Honda HRC MX2 rider Valerio Lata had his best GP of the season in Ernee, France as the Italian went three-ten for fifth overall, in what ended up being a glorious day in the French countryside at one of the most spectacular venues on the calendar.
After a fifth yesterday in the qualification race, hopes were high for the Honda CRF250R rider that he’d be able to continue that form on this hard-pack Ernee circuit, so when he rocketed around the first turn in third place, hopes were definitely high. Holding off the riders behind, he kept his cool, logged his laps and just kept things steady to take third place, improving upon his fifth place in Trentino, four rounds ago. Knowing that he’d have to repeat those efforts to have a chance of the podium, he wasn’t able to get out of the gate as well in race two and instead had to battle around the top 10 for the whole moto. In the end he received the chequered flag in 10th place, giving him fifth overall and a timely boost of confidence after a couple of tough GPs. With Germany next weekend and Latvia following the week after, this is a critical stage of the championship, and it was good to see the #18 showing his speed once again.
Lining up next to him, Ferruccio Zanchi had a tougher time of things, as he wasn’t able to get out of the gate as well as his teammate. Throughout the weekend passing had been difficult and although he made a lot of them in yesterday’s qualification race, he wasn’t able to replicate that as well in the two motos today and instead could only manage 9-16 results for 12th overall. The duo are now separated by just one point in the championship with Zanchi in eighth and Lata ninth, but with eleven rounds still to race, there are plenty of points still on offer.
In the MXGP class, Ruben Fernandez wasn’t able to back up his fourth place in qualification, as a crash on the first lap of the first moto left him in last position. However, he put in a great display of passing, with the Spaniard able to move up from 35th, all the way to 11th and thoroughly deserving each of the 10 points he received. Race two started off better as he was inside the top 10 from the beginning. In a hectic race, he made a number of passes, and a couple of mistakes to end up in seventh place, giving him eighth overall and he now sits just 13 points off third place in the championship.
The riders now have a couple of days off before heading to eastern Germany, and the old-school circuit of Teutschenthal, near Leipzig. It is a track that has seen a lot of action over the years and all three Honda HRC riders will be hoping to create some new memories for a round that will mark the halfway point of this 2025 World Motocross Championship.
MX2 Race 1
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:34.097; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:23.197; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:25.890; 4. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:27.995; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.796; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:41.955; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:42.828; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:45.013; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:54.965; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:56.395;
MX2 Race 2
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 34:40.058; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:10.566; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.451; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:14.825; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.190; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:43.035; 7. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:44.846; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.927; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:51.828; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:53.633; … 16. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:19.310;
MX2 GP Classification
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 33 p.; 4. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 31 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 29 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 26 p.; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 24 p.; 11. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 17 p.; 12. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 17 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 424 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 413 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 399 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 343 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 308 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 305 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 265 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 220 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 219 p.; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 217 p.;
Ruben Fernandez 70
After the past couple of weeks, I really was looking forward to getting on the podium here in France, but it seemed that luck wasn’t on my side. I got tangled up on the first lap of race one and had to pass twenty riders plus just to finish 11th. The start was better in race two but still not good enough to give me a chance with the leaders and it was difficult to make the moves I needed to. Seventh overall is not what I’m aiming for and now I will make sure that I’m higher up the field in Germany next weekend.
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
Not the weekend I was hoping for, and definitely not my best results on a track I really wanted to do well at. I just never gave myself a chance after the result yesterday and neither moto today was the level I expect from myself, so I need to regroup quickly because the next round is next weekend and I don’t want to be riding around in these positions in Germany.
Valerio Lata 18
After the first race, I had a lot of hope that I would be able to do the same again, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get such a good start and passing wasn’t very easy in this moto. Still, to get a third in race one is something I am happy with and proof that I have the speed so I need to be able to do that consistently now and really make my mark in this class. After the last two rounds, my confidence was a little bit down, but this is nice and I am excited to do even better in Teutschenthal.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
A tough weekend, filled with good and bad moments. Unfortunately none of our guys came through the whole event without any problems and all three of them know that things could definitely have gone better at different points. The third in race one for Valerio was his best of the season, so we are very pleased with that, and it moves the benchmark higher in the future for him.
Race 1
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35:42.734
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 22 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:03.978
3 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 20 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:08.809
4 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:30.697
5 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 16 Ducati Factory MX Team 0:31.483
6 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 15 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:35.916
7 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 14 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:50.741
8 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 13 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 0:52.647
9 Watson Ben 919 GBR 12 MRT Racing Team Beta 0:54.452
10 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 11 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:55.284
11 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 10 Honda HRC – MXGP 1:19.778
12 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 9 JK Racing Yamaha Active 1:22.154
13 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 8 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:24.700
14 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 7 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1:26.092
15 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 6 KTM Kozak Team 1:44.797
16 Boisrame Mathys FRA 5 1:46.875
17 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 4 Wildcard Rider 1:48.871
18 Guyon Tom 49 FRA 3 Wildcard Rider 1:50.513
19 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 2 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:51.304
20 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 1 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:52.566
Race 2
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 25 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 35:01.423
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 22 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:00.574
3 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 20 Ducati Factory MX Team 0:19.115
4 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 18 JK Racing Yamaha Active 0:22.007
5 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 16 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:22.667
6 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 15 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:27.399
7 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 14 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:35.691
8 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 13 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:41.334
9 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 12 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:43.956
10 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 11 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:45.033
11 Watson Ben 919 GBR 10 MRT Racing Team Beta 0:45.699
12 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 9 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:55.612
13 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 8 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1:06.217
14 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 7 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 1:15.477
15 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 6 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:17.383
16 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 5 Wildcard Rider 1:29.715
17 Boisrame Mathys FRA 4 1:33.185
18 van Doninck Brent BEL 3 1:34.869
19 Guyon Tom 49 FRA 2 Wildcard Rider 1:41.549
20 Tondel Cornelius 17 NOR 1 JWR Honda Racing 1:45.531
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 441 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 394 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 302 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
5 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 292 Honda HRC – MXGP
6 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 289 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
7 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 253 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
8 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 229 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
9 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 219 Ducati Factory MX Team
10 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 204 Honda SR Motoblouz
11 Herlings Jeffrey NDL 164
12 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 157 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
13 Watson Ben 919 GBR 153 MRT Racing Team Beta
14 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 139 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
15 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 138 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
16 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 124 Ducati Factory MX Team
17 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 108 JK Racing Yamaha Active
18 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 97 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
19 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 72 Wildcard Rider
20 van de Moosdijk Roan NDL 71
21 Sterry Adam GBR 55
22 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 50 Wildcard Rider
23 Koch Tom 226 GER 35 MRT Racing Team Beta
24 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 32 Wildcard Rider
25 van Doninck Brent BEL 25
26 Gilbert Josh GBR 21
27 Ludwig Noah GER 19
28 Spies Maximillian GER 13
29 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 10 Ducati Factory MX Team
30 Lupino Alessandro 177 ITA 9 Ducati Factory MX Team
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