Honda HRC MX2 rider Valerio Lata had his best GP of the season in Ernee, France as the Italian went three-ten for fifth overall, in what ended up being a glorious day in the French countryside at one of the most spectacular venues on the calendar.

After a fifth yesterday in the qualification race, hopes were high for the Honda CRF250R rider that he’d be able to continue that form on this hard-pack Ernee circuit, so when he rocketed around the first turn in third place, hopes were definitely high. Holding off the riders behind, he kept his cool, logged his laps and just kept things steady to take third place, improving upon his fifth place in Trentino, four rounds ago. Knowing that he’d have to repeat those efforts to have a chance of the podium, he wasn’t able to get out of the gate as well in race two and instead had to battle around the top 10 for the whole moto.  In the end he received the chequered flag in 10^th place, giving him fifth overall and a timely boost of confidence after a couple of tough GPs. With Germany next weekend and Latvia following the week after, this is a critical stage of the championship, and it was good to see the #18 showing his speed once again.

Lining up next to him, Ferruccio Zanchi had a tougher time of things, as he wasn’t able to get out of the gate as well as his teammate. Throughout the weekend passing had been difficult and although he made a lot of them in yesterday’s qualification race, he wasn’t able to replicate that as well in the two motos today and instead could only manage 9-16 results for 12^th overall. The duo are now separated by just one point in the championship with Zanchi in eighth and Lata ninth, but with eleven rounds still to race, there are plenty of points still on offer.

In the MXGP class, Ruben Fernandez wasn’t able to back up his fourth place in qualification, as a crash on the first lap of the first moto left him in last position. However, he put in a great display of passing, with the Spaniard able to move up from 35^th, all the way to 11^th and thoroughly deserving each of the 10 points he received. Race two started off better as he was inside the top 10 from the beginning. In a hectic race, he made a number of passes, and a couple of mistakes to end up in seventh place, giving him eighth overall and he now sits just 13 points off third place in the championship.

The riders now have a couple of days off before heading to eastern Germany, and the old-school circuit of Teutschenthal, near Leipzig. It is a track that has seen a lot of action over the years and all three Honda HRC riders will be hoping to create some new memories for a round that will mark the halfway point of this 2025 World Motocross Championship.

MX2 Race 1
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:34.097; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:23.197; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:25.890; 4. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:27.995; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.796; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:41.955; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:42.828; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:45.013; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:54.965; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:56.395;

MX2 Race 2
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 34:40.058; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:10.566; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:13.451; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:14.825; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.190; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:43.035; 7. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:44.846; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:50.927; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:51.828; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:53.633; … 16. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:19.310;

MX2 GP Classification
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 33 p.; 4. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 31 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 29 p.; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 29 p.; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 26 p.; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 24 p.; 11. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 17 p.; 12. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 17 p.;

MX2 Championship
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 424 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 413 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 399 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 343 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 308 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 305 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 265 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 220 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 219 p.; 10. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 217 p.;

Ruben Fernandez 70 "After the past couple of weeks, I really was looking forward to getting on the podium here in France, but it seemed that luck wasn’t on my side. I got tangled up on the first lap of race one and had to pass twenty riders plus just to finish 11th. The start was better in race two but still not good enough to give me a chance with the leaders and it was difficult to make the moves I needed to. Seventh overall is not what I’m aiming for and now I will make sure that I’m higher up the field in Germany next weekend."

Ferruccio Zanchi 73 “Not the weekend I was hoping for, and definitely not my best results on a track I really wanted to do well at. I just never gave myself a chance after the result yesterday and neither moto today was the level I expect from myself, so I need to regroup quickly because the next round is next weekend and I don’t want to be riding around in these positions in Germany.“

Valerio Lata 18 “After the first race, I had a lot of hope that I would be able to do the same again, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to get such a good start and passing wasn’t very easy in this moto. Still, to get a third in race one is something I am happy with and proof that I have the speed so I need to be able to do that consistently now and really make my mark in this class. After the last two rounds, my confidence was a little bit down, but this is nice and I am excited to do even better in Teutschenthal.“

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager MXGP “A tough weekend, filled with good and bad moments. Unfortunately none of our guys came through the whole event without any problems and all three of them know that things could definitely have gone better at different points. The third in race one for Valerio was his best of the season, so we are very pleased with that, and it moves the benchmark higher in the future for him.”