Beautiful sunshine and blue skies made for a glorious Grand Prix day at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden near the city of Arnhem today, and while thousands of Dutch fans, as well as many from elsewhere, enjoyed the conditions, the heat made it even tougher for the MXGP elite as they fought it out in the sand for the last time in 2025! The 17th round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships was a true test for everyone on track, but the local fans got what they came for with victory for their home heroes in both Grand Prix classes!
The MXGP class saw a double victory for Jeffrey Herlings, his 16th Grand Prix win on Dutch soil, but there were incredible charges through the pack in both races for his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Lucas Coenen, who finished second twice, coming just a few metres short of grabbing the GP win at the end of race two!
There was also joy for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP as Glenn Coldenhoff enjoyed his first podium on home ground since 2016, with two Fox Holeshot Awards and consistent riding all tightening his grip on third in the Championship!
The hot favourite in MX2, Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s defending World Champion Kay de Wolf, duly delivered his first Grand Prix win on home territory with a clinical maximum-point performance, while Andrea Adamo took a solid second overall, ahead of his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Sacha Coenen.
The atmosphere was electric as the fans urged on their favourites in both classes, and their riders responded to get the Dutch National Anthem played at the end of both podium ceremonies, but the Championships in both classes are far from decided after tough days for both red plate holders!
Yesterday’s Qualifying Race winner Herlings continued to dominate every single session with the top time again in the morning Warm-up, 1.5 seconds faster than the next best, which was Andrea Bonacorsi on the leading Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine, with Tim Gajser third best for Honda HRC.
Just as he did in the Qualifying Race, however, it was Glenn Coldenhoff who took the Fox Holeshot Award ahead of Herlings and Romain Febvre, although the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP points leader had to give way to charging Honda HRC man Tim Gajser over the finish line at the start of the first full lap! Meanwhile Lucas Coenen had dropped the bike in the first corner and was having to fight through the pack, although he was far from the only one, and he was quick to get up. Even so, Febvre’s pit board told him to “RELAX” as they relayed his title rival’s whereabouts!
Bonacorsi put the second Fantic into the top five, but Coldenhoff’s lead was short-lived as Herlings made a break for it after a pass along the back straight! Maxime Renaux was the leading Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider in sixth, ahead of the third Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine of Brian Bogers. Kevin Brumann started in eighth for MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing, with Jorgen-Mathias Talviku’s privateer Yamaha and the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team rider Mattia Guadagnini rounding out the early top ten.
Coenen was on a majestic charge, however, into the top ten past Guadagnini by lap three, and past Bogers by lap eight, as Febvre finally got back around Gajser to take third! The tearaway teenager was into sixth by half-distance after passing Renaux, then set after Bonacorsi and Gajser. The Italian passed the Slovenian for fourth on lap 12, just before Coenen followed suit.
Ben Watson put his MRT Racing Team Beta into the top ten with five laps to go, finishing behind Brumann in the Swiss rider’s best career GP race result of ninth! Gajser had to settle for sixth ahead of Renaux and Bogers, but Coenen finally snapped past his old EMX rival Bonacorsi with three laps to go, then completed an amazing performance by passing Coldenhoff, and sweetest of all Febvre, in the final two laps! He even got to within 3.3 seconds of Herlings, and the old master had to acknowledge that he would need all his energy for race two!
Coldenhoff made it a clean sweep of the weekend’s starts with his seventh Fox Holeshot Award of the season, putting him equal second for the year, but Herlings got around the outside of his compatriot between the second and third corners and set about building his lead. Febvre was fending off the other two Fantics of Bonacorsi and a fired-up Bogers, although Gajser got past them into fourth, as Coenen was again buried in the pack, fighting up to fifteenth by the end of the first full lap!
On the second lap, the tale turned again with a crash for Febvre, dropping him to tenth just a few metres ahead of Coenen! As Gajser got up to second, the Fantic team ran third, fourth and fifth, with Jago Geerts in a good sixth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and Ruben Fernandez seventh for Honda HRC.
