Fernandez shows speed as returning Gajser has strong moments in Sweden

Uddevalla, Sweden hosted the 16th round of the 2025 MXGP World Championships, where Tim Gajser rejoined Honda HRC alongside Ruben Fernandez and MX2 rider Valerio Lata.

On a lovely summer day in Scandinavia, Gajser’s DNF-seven don’t tell the full story for the #243, nor does Fernandez’s four-eight give a fair reflection on how close the Spaniard came to the podium in an intense second moto that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

After his third in the qualification race yesterday, Gajser was hopeful of more success today and a great start in race one really gave him a good shot of another top three result. The Honda CRF450R rider was in fourth place, and challenging for third when the rider in front made a small mistake, giving a slight opening for the Slovenian. Unfortunately the door closed as quickly as it opened and the pair collided, leaving Gajser unable to finish the moto due to damage from the impact. Race two started off very similarly, but this time he was able to make the move into third quickly and kept the leaders firmly in sight. However, his time away from race action eventually took its toll and he made a small mistake, dropping him down to seventh, where he finished. There was still a lot of promise shown and it certainly gives him a good base to improve upon in the final four rounds of the series.

Fernandez also showed a lot of speed on a track that certainly isn’t his favourite. Taking an excellent fourth place in moto one, where he rode his own race without too many of the chaotic battles that were taking place elsewhere gave him another opportunity for a podium overall. However, like in previous rounds where the chance was there, he hasn’t quite been able to make the most of the moment and that is probably the biggest disappointment for the #70. An eighth is still a respectable result, but he is definitely after more and will be trying to make that happen in the Netherlands, Turkiye, China and Australia.

MX2 rider Lata will also be hoping for a change of fortune in the final four rounds as he still isn’t showing his full potential in the race environment. The Italian got a good start in race one, but then got shuffled back in the opening laps and ended up in 10th place. Then in race two, he didn’t get out the gate so well and was only just inside the top 20 on lap one. He did manage to move up to 15th, but it still isn’t the level that he showed earlier on this year and that will be his goal starting next weekend in the sand of Arnhem.

 

MX2 Race 1

  1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 35:22.999; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:03.047; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.062; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:08.659; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:09.401; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.886; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:13.502; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:21.045; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:37.757; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:00.877;

MX2 Race 2

  1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:10.519; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:04.133; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:08.637; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:12.038; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:15.259; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:19.230; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:20.941; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:41.869; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:43.374; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:57.741; … 15. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:16.369;

MX2 Overall

  1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 41 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 33 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 30 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 27 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 17 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 17 p.;

MX2 Championship Standings

  1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 754 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 714 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 695 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 599 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 558 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 504 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 497 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 366 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 357 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 347 p.;

Tim Gajser 243

Overall, a good comeback weekend, I rode a good pace for a lot of the races but there were obviously some moments that I wish had turned out differently. It’s a shame what happened in race one because I saw Isak make the mistake and I thought I could get past him, but I think he thought he could block me and we obviously collided. It would have been good to have got 35 minutes under my belt, as then in race two, I got a bit of arm pump and crashed in one of the corners after changing my lines. Like I said though, a lot of good points and I’m definitely ahead of where I thought I would be, so now we have to keep that momentum up in the Netherlands

Ruben Fernandez 70

A solid day, although I’m not totally happy with the second moto especially. The fourth in race one was good, I kept things consistent with a good pace and I thought that I was in with a chance of a podium once again. However, I didn’t get the best start in race two and on this track that made things very difficult, but I got into eighth and that’s where I finished. I need to try to make sure that I have two good races across the weekend because there are a lot of top riders in this class and you can’t afford to let points slips through your fingers.

Valerio Lata 18

Another weekend where I’m not really happy with how things went. The first moto was okay, because I got a good start and was able to maintain my position, and not having too many riders in front or behind me. The second moto wasn’t good enough though, as I didn’t get a good start and dropped a couple of spots early on. I made it back to 15th, but I’m still not satisfied and I know I have a lot of work to do before Arnhem next weekend.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

Mixed weekend across the three riders, with good and bad for all of them. I think the main thing is that all of them are healthy and riding and showing fighting spirit in their races. Ruben looked solid and we had some hope that he could make it up on the podium before race two, but it didn’t work out that way so we are going to try and help him to get over this feeling. And for Tim, it was great to have him and back and see him fighting at the front of the field in both races. The first moto had an unfortunate incident with another rider which thankfully ended up with no injuries, but the speed and starts were there. And the same in race two, good speed, just a small mistake and getting used to racing 30 minutes. Valerio is still struggling a bit to carry his one lap speed into the races, so we hope we can work on that and get him nearer the front in these last GPs of the year. There is definitely more to come from all three and we are excited to make that happen.

