The 2025 FIM Motocross World Championship kick-started its second half today with the Qualifying Races for round 11 – the MXGP of Latvia at the sprawling Zelta Zirgs Motocenternear Kegums!
Yesterday’s rain gave way to sunny skies today, and the initially heavy going kept drying out to make for a fast, sub-two-minute lap time around the sandy Baltic circuit, for the very fastest that is.
The winner in MXGP, for the first time in a Qualifying Race in 2025, was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing legend Jeffrey Herlings. With a rare Holeshot from the first gate pick, “The Bullet” held off a charge from fellow factory KTM racer Lucas Coenen, who in turn had to defend second place from Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Championship leader Romain Febvre in a thrillingly close encounter!
After a chaotic start to the MX2 Qualifying Race, the Championship leader’s red plate was once again claimed by Simon Längenfelder, as the German took the race win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing after a clear Holeshot left him free from multiple crashes in the first two corners! Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 duo Thibault Benistant and home hero Karlis Reisulis filled the rest of the top three, with the Latvian building up the atmosphere around the Kegums circuit!
With the weather possibly being a factor in tomorrow’s races, the Saturday appetiser suggests that we’re in for some tasty racing on Grand Prix Sunday!
It was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing who took the fastest laps in both Free & Time Practice sessions earlier in the day, with Lucas Coenen claiming top spot in the morning, but it was Jeffrey Herlings who flexed his recovering muscles to outpace the teenager by just over half a second in the afternoon. Fantic Factory Racing MXGP star Brian Bogers was third fastest, ahead of his teammate Glenn Coldenhoff and incoming red plate holder Romain Febvre for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.
Herlings used his pole position to take his customary inside gate position, and although Coenen moved towards his line, the Belgian then ran wide, allowing Herlings and Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez to fire past him!
A few corners later and Coenen, who had to hold his line against the fast-starting Fantic Factory Racing MXGP rider Andrea Bonacorsi, dived to the inside of Fernandez to take over second and charge after Herlings!
Febvre, meanwhile, moved past Bonacorsi and then Coldenhoff to finish the first full lap in fourth position, taking until lap three to demote Fernandez from third. He set his sights on the KTM riders ahead and the chase was on!
The three Fantics of Coldenhoff, Bonacorsi, and Bogers held fifth to seventh positions for the entire race, but behind them it was local sensation Mairis Pumpurs who got the crowd into it, completing the first lap in eighth on his Motosports Racing Team Husqvarna! He held on there until lap five, when sand-loving Brit Ben Watson got past for MRT Racing Team Beta.
The home hero faded back to 17th as the rest of the MXGP elite showed their stamina and tenacity. Watson was passed on lap eight by Brent van Doninck, who took his first Qualifying Race points of the year in eighth, with Jeremy Seewer taking the final point for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX-Team, behind Watson, making it six manufacturers in the top ten!
A no-score for Maxime Renaux, suffering with a poor start for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, means that the Frenchman has lost third in the series to Coldenhoff. Fernandez, returning from a big crash which knocked him out of the previous round in Germany at the start of race one, must have been relieved with a solid race to fourth which sees him now level on points with his injured teammate Tim Gajser.
All eyes were on the battle up front, however, as Febvre looked ready to pounce on his main Championship rival Coenen, and their pace brought them to the rear wheel of Herlings! Coenen briefly broke the Frenchman’s charge, but couldn’t pull the trigger on the leading KTM, allowing the Kawasaki man to make one last desperate lunge on the final lap!
Febvre wasn’t able to make it pay, however, and had to settle for the loss of another point to the teenager, cutting his lead in the Championship to 35 points. Herlings’ victory was his first on a Saturday since Indonesia in July last year, and puts him just 16 points behind Seewer for ninth in the Championship. Incidentally, he is only 99 points behind Coldenhoff for third in the Championship. A gap worth watching!
Will “The Bullet” move on to take his ninth GP win on the Latvian sand tomorrow, or will the Championship leaders find an answer for him? You need to join us for Grand Prix Sunday to find out!
