2023 MX2 World Champion Andrea Adamo had gone 20 long months since his most recent Grand Prix victory, but a stirring ride to wrestle the second race win away from the loudly-cheered Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Benistant broke the drought for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider.

Simon Laengenfelder took second on the day, ahead of Benistant, after winning the opening race for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and now lies second in the series, three points down on new Championship leader Liam Everts, who keeps the red plate he gained yesterday from his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammate, Kay de Wolf!  The reigning Champion had a difficult day in France and is now third in points behind Laengenfelder.

MXGP

French favourite Romain Febvre filled his fans with hope by setting the fastest time in morning Warm-Up for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, with Gajser in second ahead of Febvre’s teammate Pauls Jonass!

The Fox Holeshot Award winner had many spectators searching through their programmes for the #300, KTM Sarholz Racing Team rider Noah Ludwig, who led the world across the Fox Holeshot line until Gajser took control into the second corner! Tech 32 Racing Triumph rider Tom Guyon, making both his and the manufacturer’s MXGP debut, was behind the five-time World Champ for the first few corners, before Coenen and Febvre cut through to give chase to the leader.

After a tough MXGP of Castilla La Mancha, the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team were happy to see Mattia Guadagnini fire into fourth place from an outside gate pick! Early Championship leader Maxime Renaux suffered a terrible start for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and crossed the line in 15^th at the end of the first full lap. 

As the sun came out, his countryman Febvre was faring better, however, and urged on by the passionate hillside of eager fans, he worked his way past Coenen into second place on lap six! Valentin Guillod was again exceeding expectations on his private Yamaha, holding down seventh for the entire race, holding off a charge from Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Calvin Vlaanderen, who took eighth ahead of Team Honda SR Motoblouz Motul rider Kevin Horgmo.  Renaux fought past the two Fantic Factory Racing men Glenn Coldenhoff and Brian Bogers to take tenth at the flag.

At about half distance, Jonass fell over the back wheel of Guadagnini and lost fifth to Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez.  The excitement was brought by the irrepressible Febvre, who closed to within a second of Gajser on the final laps even with a steaming machine beneath him! The Slovenian held on to take his 94^th career GP race win by nearly four seconds.

The plucky privateer Ludwig was right at the front again at the start of race two, but it was Coldenhoff who claimed the Fox Holeshot Award despite feeling beaten up from a crash in Practice on Saturday.  Coenen swiftly moved up to second place, with Isak Gifting sticking his JK Racing Yamaha into third early on! 

Gajser soon started to work forward, in a similar fashion to his early moves in Cozar the weekend before.  The GP win looked good for him as Febvre was nearly involved in a first corner pile-up that claimed Vlaanderen, Fernandez, Bogers, and the Lexa MX Honda of Briton Josh Gilbert. None of those riders finished, but Febvre pressed forward, up to seventh by the end of the first full lap.

It took Gajser until the end of lap two to get past Gifting, but then the Slovenian immediately charged to the back wheel of Coenen and was second by the end of lap four.  Febvre was inspired by the home support and banged elbows to get past Gifting, and then nipped to the inside of Coenen at the top of a fast uphill section.

By that time, Gajser had made a move on the suffering Coldenhoff, and set the Acerbis Fastest Lap of the entire day on lap seven to make the race his own.  Febvre blasted to the inside of Coldenhoff down the start straight, to the roar of his fans, on lap 10, and Coenen followed past a lap later.  Glenn bravely held on for fourth place and sixth overall in the Grand Prix.

Behind him, Renaux fought through from another average start to claim fifth in the race for seventh overall, with Jonass moving past Guadagnini this time for sixth with three laps to go. The Ducati man held on for seventh to secure fourth overall for the second time this season.  His teammate Jeremy Seewer soldiered on through a difficult day to finish tenth in race two behind Gifting in ninth, as Horgmo forced past the Swede on the final lap to take eighth.

Gajser got the crowd momentarily excited with a ragged jump in the final laps, but otherwise the Slovenian again sealed a perfect Sunday to take his 51^st career victory and advance his Championship lead to 29 points, with Febvre moving back up to 2^nd overall.  Coenen was delighted with his first MXGP podium at a circuit where he has always excelled.  He is now fourth in the standings and 60 points behind Gajser as the series moves to Sardegna!

Rider Quotes

Tim Gajser: “It was a good day of racing for me. I felt really comfortable on the bike, even though the track was quite sketchy with deep ruts, bumps, and tricky acceleration points—it definitely wasn’t easy to ride. The start was really important, so I was glad to get out front early and take the lead quickly in Race 1. Lucas pushed hard at the beginning and then Romain closed in near the end, but I managed to stay in control. In the second race, I had a solid start, made some good early passes, found my lines, and built a gap that I could manage. Overall, I’m really happy with how I rode. Now I’m looking forward to Riola—we’ve spent a lot of time there and I really enjoy the track, so it should be a good weekend ahead.”

