for fifth in the series, while Calvin’s teammate Maxime Renaux is a further 35 points back in seventh.  Both Yamaha riders will be looking to finish their season off with a podium result after looking strong in recent GPs.

Renaux has got to watch for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Andrea Bonacorsi, who is only 17 points behind him in the series, but the final two spots in the top ten are virtually sealed. Tim Gajser looked strong in China for Honda HRC, and will be out for nothing less than a victorious end to the season after looking like the title favourite before his shoulder injury.  Jeremy Seewer is pretty secure in tenth for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, which is a fine result for the Italian brand in their first full year of competition at the very top of the sport.

Jeremy’s Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team rider Mattia Guadagnini actually finished second in the 125cc Junior World Championship in Australia in 2018, to Bailey Malkiewicz in the 125cc class, while Aussie wildcard Zac Watson competed in the 85cc class that day too!

It will be a landmark day for many in the MXGP World Championship, with stories of many top riders likely to change teams after this race, so this might be the last time they run with the colours that we are very used to seeing many of them in! As the world title gets decided this weekend, watch for some major celebrations as history will be made, whichever way the gold medal goes!

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

Main Photo: 2025 MXGP start

Bottom photos: 1.Romain Febvre ; 2. Lucas Coenen

The MX2 World Championship has been incredibly entertaining all season long, with 11 different riders winning either a Qualifying Race, a GP Race, or both since the start of the campaign in Argentina!  Such has been the diversity of the results, that not one rider has taken back-to-back GP victories all year long in the class!

Simon Längenfelder nudged slightly further ahead of Kay de Wolf with his performances in China, but 16 points is not a massive gap at all over the defending World Champion, who will be hoping that the new circuit, which is described as “Sand/Clay”, will be on the softer side of that description, playing to the strengths that he has shown all year long. The Dutchman has to go all-out for three race wins, and hope that a few of the many other contenders can hold back the German, who basically needs to score 45 points across the three races, even if De Wolf takes a maximum points haul.  De Wolf also has history in Australia, finishing second overall in the 2018 85cc World Juniors at Horsham!

Other riders who raced that event include Bike-It Kawasaki’s Kay Karssemakers, who was third in the 85cc class, Camden McLellan who took fifth, and Liam Everts, who won race one but suffered a DNF in race two due to damage from a crash! Rick Elzinga, now with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, finished sixth overall in the 125cc class that day.  It will be Rick’s last ride in MX2 this weekend.

As for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders Andrea Adamo and Sacha Coenen, they are pretty much set in their current Championship positions of third and fourth, although Adamo has an extremely thin chance of catching De Wolf for second.  Coenen will be going all out to become the only winner of back-to-back GPs after his victory in China.

With Thibault Benistant out for the year, he is now guaranteed to finish seventh in the Championship for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2. Camden McLellan has moved up to fifth for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, with Liam Everts just six points behind the South African for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, so it could be tasty between those two if they get together on track!

Behind Benistant is the second Monster Energy Triumph Racing rider, Guillem Farres, who sits 14 points ahead of Honda HRC’s rookie Valerio Lata for eighth in the standings, while Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s French whizz-kid Mathis Valin is just 13 further back from Lata, with no-one able to knock him out of the top ten in his first World Championship campaign.

The battle for the world MX2 crown is enthralling and could go right to the very end of the final race, and what should be a memorable first MXGP event in Australia for 24 years is not one to be missed! Get a shrimp on the barbie for breakfast and tune in to the MXGP of Australia Presented by Sitzler! It could be one for the ages!

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

Main Photo: 2025 MX2 start

Bottom photos: 1. Simon Längenfelder ; 2. Kay de Wolf

Don’t miss your chance to watch the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler this weekend if you're around. Get your tickets HERE!