Jeffrey Herlings: “It’s really good to come off a win last weekend and to take pole today. Saturday is usually a tough day for me, but I managed to get it done in qualifying, even with the rain overnight and yesterday. Let’s make the best of tomorrow and try to be back on the podium.”
MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 24:50.902; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.080; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.628; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:22.657; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:26.919; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:35.337; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:45.885; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:57.136; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +0:58.314; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +0:59.265;
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 495 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 460 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 328 p.; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 326 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 305 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 305 p.; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 270 p.; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 262 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 245 p.; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 229 p.;
The timesheets from the Free and Time Practice sessions earlier in the day showed wildly different results in the ultra-competitive 250cc division, but there was one constant – Sacha Coenen was significantly the fastest man on track for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing whenever he went for a quick lap! Two and a half seconds clear of Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s Guillem Farres in the morning, Coenen only had Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates Kay de Wolf and Liam Everts just within a second of him in the afternoon sessions that determined the gate picks!
Längenfelder absolutely nailed the start to control the first corner, while Coenen clipped the front wheel of Farres, causing a chain reaction that also brought down the Spaniard’s teammate Camden McLellan, De Wolf, the WZ-Racing KTM of Maxime Grau, and the Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors machine of Oriol Oliver!
That wasn’t the end of the carnage, however, as Coenen tried a cutback move on Längenfelder into turn two, and underestimated how soft the dirt was! He stood his bike on its nose and it knocked over Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s new red plate holder Andrea Adamo, Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata, and Everts!
Reisulis got the crowd noise up as he emerged in second ahead of Benistant, and briefly looked like challenging Längenfelder! TM Moto CRD Motosport rider Julius Mikula held fourth spot ahead of JM Honda Racing’s David Braceras, although Cas Valk stuck his Van Venrooy KTM Racing machine under the Spaniard to take fifth on the first full lap. The Dutchman was also able to quickly pass Mikula for fourth, leaving the Czech rider to deal with the oncoming pack!
Mathis Valin had survived the first lap for Kawasaki Racing Team MX2, and hustled past Mikula for fifth, but Everts and De Wolf had been able to get up quickly, and were up to the Frenchman’s rear wheel by lap five, Everts making a beautiful pass around the outside of the rookie to claim fifth place almost immediately! De Wolf wasn’t able to make a pass happen quickly, however, and only got up to sixth with three laps to go.
Behind Valin in seventh, Spaniards Oliver and Farres got back up to place eighth and ninth, but Mikula was able to hold off a tattered and torn-up Adamo to secure the final point. Once more the red plate appeared to be a poisoned chalice in MX2, and the Italian lost the series lead as well as a little bit of skin in the collision with Coenen, who came home in 13th behind birthday boy McLellan.
With the crowd urging him to stay ahead of Benistant, Reisulis pushed the pace on, even though he lost second to the Frenchman on lap eight. That result puts Benistant back up to fifth in the series ahead of Coenen. The local fans were ecstatic with Reisulis’ best result by far this season, although he only had a second to spare over Valk by the flag, as the Dutchman celebrated his best Qualifying Race in MX2 to date.
Längenfelder marched to a clear 11-second victory, his second Qualifying Race win of the year, and will fit that discarded #27 red plate from last week back onto his machine for tomorrow, as he holds a seven-point advantage over Adamo, with De Wolf another 26 markers back!
Look for those two to come out swinging for revenge tomorrow, however, as will Coenen and all of the others, as the MX2 class continues to keep us guessing in 2025!
Do not miss the next thrilling day of MXGP action from the Zelta Zirgs Motocenter tomorrow!
Simon Längenfelder: “It was like a cat-and-mouse game one guy takes it, the other brings it back. I got the holeshot and I think there was a crash behind me in the second corner, so I had some free space. I found some nice lines and just enjoyed myself out there.”
MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 25:09.264; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.185; 3. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:17.484; 4. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:18.404; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:18.966; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:21.515; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:35.510; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:39.361; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:50.384; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, TM), +0:52.940;
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 473 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 466 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 440 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 383 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 346 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 342 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 294 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 265 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 238 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 220 p.;
MXGP OF LATVIA QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1800m
Type of ground: Sand
Temperature: 19°
Weather conditions: Cloudy
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY: 09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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