Top fives for Fernandez and Gajser, in strong qualifying showing at the MXON

Ruben Fernandez (Spain) and Tim Gajser (Slovenia) helped their respective countries into the A-Final of the 2025 Motocross of Nations, held at Ironman Raceway in Indiana, USA. The Spaniard finished an excellent fourth, after having an awful gate-pick from the ballot, while Gajser continued his good run of form to finish fifth.

After receiving 36^th gate-pick out of 37 countries, the Spanish riders knew it would be tough to come out of the first corner near the front, but utilising the power of his Honda CRF450R Fernandez swept round the first turn well inside the top 10, and by the time they crossed for the first complete lap, he was up into fifth. For a brief moment, after a to-and-fro battle, he was up into third place, but eventually he settled for fourth place, giving Spain an excellent platform to qualify in seventh position for the A-Final, where they’ll be trying their best to stand on the podium for first time in their nations’ history.

Finishing just behind his teammate, Gajser was a little bit frustrated a crash cost him a couple of spots, but he was still pleased with how well he diced through the field on the opening lap. The Slovenian narrowly avoided a crashing rider around the first turn, and was probably outside the top 10 initially, however the five-time world champion showed his skill to move forward and get all the way up to third place by the end of lap one. Unfortunately, a small mistake on lap three did lose him a couple of spots, so he crossed the line in fifth place, but that was still good enough for Slovenia to qualify for the A-Final in ninth position.

Reigning champions Australia once again included Honda HRC duo Jett and Hunter Lawrence, with the pair showing great form to finish first in the MXGP and Open classes on qualifying day to help Australia to first position and show that they are fully capable of retaining the Chamberlain Trophy after the three motos tomorrow. Jo Shimoda also played a crucial part in Japan qualifying, as his second-place in the Open class moved Japan up into 10th spot.

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MXGP Qualifying Race
1. Jett Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 24:12.424; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:08.277; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.474; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:19.399; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:23.550; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:29.282; 7. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:37.641; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Ducati), +0:46.545; 9. Eli Tomac (USA, Yamaha), +0:49.904; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:02.833; 11. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:10.936; 12. Enzo Lopes (BRA, Yamaha), +1:18.073; 13. Josh Gilbert (GBR, Honda), +1:29.787; 14. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), +1:39.447; 15. Hakon Osterhagen (NOR, KTM), +1:53.499; 16. Jess Pettis (CAN, Yamaha), +2:00.928; 17. Anthony Rodriguez (VEN, KTM), +2:02.731; 18. Saad Soulimani (MAR, TM), +2:03.783; 19. Yuki Okura (JPN, Honda), +2:05.190; 20. Pascal Rauchenecker (AUT, Husqvarna), +2:11.111;

MX2 Qualifying Race
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 24:23.950; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:02.891; 3. Justin Cooper (USA, Yamaha), +0:05.097; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:36.448; 5. Kyle Webster (AUS, Honda), +0:40.205; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:49.999; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:51.363; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:52.036; 9. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:54.303; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:55.143; 11. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +1:01.689; 12. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, Husqvarna), +1:43.115; 13. Stav Orland (ISR, Yamaha), +1:44.383; 14. Soya Nakajima (JPN, Yamaha), +1:45.160; 15. Nico Greutmann (SUI, Husqvarna), +1:45.683; 16. Dylan Walsh (GBR, Kawasaki), +1:50.653; 17. Sebastien Racine (CAN, Yamaha), +1:51.144; 18. Bernardo Tiburcio (BRA, Honda), +1:57.162; 19. Pelle Gundersen (NOR, Husqvarna), +2:08.894; 20. Saku Mansikkamäki (FIN, KTM), +2:10.447; 21. Jaka Peklaj (SLO, Husqvarna), +2:10.826;

Open Qualifying Race
1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 24:36.503; 2. Jo Shimoda (JPN, Honda), +0:08.266; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.614; 4. RJ Hampshire (USA, Husqvarna), +0:18.703; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:22.012; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:26.542; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.526; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:35.766; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:39.062; 10. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:42.545; 11. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:43.103; 12. Harri Kullas (EST, Yamaha), +0:46.243; 13. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Yamaha), +0:58.290; 14. Lorenzo Locurcio (VEN, GASGAS), +1:00.098; 15. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Triumph), +1:02.864; 16. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Honda), +1:06.004; 17. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +1:12.713; 18. Fabio Santos (BRA, Yamaha), +1:24.137; 19. Cameron Anthony Durow (RSA, KTM), +1:28.292; 20. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, Husqvarna), +1:31.788;

Nations Qualification
1. Australia – 2pts; 2. Netherlands – 5; 3. Belgium – 6; 4. Germany – 6; 5. USA – 7; 6. France – 10; 7. Spain – 11; 8. Italy – 14; 9. Slovenia – 15; 10. Japan – 16; 11. Latvia – 18; 12. Switzerland – 18; 13. Sweden – 19; 14. South Africa – 25; 15. Norway – 28; 16. Great Britain – 29; 17. Brazil – 30; 18. Venezuela – 31; 19. Denmark – 31;

*Bold denotes Honda HRC MXGP
*Italics denotes Honda HRC USA