Gajser leads Slovenia to fifth place at 2025 Motocross of Nations
Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser went three-four in his two motos to lead Slovenia to their best ever finish in the Motocross of Nations, finishing in fifth place in what is an extremely impressive result for this tiny country. Unfortunately, Ruben Fernandez left race three early after an incident midway through the race, but his sixth place in race one helped Spain to a top 10 result.
Race one featured the MXGP and MX2 classes, and Gajser immediately used the full extent of his Honda CRF450R horsepower to move into the top three within the first few corners. He tried his best to stay with the front two, but wasn’t quite able to latch onto them, and instead had a big fight to remain in third. Behind him, Fernandez didn’t get the best jump but fought his way into eighth after lap one and then moved his way into sixth by the time he received the chequered flag.
By the time the pair lined up for race three, where the MXGP class was joined by the Open riders, the Nations ranking picture was a bit clearer, with both Gajser and Fernandez knowing that top five was a possibility if they put forth their best effort. Things definitely didn’t start off well for Gajser as he was near the back of the field as they rounded the first corner. Going to work, he made a lot of passes on the first lap and was soon inside the top 10 and looking for even more as the laps ticked by. Slowly but surely, he made moves on those in front and with three laps remaining made a double-move to secure fourth place in the race, third place in his class and an amazing fifth place for Team Slovenia.
Early in the race, Fernandez was backing up his sixth from race one, by lying seventh in race three but a nasty incident after the finish line jump on lap four left the Spaniard gingerly remounting before pulling off the racetrack. It was a big shame for the Honda rider, as he wanted to help Spain to a strong finish, but instead he now has to focus on making sure he is fit and healthy before switching his focus to the 2026 MXGP Championship.
Continuing on their excellent end-of-season, Jett and Hunter Lawrence put in four superb moto scores, going one-one-one-three on their Honda CRF450Rs and helping Team Australia retain the Chamberlain Trophy. The pair did exactly what they needed to do, with Hunter especially impressive with his two moto wins as they won the 2026 Motocross of Nations by 14 points. Jo Shimoda was also racing a Honda CRF450R for the first time and he was impressive in both races, going two-six to help Japan to 11th.
Race 1: MXGP & MX2
1. Jett Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 34:51.650; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:07.012; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:17.417; 4. Eli Tomac (USA, Yamaha), +0:19.361; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.927; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:55.921; 7. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:59.758; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +1:00.895; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:01.052; 10. Justin Cooper (USA, Yamaha), +1:24.233; 11. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:27.241; 12. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:30.718; 13. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:34.175; 14. Enzo Lopes (BRA, Yamaha), +1:45.758; 15. Kyle Webster (AUS, Honda), +1:51.319; 16. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:54.228; 17. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +1:54.802; 18. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +2:00.121; 19. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +2:08.120; 20. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), -1 lap(s);
Race 2: MX2 & Open
1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 35:35.442; 2. Jo Shimoda (JPN, Honda), +0:09.479; 3. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:14.927; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.474; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:20.396; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:22.240; 7. RJ Hampshire (USA, Husqvarna), +0:24.706; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:34.174; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:39.584; 10. Justin Cooper (USA, Yamaha), +0:45.153; 11. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:46.840; 12. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:52.275; 13. Kyle Webster (AUS, Honda), +1:08.285; 14. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:11.243; 15. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +1:14.525; 16. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:17.703; 17. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:23.613; 18. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +1:27.075; 19. Harri Kullas (EST, Yamaha), +1:28.870; 20. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Triumph), +1:29.056;
Race 3: MXGP & Open
1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 35:33.482; 2. Eli Tomac (USA, Yamaha), +0:05.730; 3. Jett Lawrence (AUS, Honda), +0:14.058; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:18.301; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.503; 6. Jo Shimoda (JPN, Honda), +0:26.668; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:29.318; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:31.171; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:35.237; 10. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:47.099; 11. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:48.465; 12. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +1:04.930; 13. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Ducati), +1:07.678; 14. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:10.506; 15. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +1:11.577; 16. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:12.398; 17. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:26.057; 18. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Honda), +1:34.481; 19. Enzo Lopes (BRA, Yamaha), +1:45.997; 20. Harri Kullas (EST, Yamaha), +1:48.669;
Nations Classification
1. Australia – 19; 2. USA – 33; 3. France – 33; 4. Belgium – 43; 5. Slovenia – 57; 6. Italy – 58; 7. Sweden – 84; 8. Switzerland – 86; 9. Latvia – 88; 10. Spain – 89; 11. Japan – 99; 12. Brazil – 110; 13. Estonia – 112; 14. South Africa – 116; 15. Germany – 120;
*Bold denotes Honda HRC MXGP
*Italics denotes Honda HRC USA
Tim Gajser 243
A great way to finish the 2025 season, helping Slovenia to fifth place. This is an amazing result for our country, because I’ve raced this event and we didn’t qualify into the A-Final and now we are the fifth best country in the world. Big credit to my teammates Jan (Pancar) and Jaka (Peklaj) for their efforts today because I couldn’t do it without them. I was happy with my riding in both races, in the first race I got a good start and worked my way quickly into third and stayed their for the whole moto despite getting some arm-pump. Then in race three I had to work my way through the field from outside the top 10, into fourth place. It was a great race though, which I enjoyed a lot and this event is always a special time and I’m just so proud for Slovenia right now.
Ruben Fernandez 70
Not the way I hoped to end the season, riding off the track early, but I’m hoping it isn’t anything too serious. I was feeling good on the track and had a great first moto with a sixth and I was fighting in hard in race three, and then I made a small mistake which turned into quite a big crash. I was able to walk to my bike and then ride off the circuit, but I’m a bit sore. Thankfully this is the last race of the season, and I can focus on getting fit and healthy before preparing for the 2026 campaign.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
So happy for Tim and Slovenia, who keep getting better and better results. He rode really well in a very tough field, going three-four for third in his class and showing his abilities in front of the world. It was a shame for Ruben to not finish his second race because he was also looking good and had a strong first race, but overall it was a good day for Honda HRC. And congratulations to Jett and Hunter Lawrence and Kyle Webster who were riding Hondas for Australia and won the Motocross of Nations, and to Jo Shimoda for his 450 debut and he looked really good.