Race 1

Pos.      Rider     Num     Nation Points   Team    Time/Gap

1            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       25          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP                35:15.808

2            Herlings Jeffrey              84          NDL      22          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing                0:01.504

3            Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      20          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:12.414

4            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       18          Honda HRC – MXGP      0:17.972

5            Renaux Maxime             959        FRA       16          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:28.059

6            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      15          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                0:33.439

7            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       14          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   0:40.101

8            Pancar Jan        253        SLO       13          TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team   0:47.802

9            Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         12          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                0:50.049

10          Guadagnini Mattia        101        ITA         11          Ducati Factory MX Team                0:52.273

11          Bogers Brian     189        NDL      10          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    0:53.325

12          van de Moosdijk Roan 34          NDL      9            KTM Kozak Team            0:55.164

13          Prugnieres Quentin      319        FRA       8            Honda SR Motoblouz   0:56.116

14          Fredriksen Hakon          427        NOR      7            Wildcard Rider               1:01.055

15          Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        6            Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1:04.472

16          Brumann Kevin               87          SWI       5            Wildcard Rider               1:14.243

17          Gifting Isak        517        SWE      4            JK Racing Yamaha Active           1:21.256

18          Spies Maximillian                         GER      3                           1:26.341

19          Gerhardsson Albin                       SWE      2                           1:37.588

20          van Doninck Brent        32          BEL       1            JM Honda Racing           1:45.118

Race 2

Pos.      Rider     Num     Nation Points   Team    Time/Gap

1            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       25          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP                35:36.125

2            Herlings Jeffrey              84          NDL      22          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing                0:01.072

3            Renaux Maxime             959        FRA       20          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:01.503

4            Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      18          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:04.389

5            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      16          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                0:20.669

6            Pancar Jan        253        SLO       15          TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team   0:23.294

7            Gajser Tim         243        SLO       14          Honda HRC – MXGP      0:24.820

8            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       13          Honda HRC – MXGP      0:25.726

9            van Doninck Brent        32          BEL       12          JM Honda Racing           0:33.984

10          Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        11          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:36.969

11          Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       10          Ducati Factory MX Team                0:38.701

12          Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       9            Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   0:55.653

13          van de Moosdijk Roan 34          NDL      8            KTM Kozak Team            1:02.302

14          Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         7            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP                1:05.554

15          Prugnieres Quentin      319        FRA       6            Honda SR Motoblouz   1:08.420

16          Sterry Adam     811        GBR      5            KTM Kozak Team            1:09.768

17          Fredriksen Hakon          427        NOR      4            Wildcard Rider               1:11.275

18          Bogers Brian     189        NDL      3            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    1:21.201

19          Gerhardsson Albin                       SWE      2                           1:23.646

20          Östlund Alvin                  SWE      1                           1:28.552

Rider Standings

Pos.      Rider     Num     Nation Points   Team

1            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       794        Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

2            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       753        Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

3            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      572        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

4            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       502        Honda HRC – MXGP

5            Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      480        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

6            Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         424        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

7            Renaux Maxime             959        FRA       423        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

8            Herlings Jeffrey              84          NDL      406        Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

9            Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       341        Ducati Factory MX Team

10          Gajser Tim         243        SLO       327        Honda HRC – MXGP

11          Pancar Jan        253        SLO       277        TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team

12          Watson Ben      919        GBR      257        MRT Racing Team Beta

13          Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      243        Honda SR Motoblouz

14          Geerts Jago       93          BEL       242        Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

15          Bogers Brian     189        NDL      242        Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

16          Gifting Isak        517        SWE      225        JK Racing Yamaha Active

17          Guadagnini Mattia        101        ITA         185        Ducati Factory MX Team

18          Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        181        Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

19          van Doninck Brent        32          BEL       160        JM Honda Racing

20          van de Moosdijk Roan 34          NDL      153        KTM Kozak Team

21          Sterry Adam     811        GBR      104        KTM Kozak Team

22          Koch Tom           226        GER      86          MRT Racing Team Beta

23          Guillod Valentin             92          SWI       72          Wildcard Rider

24          Forato Alberto 303        ITA         72          Honda SR Motoblouz

25          Brumann Kevin               87          SWI       66          Wildcard Rider

26          Spies Maximillian                         GER      42

27          Fredriksen Hakon          427        NOR      41          Wildcard Rider

28          Stauffer Marcel              411        AUT       38          Wildcard Rider

29          Cairoli Antonio               222        ITA         37          Ducati Factory MX Team

30          Prugnieres Quentin      319        FRA       31          Honda SR Motoblouz