Febvre and Coenen managed to rip past Watson, then Febvre’s Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP stablemate Pauls Jonass, before the Belgian was able to pass his French rival and immediately begin to pull away! He was into the top five past Bogers by lap six, then Bonacorsi and Coldenhoff in successive laps to get to third by half-distance, lap ten of an eventual 19!
Jonass took tenth in the race, which would lead to ninth overall ahead of Geerts, who finished a good seventh in race two after passing Febvre on the final lap! Eighth overall would go to Renaux with 7-11 finishes, while Bogers equalled his season’s best with seventh overall. Sixth place went to Bonacorsi with two fifth place scores, as Febvre could only recover to eighth in race two, good enough for fifth overall, only his second result outside of the podium places this season!
Coenen’s incredible charge brought him up to Gajser, and he rocketed past the Slovenian with amazing speed through the s-bend next to the Paddock, fans getting behind him no matter what nationality they were! This gave him a gap of around seven seconds to Herlings, and about six minutes plus two laps to work with. With incredible pace the relentless Belgian closed the gap, but Herlings was equal to the task of holding him off despite both riders having issues with lapped riders!
With Fantic riders Coldenhoff and Bonacorsi holding fourth and fifth to the flag, they were able to keep Gajser, who finished a lonely third in race two, down in fourth place overall, and Glenn enjoyed his first podium trophy on home ground since 2016! The veteran now holds a 94-point margin over Fernandez for third in the series.
It was Coenen who created so much excitement with his charge, and he got to within a second of Herlings with a few corners to go, but was just unable to attempt a pass! “The Bullet” claimed his 110th career Grand Prix victory with his 210th race win, and the home crowd were ecstatic with their hero’s 16th triumph on home sand!
The gap in the title chase between Febvre and Coenen is now down to 31 points, with just three rounds remaining as the series heads east! There is still all to play for in this enthralling veteran vs teenager battle, with several other players in the mix to make this a truly unpredictable final month of the 2025 MXGP World Championship!
Jeffrey Herlings: “ I’m happy. The first race I could save some energy because I really needed it for the second one. For a few laps I had quite a nice gap and thought, okay, we’re all good. But Lucas is 18 now and full of energy and I’m on my way down, when i was young at the time, I could go 35 plus 2 without even being tired at all so I’m very pleased with the 1-1 here today, especially at home. Really looking forward to Turkiye. And credit to Lucas as well, he did an awesome race.”
Lucas Coenen: “What I know is that the starts were really, really bad, they couldn’t have been worse. First race I crashed and had to come from last, second race the same. So it was really tough. I pushed from almost last in both races up to the front. First race Jeffrey had a gap, but second race I gave everything I had, and I was this close to passing him. I want to beat him in the sand, he’s the best sand rider but I’m young and I want to beat him. I just can’t afford mistakes, I need those points. We need to figure out the starts, because that’s the big problem right now. We’ve got one week off, so if we nail the starts we can ride up front and fight for wins.”
Glenn Coldenhoff: “Yeah, it was a tough weekend and the track was very demanding, but I got two holeshots today, also yesterday, so my starts were really on point and that helped me a lot in the races. Finally, a podium here after trying for two years and always just missing it with fourth overall, so I’m super happy. Big thanks to the team, to everybody who came out here, I definitely enjoyed this one.”
