MXGP: The 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships holds its penultimate round this weekend, as the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit plays host to the Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China for round 19 of the series, with the trip to the far east of Asia sure to serve up some surprises in the nail-biting final stages of the MXGP World Championship season!
For just the third time in MXGP history, the Magic City of Shanghai will welcome the Championship to the third most populous city on the planet. Although last year’s event was affected by the oncoming of Typhoon Bebinca, which forced the cancellation of the Qualifying Races to condense the schedule, this year should see a much more celebratory atmosphere as local fans prepare to fill the grandstands around the new layout for 2025!
On a two-GP winning streak is the winner of the first event in China back in 2019, Jeffrey Herlings of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, although he was only able to take third in last year’s event. 2025 MXGP Championship leader Romain Febvre took his first race win in his comeback from injury in China last year, finishing second overall to Jorge Prado, and the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP talisman will be fired up for more success this weekend, as he defends a 26-point lead in the Championship. Lucas Coenen is still chasing Febvre for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and he won both MX2 races here last year to prove that the expected heat and humidity is something that he can deal with! Glenn Coldenhoff, second here in 2019 with a first race win, is a solid third in the Championship for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP, and the dedicated Dutchman with far-eastern heritage could again be a threat for the podium.
The leading MX2 title contenders in 2025, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Simon Längenfelder and reigning World Champion Kay de Wolf for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, have split the last seven GP victories up between them, and the German’s lead is now down to just 12 points! Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Andrea Adamo suffered a bad weekend in Türkiye, and now has only an outside chance of the title with 62 points to make up on Längenfelder!
Heat and humidity is always on the menu in the Shanghai area, although the forecast suggests that a side order of rain storms could also be served up, throwing a further element of unpredictability into the mix of what could be a crucial GP in the 2025 Championship chases!
Two rounds ago, heading to Arnhem, Lucas Coenen had the task of closing in ten points per GP on Romain Febvre to wrestle the world title away from the veteran Frenchman. He did that in the Netherlands, but Febvre struck back in Türkiye to make the young Belgian’s task even tougher with just two rounds to go. With both riders again enjoying good results at this venue in the past, it could still be wide open between them, but Coenen needs other riders to get between him and Febvre if he is to catch up as much as he needs to.
Glenn Coldenhoff had a rough Turkish weekend, but still left with an 81-point gap between him and Ruben Fernandez. Glenn was sixth in China last year, while Fernandez was fourth overall for Honda HRC. The veteran Dutchman needs to stay within 20 points of the Spaniard to clinch his second career bronze medal this weekend. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Calvin Vlaanderen, who missed this race last year with a knee injury, is 29 behind the Spaniard, and should be confident in China as he took third overall here in MX2 back in 2019.
Calvin has a threat to his fifth spot in the series, however, as Jeffrey Herlings has closed in rapidly on his countryman, and is just six points behind him after Türkiye! It would be tough to bet against “The Bullet” in his current run of form! Vlaanderen’s teammate Maxime Renaux also advanced in the series by passing Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Andrea Bonacorsi for seventh in the series at Afyon. A second race crash limited the Frenchman to 12th last year, while Bonacorsi was tenth. Renaux was sixth here in MX2 back in 2019, and holds a narrow three-point gap over the tall Italian.
Tim Gajser has yet to climb the podium for Honda HRC since returning from a shoulder injury, and returning to the venue where his title chances took a major hit last year won’t bring back good memories. Jeremy Seewer, tenth in series for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, was on the podium here in 2019 but had a rough time of it last year. He has a 59-point lead over TEM JP253 KTM’s Jan Pancar in the series, so he could seal the top ten Championship position for Ducati if he outscores the Slovenian this weekend.
The tense battle for the Championship, with many possible outside influencers, will again create some intriguing situations on the new layout at Shanghai!
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 885 Points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 859 Pts; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 638 Pts; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 557 Pts; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM) 528 Pts; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 522 Pts; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 483 Pts; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 480 Pts; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 411 Pts; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 358 Pts.
The MX2 World Championship has an even closer battle than MXGP at the top, as Simon Längenfelder continues to lead over reigning Champion Kay de Wolf, but there is now a mere 12 points between them! That’s the difference between first and eighth in a GP race, and with the chaotic pack of MX2 chargers around them, the title chase could take a massive swing at any time! Last year in China it was the Dutchman who took second overall ahead of the German, but they scored equal points despite Simon suffering with the heat in race two. With high temperatures being an issue in the past for Längenfelder, that could be his biggest enemy over the final two rounds, so he might welcome some storms if they break up the humidity and 30-degree plus temperatures.
It’s now or never this weekend for Andrea Adamo, because if he doesn’t make ground on both of the top two, then his title prospects are over for another season. Fifth overall here last year, the Italian hasn’t won a GP since Germany in June, and needs to dig in for a big performance this weekend. His fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider, Sacha Coenen, is always a threat to Holeshot and hide, but this will be his first visit to China and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the conditions.
The fight for fifth in the Championship is close, as Thibault Benistant sits there now for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but has just a 21-point gap over Camden McLellan, and the Monster Energy Triumph Racing team would dearly love him to match Mikkel Haarup’s position in last year’s series. Although Liam Everts is just six points behind the South African for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, and hoping to erase memories of his big neck injury from last year’s event.
The second Monster Energy Triumph Racing rider, Guillem Farres, moved past Honda HRC’s lone survivor Valerio Lata for eighth in the standings with fourth overall at Afyonkarahisar, but both riders, as well as Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 rookie Mathis Valin, have never raced in China before! It’s still close between all three of them, with 14 points between the Spaniard and the Italian, with the French kid just four further back!
The last seven rounds of the MX2 World Championship have seen victories swing back and forth between De Wolf and Längenfelder, with nobody able to win two consecutive GPs in MX2 at all this season! Will the reigning Champ take his turn again at this round, or will the German triple bronze medallist stop that pendulum swinging back this time? With so many other players able to influence the game, the MX2 class should be as wild as ever through the final two rounds of the series!
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 833 Points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 821 Pts; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 771 Pts; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 701 Pts; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 Pts; 6. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 582 Pts; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 576 Pts; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 427 Pts; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 413 Pts; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 409 Pts.
TIMETABLE
SATURDAY:
10:45 MX2 Free practice, 11:15 MXGP Free practice, 13:20 MX2 Time Practice, 14:00 MXGP Time Practice, 15:25 MX2 Qualifying Race, 16:10 MXGP Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY:
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.
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