Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez put himself on the podium for the first time in 2025, after a pair of third place finishes gave him third overall at the MXGP of Portugal, in what was a wet and muddy event at the Agueda circuit.

Riding as the sole representative of the team, Fernandez showed really grit, determination and speed to negotiate the treacherous conditions and kept his Honda CRF450R under control at all times in the mud and ruts that developed after heavy rain hit the track all weekend. Knowing that starts were crucial, he powered out of the gate and was able to round the first bend in the top five in both motos. From there, he just put in consistent laptimes, keeping the pace of the leaders and resisting the pressure from behind to score his first podium this year and move himself up into fifth place in the MXGP World Championship. It was a great performance and sets himself up nicely for his home GP in Lugo next weekend at a track he really likes.

In the MX2 class, conditions were probably even worse for the riders as the first moto was taking place in a monsoon. After his performance in Cozar, Spain in muddy conditions – where he won a moto and stood on the podium – Ferruccio Zanchi was motivated to try and back it up with a strong result here and things were looking good early on as he ran as high as fourth at one stage. Unfortunately, the slippery surface caused problems for nearly everyone and the #73 didn’t escape unscathed, eventually slipping back to seventh. It was still a solid result and gave him motivation to do better in the second moto, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to match it, ending up in ninth and giving him sixth place overall. It wasn’t a bad result but the CRF250R rider is still looking for more and he’ll be hoping that can happen when he lines up in Lugo, Spain next weekend.

Teammate Valerio Lata is also hoping for improvements after a tough outing here in Agueda. Mud definitely isn’t the youngster’s best conditions, but he kept fighting and after every mistake, he was still making passes until the very end. It isn’t easy to prepare for a circuit that got hit with as much rain as here in Portugal, but the team will work hard to make sure that if it happens again, he can better his 9-15 scores for 11^th overall.

Unfortunately the early weather forecast for next weekend isn’t the best as rain continues to hit the Iberian peninsula, but Fernandez is excited to race his home GP and try to step on the podium once again.

MX2 Race 1
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 37:06.238; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:12.695; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:13.987; 4. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +0:52.418; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:07.460; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:10.396; 7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:31.473; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, TM), +1:57.299; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +2:17.675; 10. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +2:20.281;

MX2 Race 2
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 36:42.637; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:04.354; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:27.673; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:29.999; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:49.120; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:51.145; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +1:00.184; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:22.713; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:32.143; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +1:42.814;… 15. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);

MX2 Overall
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 5. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 26 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 22 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 22 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 18 p.;

MX2 World Championship
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 328 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 324 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 318 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 269 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 225 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 222 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 210 p.; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 189 p.; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 168 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 160 p.;

Tim Gajser 243 Did Not Race

Ruben Fernandez 70 "I really like Agueda, but when the weather is like this, I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but thankfully it went really well. I certainly didn’t expect my first podium to come in these conditions, however I know I’ve been riding well and I just needed to stay consistent across both motos and I’d make it happen. My starts were excellent, which was crucial, and I kept any mistakes to a minimum. A big thank you to the team and my friends, family and fans for all their support and I can’t wait to try to do even better in Lugo next weekend."

Valerio Lata 18 “When the track was nice and dry, I felt I was riding well, but mud makes things really difficult and I’m just not able to match the other guys when it gets so wet. It is something I need to work on, and I really want to get better because it seems like we are having a bad run of weather, so I want to fight for the higher positions whatever the track conditions are.“

Ferruccio Zanchi 73 “Sixth overall looks good but I know I could have scored more points in both races and done even better. Conditions weren’t great but I knew I had the opportunity to have a good GP, and I just couldn’t perform to the level that I want to. We will keep working though and I will keep pushing to improve so that I can work my way back to the podium as that’s where I want to be.“

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager MXGP “This was another brutal GP, with so much rain falling that they had to change the schedule and make things even harder for all our crew. Thankfully, they once again rose to challenge and kept the level high and gave the riders everything they needed. It was great to see Ruben on the podium, especially in Tim’s absence, as he’s been riding so well and I think now he’s done it once, he can keep on doing it. The MX2 guys didn’t have their best round and we need to figure that out and try to help them because the forecast doesn’t look good for next weekend.”