Romain Febvre: “I’m quite happy to finish second, especially after a tough weekend last time out. It’s a nice bounce back. With the rain, the track actually got better—it added some challenge and allowed us to make more of a difference out there. Yesterday it felt like a highway—really fast and too equal—but today was more technical, which suits me better. My starts weren’t great in either moto, and in the second one, I got hit off the start and almost went over the bars, which left me way back. I was around 18th at the top of the hill, so to come back and finish just 10 seconds off the lead, I’m really happy with how I rode. Now I need to fight with Tim (Gajser) as he is starting to get away, and I will try my best to be at the front for the next ones!”

Lucas Coenen: “I'm very happy with my first podium and to get that out of the way! The pace was high and the track demanded full concentration, at one point i thought, okay, i don't need to push more and let's get the podium. It’s all part of the process—learning, adapting, and building speed with each round. I want to be the best I possibly can and with these riders at the top you definitely need to switch on. I want to thank everybody around me as they work so hard in the last couple of weeks to get there. There’s still more to come from us this season.”

MX2

In a dry morning Warm-Up session, Benistant topped the timesheets to further build the excitement and expectation of his local fans, with De Wolf over two seconds back in second place, marginally quicker than his countryman on the Venrooy KTM, Cas Valk.

The action was intense in MX2 throughout both races, and Karlis Reisulis took a fighting Fox Holeshot Award for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and managed to keep the lead for the first three laps as the hectic battle between Everts and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders Sacha Coenen, Laengenfelder, and Adamo raged on behind the Latvian!

Adamo survived an off-track excursion on the new part of the circuit that left him having to fight forward, so Everts emerged as the first to challenge Reisulis, with Laengenfelder, Adamo, and Coenen following in line astern soon after.  Behind the orange army, De Wolf and Benistant had suffered less than ideal starts and were battling hard for sixth position.  By the time they both caught and passed the young Latvian, the leading pack were too far up the circuit.

Rookies Valerio Lata of Honda HRC and Valk moved forward to claim seventh and eighth, as WZ Racing KTM’s Quentin Prugnières and the Monster Energy Triumph Racing machine of Camden McLellan just dropped Reisulis out of the top ten by the chequered flag.

Laengenfelder pressured Everts relentlessly and moved into the lead on lap nine, with Adamo also attacking the Belgian to take second on lap twelve.  The Italian former Champ started to reel in the German, but Simon held on for a fine first win of the season, and the thirteenth of his career.

If race one was like an action-packed TV drama, then race two was a full-blown blockbuster movie! Like many great movies, it started with a bang!  Sacha Coenen had only just enjoyed becoming the first rider, in either class, to claim a second Fox Holeshot Award of the year, before suffering his second massive crash of the weekend on the first downhill section.  He once more bravely remounted and showed his toughness to salvage 14^th position, but he has unfortunately dropped to sixth in the standings.

Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 rookie Mathis Valin, struggling with a wrist injury, pulled a good start out of the bag, but dropped from third behind Laengenfelder and Everts as both Adamo and Benistant forced past the young Frenchman, intent on challenging for either the race or the overall victory!  There followed a stunning back and forth battle for second between Adamo and Everts, neither rider giving any quarter, until Benistant joined the party to the roars of the packed valley! Their pace brought them to the rear wheel of Laengenfelder, and the German was unable to match their pace as first Everts, then Benistant fired past the KTM man, at one point blasting three abreast down the start straight, wringing the necks of their 250cc machines!

In another twist of the plot, Adamo started to gather himself for another charge, and by lap eight he had worked forward to second place and looked like a threat for the victory! Laengenfelder had also bounced back to pass Everts for third, putting himself in a GP-winning position.

Then another character was added to the saga! De Wolf, not a fan of the extra speed that the circuit served up this year, got into the mix to pass Everts for fourth on lap eleven, and started to push towards the rear wheel of Laengenfelder!

The supporting cast had stories of their own, as Valk impressed again in 2025 by finishing sixth overall for the third GP in a row!  Ferruccio Zanchi took seventh in race two for Honda HRC, ahead of Valin, McLellan, and JM Honda Racing’s David Braceras, who earned a solid top ten for his second race efforts.

The final act was a real thriller, but it broke French hearts to see Adamo pull a stunning outside-to-inside move at the top of the steepest downhill drop, to take the lead and potential GP victory! With Everts in fifth sure to keep the series lead, De Wolf slid off-track to halt his attack on Laengenfelder, who took a good third to move just three points behind Everts. The German would have been as delighted as the crowd to see Benistant get back past Adamo, and the Yamaha man gave it everything he had, pulling level alongside Pit Lane but running wide in a right hander to finally stifle his challenge on the final lap!

Adamo was the villain for the crowd but the hero of his own story, earning his first GP win since Finland in July 2023, and just the third of his career so far. He now sits just 11 points behind Everts, but also has Laengenfelder and De Wolf ahead of him, in what is developing into an almighty multi-rider tussle for the title!

The stars of both classes will be brushing up on their sand skills in the week off, as the MXGP of Sardegna beckons for round four, which may also include the return to action of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing legend Jeffrey Herlings.