Fernandez looking to continue podium-streak in France

Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez is hoping to carry on his podium streak at the MXGP of France this weekend, held at the magnificent track in Ernee. After third place finishes in Portugal and Spain, where both events were hit by horrendous weather, the Honda CRF450R rider is hoping to make it three in a row, in what should be a dryer event in northern France.

A weekend off was much needed for the teams, in order to clean and dry everything after back-to-back mud events hit the Iberian Peninsula. But with three events in a row now, everything needs to be in good order as the series prepares to pass the halfway mark in this 2025 MXGP World Championship. France is this weekend, followed by Germany and then Latvia and each of them offer a different challenge for the Honda HRC trio of Fernandez, Ferruccio Zanchi and Valerio Lata.

With Fernandez flourishing recently and with third place in the championship standings well within his sights, the hope is that the MX2 pair of Zanchi and Lata will also move up their rankings as the season progresses. Both riders have had their positive moments in the class, and Zanchi had some more of those in Lugo last time out, with a fourth in race one, but neither are satisfied with their current performances and are heading to France motivated to put things right.

Both realise that starts are proving to be crucial and the #73 proved in Spain that the Honda CRF250R is fully capable of rocketing out of the gate, so now the goal is to turn that into consistent top five placings around the first few bends, which can then give them the platform to attack for the rest of the moto.

Apparently there have been some changes to the Ernee track since the last visit there, but one thing that won’t change is the spectacular atmosphere that resonates around the circuit once the bikes hit the dirt. It is a truly incredible feeling to behold and one that the Honda HRC riders are ready for, and excited to try and deliver on such a big stage.

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY: 08:00 EMX125 Group1 Free Practice, 08:30 EMX125 Group 2 Free Practice, 09:00 MXE Time Practice, 09:20 EMX250 Free Practice, 09:50 EMX125 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 11:50 EMX125 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 12:30 EMX250 Qualifying Practice, 13:15 MXE Race 1, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 EMX125 Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.
SUNDAY: 09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 12:20 MXE Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.