On his second GP back since his shoulder surgery, Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser placed third in the second race, narrowly missing out on the MXGP of the Netherlands podium by just one single point. It was an excellent day for the Slovenian and shows not just how well he is riding already, post-injury, but also gives him a massive boost of confidence for the final three rounds of this 2025 World Motocross Championship.

The sun-drenched Arnhem track provided a really tough challenge for the best riders on the planet, as the sandy surface got rough and bumpy, and meant concentration along with physical conditioning was a critical factor in performing well.

After a hard-pack return in Sweden, Gajser knew this would be a much harder proposition, but all weekend he showed his sand skills as he went five-six-three over the three races, with the 35 points from the two motos today just one shy of the podium. A sixth in moto one was a solid effort, with the top five running a really high pace and the #243 still working out how best to use and conserve energy. However, once the second moto began with the Honda CRF450R rider up in fourth, he knew this was his chance to give everything he had. By lap three, he was up into second place and matching the leaders’ laptimes and pulling a nice gap from the rest of the field. However as time ticked by, one of the championship challengers was able to pass him and he had to settle for an excellent third place, and give him a big boost of confidence as he heads to Türkiye and a circuit he enjoys riding.

Fernandez will also be feeling better about his weekend after a second moto where he was able to finish inside the top 10. The ninth still wasn’t as high as he would have liked, but it was good for the Spaniard to avoid all the incidents on the first corner and race a clean, consistent race. While third place in the championship is looking like a tough ask, he will still be motivated to show his early-season form and get himself on the podium once again.

This was a similar story to Lata, who was caught up in the first corner crashes in the second of his MX2 motos. All weekend, riders were hitting the dirt as they battled for position early-on and unfortunately, after a 10th in race one, Lata had to fight through the field in race two and managed to get all the way up to 12th. It was a good fightback, especially as he was tracking the championship leader through the pack in the first few laps. It was just a shame because each time he took to the track, he looked better and better, and it was a big improvement over his last sand outing in Lommel.

With the conclusion of events in Arnhem, the series now has a weekend off before back-to-back-to-back races in Türkiye, China and a brand-new event in Australia. All three riders will be hoping that these three rounds all go well, and they are able to fight it out at the front of their respective classes and finish this tough season on a good note.

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MX2 Race 1
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:04.095; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.399; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.360; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:25.129; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:26.034; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:45.957; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:56.356; 8. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +1:00.254; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:10.826; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:14.997;

MX2 Race 2
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 34:54.495; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:01.774; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:20.445; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:30.406; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:45.604; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:03.735; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:12.801; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:21.490; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +1:22.906; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:45.360; … 12. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);

MX2 GP Overall
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 38 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 25 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 20 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 20 p.;

MX2 Championship
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 783 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 768 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 745 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 648 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 575 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 548 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 538 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 386 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 384 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 374 p.;

Tim Gajser 243 “Very happy with how today went. Obviously it would have been great to have been up on the podium, but my riding was really good and I’m definitely starting to feel like my old-self. It wasn’t easy out there, because it was fast and bumpy, and with a low sun, but I really felt good, especially in the second moto. The first moto, I didn’t want to push too hard and the rest of those guys were running a really fast pace so I had to just do the best I could. The second moto, I had a good start and was running in second for a lot of the moto and gave it everything. It was good to see how close I was to the leaders and it gives me a lot of confidence for these last three rounds.”

Ruben Fernandez 70 "Once again, it is the first corner that is causing me problems and really stopping my chances of scoring a good points tally. Someone crashed right in front of me and I had nowhere to go and just ran into him. It took awhile to move our bikes apart and by then I was practically last. Coming through the field I was making a number of passes but when you’re around that level of riders it isn’t always safe and I got involved in two more incidents. Really disappointed with that and to only get up to 15th. Second moto was better, I survived the first turn and was able to give a much better showing of my speed and ended up ninth. Still not my best points, but my best recent sand moto so now we move onto Turkey feeling a bit happier."

Valerio Lata 18 “Overall, I think this was a better GP for me and I think I showed that I have improved in the sand since Lommel. It is still not where I want to be, but it is nice to see that my speed and riding have got better in this short period so now I need to keep working on this so that next year when we head to the sand I am closer to the front. Now I have three tracks to ride on, two that I haven’t been to before so I’m excited for them and to try and finish the season off strongly.“

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager MXGP “I think each rider showed improvements this weekend, and that’s a positive for the team, however we always want to be fighting for wins and podiums, so there is definitely more to come from Tim, Ruben and Valerio and I think we will make that happen in these last three rounds. Tim made another step up since Uddevalla, especially in that second moto where he really looked like a match for the leaders early on. Definitely excited to see what he can do in Turkey, China and Australia. Ruben also looked better than in Lommel and while sand still isn’t his favourite surface, he is improving and now we want him to take this motivation into the last three rounds. The same with Valerio, he looked better than in Lommel and while these last three will be new experiences, we think he can finish with some good races.”