Main Photo: Jeffrey Herlings on the Podium
Top Photo: Jeffrey Herlings
Bottom Photos: 1. Lucas Coenen; 2 Glenn Coldenhoff
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 35:04.262; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:03.358; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.528; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:08.752; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:11.611; 6. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:23.067; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.868; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:49.069; 9. Kevin Brumann (SUI, Husqvarna), +1:11.108; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, Beta), +1:15.515
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:39.238; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.903; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:30.849; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:34.906; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:40.166; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:46.950; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:48.537; 8. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:51.068; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:21.610; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:22.612
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 36 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 35 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 32 p.; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 28 p.; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 18 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 835 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 804 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 617 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 523 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 497 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 466 p.; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 461 p.; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 447 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 368 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 346 p.;
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 871 points; 2. Kawasaki, 841 p.; 3. Honda, 742 p.; 4. Yamaha, 693 p.; 5. Fantic, 674 p.; 6. Ducati, 431 p.; 7. Beta, 285 p.; 8. Husqvarna, 93 p.; 9. GASGAS, 7 p.; 10. Triumph, 6 p.;
Once more it was Sacha Coenen who got to the top of the timings table in morning Warm-up, although crowd favourite De Wolf was right behind him, ahead of his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate Liam Everts.
Coenen was once again a monster off the start line in taking a clear Fox Holeshot Award, his 13th of the season, with Qualifying Race winner Andrea Adamo again right there with him for a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1-2, although this time he was unable to instantly pass the Belgian like he had done on Saturday!
Everts was able to get past Rick Elzinga, who had started in third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but again the title combatants were in less than ideal spots, De Wolf back in ninth, and Simon Längenfelder just 13th for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing! The German would take a few laps before making serious progress, but not so De Wolf, who was up to seventh at the end of the first full lap, and zapped past Monster Energy Triumph Racing star Camden McLellan and Honda HRC’s Valerio Lata through the next circulation!
McLellan’s teammate Guillem Farres also got past Lata shortly afterwards, as the KTM BTS Racing Team rider Jens Walvoort held ninth ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Mathis Valin.
Lap three saw De Wolf pass Elzinga through the wave section, in which he was showing phenomenal speed and style every lap! As he got past teammate Everts for third on lap five, he had six seconds to catch on Adamo, and another three and a half to Coenen out front! Also on that lap, McLellan and Farres both passed Elzinga to run in fourth and fifth.
Meanwhile Längenfelder was working his way into the top ten, taking his time with Valin, Walvoort and Lata to reach eighth on lap nine, before putting in a great charge past Elzinga and Farres to hold sixth at half-distance.
De Wolf’s relentless pace, fuelled by the passionate fans who feel closer to the track than most other GPs, lifted him to Adamo’s back wheel, and from the finish line jump, through three corners and two long straights, the two most recent MX2 World Champions ran side-by-side as the Italian would just not roll over!
In the end he had to, and their battle had closed them up to Coenen, who was making a few mistakes with his all-out attacking style, while De Wolf looked smooth as silk. After just three more laps, the Dutch hero, in his special PSV Eindhoven tribute kit, took advantage of a Coenen mistake to pass the Belgian and raise the crowd noise to an exultant roar!
Although Adamo closed in, Coenen was able to hold on to second place ahead of the Italian, with Everts and McLellan fourth and fifth. A spectacular crash for Längenfelder on the very last lap, after the wave section, dropped him from sixth, and he did very well to recover to finish eighth behind Valin and Elzinga. Farres and Lata rounded out the top ten, great results for them in the sand!
De Wolf had hacked the Championship lead down to just 24 points at the end of race one, thanks in part to Längenfelder’s crash, with Adamo a further 18 behind.
The 2023 World Champ fired into the lead with the Fox Holeshot Award for race two, his sixth of the year, but he was almost instantly passed by Everts and lost ground through the first big straight after the finish lane, allowing McLellan and De Wolf to go either side of him into second and third!
Längenfelder, unbelievably, was once more caught up in a first corner crash with Lata and the Van Venrooy Racing KTM of Cas Valk, giving the German another task of climbing through the pack!
By the end of the first full lap it was McLellan who led with a swift pass on Everts, while De Wolf also passed his teammate before the South African could get comfortable in front. Adamo and Coenen were soon past Everts as well, while the boys in green, Valin and Bike It Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers, held sixth and seventh ahead of Farres, Elzinga, and the Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors star Oriol Oliver.
