A beautiful morning awaited the Honda HRC riders in St Jean D’Angely, a familiar circuit which is hosting the MXGP of Europe and round three of the 2025 World Motocross Championship. The track was in prime condition and in the free practices, Tim Gajser and Ferruccio Zanchi were fastest, with Ruben Fernandez second and Valerio Lata fourth in their respective classes.
Then the rain hit, and that changed the track considerably as ruts formed and roost started to stick to the riders. Thankfully, just as they proved in Spain last weekend, all four riders adapted well to the harsher weather and put in some strong results in the qualification races to head into tomorrow in good shape.
For Gajser, who was almost a second quicker in timed practice, after just edging out Fernandez in the free session. He had to work his way through the top 10 in the qualification race, picking them off quickly to minimise the nasty roost he had to endure. By the end of fourth lap, he was into second place and although he put pressure on at the end, he was unable to make the pass necessary to continue his winning streak from Cozar, Spain. He was able to extend his championship lead though, moving it out to 23 points after seven of the sixty scheduled gate-drops.
Crossing the line behind him was teammate Fernandez, who had had a consistent day in all the weather and rode really well to hold off any challengers. He had a top five start and made a couple of passes on lap four to get into third and from there on, just kept it smooth in the muddy conditions. His goal tomorrow is to do that in both races and fight it out for the podium spots and continue his rise up the MXGP rankings.
In the MX2 class, both Zanchi and Lata started the day off strongly, continuing their momentum from Cozar, where Zanchi stepped on the podium for the first time. The pair had top 10 speed all day, and with a bit more luck in the qualification race, could easily have challenged higher up the field. In the end, Zanchi had to fight his way through the MX2 field to get up to 10th place, while Lata fought hard for his seventh, and both will be hoping for more in the motos tomorrow.
While the forecast isn’t great, there isn’t anything expected that will faze the Honda HRC quartet and all four have shown the speed necessary to battle it out at the front of their MXGP and MX2 classes in whatever weather hits the St Jean D’Angely circuit.
MX2 Qualification Race
- Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), 23:50.247; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:07.927; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:13.823; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:14.210; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:19.146; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:20.004; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:28.131; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:39.531; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:40.976; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:43.446;
SUNDAY:
08:45 EMX125 Race 2, 09:25 MX2 Warm-up, 09:45 MXGP Warm-up, 10:30 EMX250 Race 2, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.
Tim Gajser 243
It was a good day, with conditions that completely changed over the day. In the morning it was nice and sunny and the track was in perfect condition, and I was able to get first in both free and timed practice. In the qualification race, I didn’t get the best start, but once again was able to move through the pack quickly. I got into second but never really closed the gap to the leader until the last couple of laps, and just ran out of time to win. Still, second place is good and I’m happy with my riding on the slippery terrain so I’m looking forward to tomorrow when hopefully it’ll be dry.
Ruben Fernandez 70
Very happy with my day today, to get third in the qualification race and ride fast and consistently on the wet, rutted St Jean track. I got a good start and didn’t make any mistakes, and just kept putting in the laps, and avoiding any roost which was important when on this track. I’m feeling good and excited to try and do it all over again tomorrow.
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
A good and bad day, because I rode well in 99% of it, with fastest lap in free practice, second fastest in timed practice, but then the start of the qualification race didn’t go well at all. From then on, my riding was good once again and I passed a lot of riders to get back to 10th place. It’s not ideal, and not really a fair reflection on my speed, but that’s how it goes. Thankfully, I have two opportunities tomorrow to show everyone what I am really capable of, and that’s the goal for the two GP-scoring races.
Valerio Lata 18
Solid day, and a step in the right direction after the first two rounds. I had two top 10s in practice and then in the race I got a decent start, which was important as it had got a lot muddier since the morning and the wet roost was a big issue. It was a tough race, with riders either in front or just behind the entire moto, so I was battling for all the laps but overall to finish seventh is something I’m happy with. I’d still like to be higher but for right now, it is a good place and gives me confidence for tomorrow.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
When you start the day one-two in MXGP free practice and one-four in MX2 free practice, you hope that those results can continue throughout the day. Unfortunately the rain hit midway through and really changed everything, but all four guys did a great job and we head into Sunday looking strong in both classes. The speed Ferro showed to get back to 10th was excellent and if he gets a start, he can look to repeat his moto win from Spain. Valerio also looked a lot better and stronger, pushing until the very end. And then Tim and Ruben looked comfortable with their second and third results. It would be nice if we could get a dry GP, but the whole team is coping well and Sunday should be a good one.
Qualification Race
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 10 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 24:13.494
2 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 9 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:02.562
3 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 8 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:22.295
4 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 7 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:28.910
5 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 6 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:34.977
6 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 5 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:37.103
7 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 4 JK Racing Yamaha Active 0:39.419
8 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 3 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:40.275
9 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 2 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 0:41.089
10 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 1 Honda SR Motoblouz 0:54.893
11 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 0 Honda SR Motoblouz 0:59.287
12 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 0 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:00.337
13 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 0 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:00.758
14 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 0 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:04.445
15 Watson Ben 919 GBR 0 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:05.678
16 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 0 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:06.544
17 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 0 Wildcard Rider 1:23.620
18 van de Moosdijk Roan NDL 0 1:25.473
19 Sterry Adam GBR 0 1:27.737
20 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 0 Wildcard Rider 1:31.199
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 117 Honda HRC – MXGP
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 94 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
3 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 94 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 79 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
5 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 67 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
6 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 61 Honda HRC – MXGP
7 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 56 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
8 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 56 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
9 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 56 Honda SR Motoblouz
10 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 52 Ducati Factory MX Team
11 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 46 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
12 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 44 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
13 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 42 JK Racing Yamaha Active
14 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 39 Ducati Factory MX Team
15 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 26 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
16 Watson Ben 919 GBR 25 MRT Racing Team Beta
17 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 24 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
18 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 16 Wildcard Rider
19 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 12 Wildcard Rider
20 Koch Tom 226 GER 10 MRT Racing Team Beta
21 van de Moosdijk Roan NDL 8
22 Gilbert Josh GBR 8
23 Tondel Cornelius 17 NOR 7 JWR Honda Racing
24 Aparecido dos Santos Fabio BRA 5
25 Sterry Adam GBR 3
26 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 1 Honda SR Motoblouz
27 Scheu Mark GER 1
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