Dominant victory for Gajser as he extends MXGP championship lead

Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser made it four victories in a row at the St Jean D’Angely circuit in France, taking the 2025 MXGP of Europe overall after another one-one performance in the mixed conditions at the hillside venue. After three rounds of racing in 2025, the Honda CRF450R rider is already 29 points ahead of his nearest rival and has won five of the nine gate-drops so far, which is one of the strongest openings in what is already a record-breaking career.

After the second-place finish in yesterday’s muddy qualification race, Gajser knew that starts were critical to his chances of winning today, and as showers hit the facility, he stormed out of the gate in the first moto, narrowly missing out on the holeshot but quickly moving himself into the lead as they rounded the second corner. He quickly pulled out a comfortable gap and despite some late pressure, took the chequered flag in first place.

In race two, things didn’t go so smoothly as he was buried in the pack early-on.  He made his customary first lap passes to get into fourth, but there was still plenty of work to do, if he wanted to win race two. However, as the showers continued to fall on the venue, he made a pass every lap, and by lap five had taken control of the race once again, before pulling out a lead no-one came close to. His 50-point effort means that only two other riders are within a GP of him in the points standings, and while he will have plenty of challenges to come, this is a great start to the season for the five-time champion.

Things were also looking promising for teammate Ruben Fernandez after race one, when the Spaniard rode a consistent moto – much like his third place in qualification – to work his way forward into fifth place. With another strong result in race two, he stood a good chance of landing himself on the podium, but those chances were ended on the first lap as he had to withdraw from the racetrack due to an unfortunate incident. Thankfully, there is a weekend off to recover, before the series returns in Riola Sardo, Sardinia where he’ll be tackling the deep sand circuit.

In the MX2 class, both CRF250R riders ended the day with 20 points, in what wasn’t really a fair reflection of the speed they brought to the table. Both riders went seven-15, in alternating motos, with Valerio Lata looking good in race one as he hounded the reigning world MX2 champion around the track. Then in race two it was Ferruccio Zanchi’s turn to put in a good performance as he moved through the field to score good points.

However, overall, both riders would be aiming for more and know that they still have work to do in order to challenge regularly at the front of this highly competitive MX2 field. Still, the team is working hard to help them with their efforts, and both riders are less experienced than their rivals, and with some good tracks coming up for the duo, the confidence is high that they will get there sooner, rather than later.

That starts on April 5-6 when the team make the short flight across to the island of Sardinia, where the deep sand of Riola Sardo awaits. It is the first test in the soft stuff this year and all four riders will be looking to make a point that they excel at one of the toughest tracks they will face all year.

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MX2 Race 1
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:28.696; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.930; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:19.095; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:22.976; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.003; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:28.436; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:45.809; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:50.146; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +0:56.271; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:57.210; … 15. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:29.119;

MX2 Race 2
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 35:08.618; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:00.568; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:06.135; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:17.832; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:22.113; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:30.180; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:37.816; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.088; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:48.596; 10. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +1:00.126;… 15. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:34.837;

MX2 Classification
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 23 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 20 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 20 p.;

MX2 World Championship
1. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 135 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 132 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 130 p.; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 124 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 111 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 101 p.; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 91 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 74 p.; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 72 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 65 p.;