Tim Gajser (MXGP) and Valerio Lata (MX2) made it another double-podium for Honda HRC at the MXGP of Australia, after weather severely affected the proceedings. Lata took full advantage of the storm that hit the track to power through and finish second in race two before it was red-flagged, while because the second MXGP moto was cancelled, Gajser’s third place in moto one was enough for his third podium in a row, rounding off this 2025 campaign on a high.

For Lata, it was a great ending to what has been a difficult rookie MX2 season. There were some highs earlier on in the year, but recently things haven’t been so easy, so to keep pushing in this final round of the season is testament to his attitude. On a dry race track, things weren’t looking as though it was be easy for the #18 as he struggled to move up the field from his outside gate-pick. Battling around the top 10, he eventually finished ninth, but at that stage there was no sign of the weather that was about to hit the circuit.

Black clouds were looming as the second race started, but that soon turned to torrential rain after a couple of laps. The track quickly flooded and it became a battle for survival as much as a race against other riders, but one which the Honda CRF250R rider was certainly mastering. Moving up from eighth on lap one, the Italian moved all the way into second place by the time they threw the red-flag and despite a nervous wait for the results to be classified, it was announced that he would step up onto the podium for the first time in 2025. It was a great way to finish the season off, and should give him a lot of encouragement as he prepares for next year.

Due to the track conditions after all the rain, it was decided that the second MXGP race two would be cancelled and the overalls would be determined by how they finished in race one. For Gajser that meant a third-place finish, after he stalked the rider in second for the entire moto, unable to make a pass. Teammate Fernandez had a tougher time of things as he had to make a number of passes early-on, but he moved up to fifth and maintained that for the rest of the race. This result meant he secured fourth place in the championship standings, which is just-reward for a strong campaign and also gives him a lot of encouragement that he can do even better in 2026.

Now Gajser (Slovenia) and Fernandez (Spain) have a weekend off, before preparing themselves for the Motocross of Nations where they’ll be representing their countries at Ironman Raceway, Crawfordsville in the USA.

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MX2 Race 1
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 33:42.445; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:04.481; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:08.935; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.146; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:11.969; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:28.086; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:32.265; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:33.989; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:42.533; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:45.306;

MX2 Race 2
1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 17:09.073; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:21.452; 3. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:36.523; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:39.592; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:41.121; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:41.546; 7. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:49.311; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:56.026; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +0:57.476; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:15.176;

MX2 GP Overall
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 41 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 37 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 34 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 31 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 28 p.; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 22 p.;

MX2 Championship
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 928 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 919 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 845 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 798 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 636 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 635 p.; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 500 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 481 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 467 p.;

Tim Gajser 243 “Not quite the ending of the season that I would have liked, with the race two being cancelled, but it was probably the right decision given the conditions that were on track. My first race with a third was good, I just couldn’t quite get close enough to make a move on the rider in second for the entire race. And obviously, overall, this season wasn’t how I wanted it to go but there were still some positives and it was nice to comeback after injury and compete with the top guys again.”

Ruben Fernandez 70 "I’m happy to end this campaign with a strong moto, even if the final moto didn’t take place. The result yesterday and then today, meant that I finished fourth place in the championship and that is a good effort after some tough rounds. It was definitely and up and down season, but I felt that finished strongly and it was nice to be on the podium in China. Hopefully next year we can come back here and do even better."

Valerio Lata 18 “A crazy way to end the season, but I’m delighted to be standing on the podium at this final round in what were some awful conditions. The first race didn’t go as well as I hoped, but I think I proved that I keep fighting, whatever the track is like and in race two we started in sunshine and ended in a swamp. It was really bad, but I kept pushing and fought my way into second place. Then we had a nervous wait before they finalised the results, so that was tough but I’m really happy with the day.“

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager MXGP “It almost makes sense that the last round had this crazy storm pass through, because that’s been a story of almost every round with all the rain. Valerio rode so well in the second moto to get himself into second – his best moto result of the season – and that gave him third overall which is just such a nice way to finish the season for him, and for all the team. Of course that rain, then meant that the MXGP race 2 was cancelled so that meant the first motos counted for the overall so Tim was third and Ruben fifth. It was good for Tim to finish on the podium, and also Ruben’s fifth meant he secured fourth in the championship, so that is another good reward. However, my biggest congratulations must go to all the team members who worked so hard to keep everything running, in some truly awful conditions.”