De Wolf was not to be denied in front of his fervent home crowd, and pulled a stunning pass on McLellan along the back straight, on the back wheel for nearly all for it as he danced for destiny!
Valin was unfortunate to suffer a big crash on lap seven, but remounted to finish 14th, enough to give him ninth overall, while fellow rookie Valk recovered to finish eleventh again, taking tenth overall in his home GP, as he did last year in a wildcard ride!
Thibault Benistant, in pain from a heavy crash in race one, did well to claim ninth in race two for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, but Farres took eighth to claim that spot overall, while Elzinga took seventh again to take that position on the day.
Längenfelder fought supremely hard to recover from his earlier problems, finding a nice line in one of the twisty sections to make passes on both Karssemakers, who finished tenth in the race, and Elzinga. The trusty pass along the back straight worked for the red plate holder, on Everts this time, to get to his final position of fifth place ahead of the Belgian, although their overall positions would be the reverse of that.
McLellan would not leave De Wolf alone for the win, however, keeping the pressure on in a bid to get onto the podium, and in the end it was less than two seconds between them! The South African was a fine fourth overall, behind Coenen in third for his eighth podium of the year, and Adamo in second overall to keep his title hopes alive.
De Wolf’s 14th career Grand Prix win, coupled with Längenfelder’s struggles, cut the points gap from 40 to just 15 heading into the final three rounds, with Adamo 23 further back. It still could go any one of three ways in this wild MX2 World Championship!
The series takes a weekend off before starting the three-stop journey east, to Türkiye, China, and Australia to decide the fate of the world titles in both classes. It could all go right to the wire!
Kay de Wolf: “It definitely wasn’t easy today. The track was really rough, but I went 1-1 so I couldn’t wish for more. Yesterday was a bummer with the crash on the first lap, but in the championship we did really good and I’m really happy. Winning my first ever home GP is amazing. The crowd was unreal all weekend long, and I can’t thank my team, my family, my girlfriend, and everyone who supports me enough. We’ll keep fighting for the last three rounds now.”
Andrea Adamo: “Of course it was a super weekend, a really solid 1-3-3. I think I could have done a little bit better in both races, but I was really close to Kay (de Wolf) which is good and important. This was an important race, and now we have three rounds to go. Let’s go all in.”
Sacha Coenen: “First race was good, I had a really nice flow and finished second, so I was happy with that. In the second race I didn’t get the start at all, but I made my way back. Then with about ten minutes to go I felt the bike really dropping down, so I had some technical issues. I just tried to save it and bring it home, and managed to still be on the podium. So yeah, I’m happy, three more rounds to go, let’s have fun.”
Main Photo: Kay de Wolf
Bottom Photos: 1. Andrea Adamo; 2. Sacha Coenen
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:04.095; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.399; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.360; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:25.129; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:26.034; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:45.957; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:56.356; 8. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +1:00.254; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:10.826; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:14.997
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 34:54.495; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:01.774; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:20.445; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:30.406; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:45.604; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:03.735; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:12.801; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:21.490; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +1:22.906; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:45.360
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 38 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 25 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 20 p
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 783 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 768 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 745 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 648 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 575 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 548 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 538 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 386 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 384 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 374 p.;
MX2 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 934 points; 2. Husqvarna, 852 p.; 3. Yamaha, 639 p.; 4. Triumph, 608 p.; 5. Honda, 484 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 383 p.; 7. TM, 208 p.; 8. GASGAS, 13 p
Photo: Kay de Wolf
All the photos from the MXGP of The Netherlands will be available HERE.
You can find the complete results HERE.
MXGP OF THE NETHERLANDS QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1680m
Type of ground: Sand
Temperature: 22°
Weather conditions: Sunny
Crowd Attendance: 28,800
