After his big impact at the MXGP of Germany last weekend, Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez put in an impressive performance to finish in fourth place at the Latvian qualification race.
Rain overnight had hammered the sandy Kegums circuit, but by the time the MXGP riders took to the racetrack, the conditions were good, if a little heavy. The #70 struggled initially to get in a good laptime and in the end got ninth gate-pick, which isn’t ideal for this tight right-hander start. However, utilising the power of his Honda CRF450R he swept around the first corner in third place and secured himself in fourth after the early chaos. From there, he rode a solid pace, keeping his laptimes very consistent and not allowing any pressure from the riders behind to cross the line in fourth place and give himself seven valuable points in the championship standings.
Unfortunately, Valerio Lata suffered from a couple of unlucky incidents during his Saturday, resulting in the only being able to finish 16th in the MX2 qualifying race. In timed practice, whilst on a lap that included a purple sector (fastest in the field), a rider on a slow lap moved into the fast line and knocked the #18 over. This meant he had to settle for ninth gate-pick like teammate Fernandez and like the Spaniard, it actually turned out to have a good angle for the first bend. He rocketed around the corner in third place and hopes were high that he’d be able to continue his recent good form that included a qualifying victory last week in Germany. However, those hopes were short-lived as in the second corner, the leader crashed into Lata and the Italian has to pick up his bike in last place. He did manage to fight back to 16th, but it won’t be an easy task to challenge for the podium spots from that outside gate.
There is also an extreme weather warning for the area overnight, with torrential rain forecast that could make conditions very difficult tomorrow morning. The sand does soak it up very well but the forecast is not looking good and the team are once again prepared for the worst at this 11th round of the 2025 world motocross championship.
MX2 Qualification Race
- 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; … 16. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:26.689;
Ruben Fernandez 70
After last weekend and everything I’ve had to endure during the week, I am very happy to finish fourth today. I knew it would be tough and I knew the start was important and I got a really good one, and just rode a consistent pace. Passing isn’t easy here, so I just controlled my position at certain parts of the track but my pace was good and although I’m definitely not at 100%, I’m still fighting hard for every point.
Valerio Lata 18
I felt like today was a pretty unlucky day. I was on a good lap in timed practice when a slower rider changed his line and hit me. I was only able to be ninth quickest, so it wasn’t the best gate pick, but I got a really good start and was top three around the first corner. Then in the second corner, the leader crashed, and I got knocked over after colliding with him. I was completely last when I remounted and never really found a good flow and could only come back to 16th. Definitely not a good day overall and the outside gate pick will make it tough tomorrow, but I’ll try my best to still score some good points.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
We are all really happy with Ruben’s ride today. He is pretty banged up after Germany so to overcome that and finish fourth is an excellent result and shows his determination. If he can get a similar start in the races tomorrow, we really hope he can repeat the performance and we’ll do everything we can to help him. Unfortunately, Valerio had a really unfortunate day, with other riders ruining his chances of success. He’ll try his best to overcome the gate-pick but with passing very difficult, it’ll be tough to continue his recent run of good results.
Qualification Race
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 10 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 24:50.902
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 9 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:01.080
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 8 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:02.628
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 7 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:22.657
5 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 6 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:26.919
6 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 5 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:35.337
7 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 4 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:45.885
8 van Doninck Brent BEL 3 0:57.136
9 Watson Ben 919 GBR 2 MRT Racing Team Beta 0:58.314
10 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 1 Ducati Factory MX Team 0:59.265
11 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 0 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:01.712
12 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 0 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:04.271
13 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 0 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:06.005
14 Spies Maximillian GER 0 1:07.882
15 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 0 KTM Kozak Team 1:12.166
16 Tondel Cornelius 17 NOR 0 JWR Honda Racing 1:17.243
17 Pumpurs Mairis 610 LAT 0 Wildcard Rider 1:18.399
18 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 0 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:19.788
19 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 0 Honda SR Motoblouz 1:23.684
20 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 0 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 1:29.528
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 495 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 460 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 328 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
4 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 326 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
5 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
6 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
7 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 270 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
8 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 262 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
9 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 245 Ducati Factory MX Team
10 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 229 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
11 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 204 Honda SR Motoblouz
12 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 168 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
13 Watson Ben 919 GBR 163 MRT Racing Team Beta
14 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 162 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
15 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 154 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
16 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 137 JK Racing Yamaha Active
17 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 130 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
18 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 126 Ducati Factory MX Team
19 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 83 KTM Kozak Team
20 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 72 Wildcard Rider
21 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 55 KTM Kozak Team
22 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 50 Wildcard Rider
23 van Doninck Brent BEL 43
24 Koch Tom 226 GER 43 MRT Racing Team Beta
25 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 38 Wildcard Rider
26 Gilbert Josh GBR 27
27 Spies Maximillian GER 23
28 Tondel Cornelius 17 NOR 20 JWR Honda Racing
29 Ludwig Noah GER 19
30 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 14 Honda SR Motoblouz
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