All the photos from the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler will be available HERE

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY: 08:25: Blåkläder Start Practice MX2, 08:55 Blåkläder Start Practice MXGP, 09:45 WMX Free practice, 10:15 MX2 Free practice, 10:45 MXGP Free practice, 12:10 WMX Qualifying practice, 12:50 MX2 Time practice, 13:30 MXGP Time practice, 14:40 WMX Race 1, 15:25 MX2 Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP Qualifying Race

SUNDAY: 09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

MXGP Australia

While we all head to Darwin, Australia this weekend, for the final round of the 2025 MXGP and MX2 championships, we also make our return to the land down under, after a 24-year hiatus.

Many of us that are old enough, will remember a couple of really exciting world motocross rounds in Broadford, Victoria in 2000 and 2001, and of course, the Aussies have also held a round of the World 125cc championship, back in 1993 and the 1992 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations.

The first ever major international race was held in Australia on 9 December 1972, when factory Suzuki riders and world 250 and 500 motocross champions, Joel Robert and Roger de Coster arrived to race the rather inexperienced Australian riders. Along with Bengt Aberg, Adolf Weil and a handful of other leading Grand Prix riders, the sport of motocross was introduced on the big scale.

The Aussies got another taste of major motocross racing, back in 1992, around the tough sand track of Manjimup, Team USA’s domination of the Motocross des Nations was expected to come to an end in 1992 when the country’s two biggest motocross stars – Jeff Stanton and Damon Bradshaw – declined to ride.

All the pundits said the 11-year reign at the top was over for the Americans due to the entry of their “B Team” and the sandy Cosy Creek circuit at Manjimup, Western Australia. But a young trio of Americans – Jeff Emig, Mike LaRocco and Billy Liles – showed the world just how deep the talent pool in America had become.

A year later Australia hosted its first World Motocross Grand Prix at the Cosy Creek Circuit in Manjimup, Western Australia. Following the success of the 1992 Motocross des Nations at Manjimup the year before, Australia was awarded the rights to host a round of the 1993 World 125cc Championships at the same venue. It was the final deciding round for the year held over the weekend of 27-29 August and it was the first time ever this class was staged outside of Europe.

Dutchman Pedro Tragter (Suzuki) was in the box seat to clinch his first World Motocross title. Heading into Manjimup, he held a 34-point lead ahead of Frenchman Yves Demaria (Suzuki).

Many decades later, Grand Prix motocross again appeared in Australia, with rounds held in 2000 and 2001. The Australian round of the 500cc World Motocross Championship at Broadford, Victoria in 2000 will long be remembered for the inspiring performances of two local riders who launched successful international careers at this event.

On 19 March 2000 – and in front of a 15,000-strong crowd – Queenslanders Andrew McFarlane and Michael Byrne finished in the Top 10 against the world’s best riders, with McFarlane winning the holeshot on his Kawasaki 500 machine in the first of the two Grand Prix motos, the first round of the season.

The late Andrew McFarlane kept the world’s best riders in his dust for more than 20 minutes, eventually finishing fourth overall after coming third in the first moto ahead of Byrne in fourth aboard a Honda.

Stefan Everts survived a protest to win his second 500 MX GP of the year after an enthralling contest at the dramatic hillside circuit of Broadford, 50 miles north of Melbourne, Australia on the weekend of April 15, 2001.

The race was a great triumph for the Yamaha Motocross Team, with newcomer Andrew McFarlane finishing second on home territory and Marnicq Bervoets only narrowly failing to make it a 1-2-3 for the team. Everts extended his 500-championship lead to 18 points.

So, when we arrive in Darwin this coming weekend, let’s not forget the past, a past that gave many young Australian riders the opportunity to race the best in the world. We see now the performances of Australian riders, both in Europe and in America and the growth of the sport down under will continue this coming weekend.

Photo Credit: KTM

MONACO (Principality of Monaco) 16 September 2025 – The final round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships is coming on 20th and 21st of September in Darwin at Hidden Valley Raceway which marks the return on the Australian soil for the first time since 24 years! All MXGP, MX2 and WMX World Champions will be crowned this weekend in Northen Territory!

Checkout the Timetable and Entry Lists for the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler below:

TIMETABLE

MXGP ENTRY LIST

MX2 ENTRY LIST

WMX ENTRY LIST

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

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