Finland has a rich history of Grand Prix Motocross, with 78 World Championship events held across nine different circuits since the first one back in 1962, which was won by Finnish legend Aarno Erola on a Swedish Husqvarna. Belgian riders Harry Everts and Eric Geboers have won the most GPs of any one rider in this country, with four wins apiece. Finland hosted two Motocross of Nations events at the Ruskeasanta venue in 1979 and 1984, won by Belgium and the USA respectively.

Our last visit to Finland came in 2023, at the Vantaa venue near Helsinki Airport, and saw wins for Romain Febvre in MXGP and Andrea Adamo in MX2. Febvre’s win for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP was particularly sweet as his Team Manager Antti Pyrhonen had won at that venue in 2009, and he is still the most recent Finnish winner of a GP overall.

The 2025 MXGP series is still being led by that winner of the 2023 Finnish round, after Febvre took his fourth GP win of the season last time out at Matterley Basin. The Frenchman now holds a 32-point lead over Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Lucas Coenen, who has finished second overall at each of the last five GPs, and is desperate to go one better in Finland! Glenn Coldenhoff consolidated his third position in the series at Matterley Basin with his first race win for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP, and he also tasted podium champagne the last time we were in Finland!

In MX2, Coenen’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Simon Längenfelder is in the strongest position of his career, after extending his points lead to 52, ahead of 2023 World Champion Andrea Adamo, who at least comes to Finland as the most recent winner in this country! Adamo has an 18-point cushion over reigning World Champion Kay de Wolf, who should enjoy his first GP in Finnish sand for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing. Former Finnish 125cc Champion and EMX podium finisher Kasimir Hindersson will make his Grand Prix debut in MX2 at his home event this weekend!

The EMX250 European Championship reaches round ten at the KymiRing, and Latvian star Janis Reisulis maintains the points lead for VHR VRT Yamaha Official EMX250 ahead of JM Honda Racing’s Noel Zanocz, despite neither rider seeing the podium last time out. Ivano Van Erp and Gyan Doensen both won FIM Junior World Championships in Finland, so they could have a say in the podium positions, with Doensen lying fourth in this series behind Matterley winner Francesco Garcia of Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki.

Finland will also host the eleventh round of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championship with MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 pilot Mano Faure now holding the red plate, although he is level on points with Racestore KTM Factory Juniors rider Nicolò Alvisi! The Frenchman has won the last three rounds of this series, as well as the 125cc class at the FIM World Junior Championships last weekend, so it’s fair to say that he’s the rider on form! Filippo Mantovani holds third for the KTM Beddini Racing Team, while Finnish entrants Viktor Leppälä and Matias Miettinen will be hoping to repeat their points-scoring performances from the Latvian round!

A new venue is always tough to call, but every rider will be looking to put their name down as the first winner here, so you can be sure of some fiery racing in the forests of Finland!

MXGP

MXGP World Championship points leader Romain Febvre was very happy to stop the rot of losing points to his main challenger Lucas Coenen with a convincing win at Matterley Basin, although his lead of 32 over the Belgian is in no way insurmountable. For his part, the KTM man must be getting eager to break his streak of second-place finishes, especially on a sandy circuit which should suit his all-action style. Lucas took fourth overall at Vantaa in 2023, his debut season in MX2, with 5-3 finishes despite a heavy crash in Saturday’s Qualifying Race.

Glenn Coldenhoff made a welcome return to the podium at Matterley Basin, and the last time he raced in Finland saw him take third overall with 4-3 finishes. After taking Fantic’s first ever GP race win at the British Grand Prix, the Dutchman will fancy his chances of a GP victory in the sort of sand in which he has always gone well.

Ruben Fernandez advanced to fourth in the series for Honda HRC with a fine second in race two at Matterley Basin, and will look to reel in the 28-point gap to Coldenhoff for the bronze medal in the series. Sadly for the next two riders in the Championship, injury has plagued them this year. Maxime Renaux is still fifth for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, ahead of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, but both riders are likely to miss the MXGP of Finland due to ongoing injuries in the Frenchman’s case, and due to a training crash resulting in a broken collarbone for the Dutchman.

Renaux’s teammate Calvin Vlaanderen will look to advance from seventh place in the Championship, while Coldenhoff’s teammate Andrea Bonacorsi will do everything to move up from eighth. The tall pair are just seven points apart so it could get tasty if we see them together on track!

Still in tenth, behind the injured Tim Gajser in the Championship, is Aruba.it Ducati Factory Mx Team rider Jeremy Seewer, who finished fourth in Finland in 2023 and will be hoping to improve on that this time. Jere Haavisto is the only Finn to have scored points in MXGP this season, just the one in Latvia, but fellow Scandinavians Isak Gifting and Kevin Horgmo will hope to keep the fans happy with strong performances. Estonian wildcards Jorgen-Matthias Talviku and former GP winner Gert Krestinov will make the short journey across the Gulf of Finland to line up this weekend as well!

Few know what to expect from the brand-new circuit at the KymiRing, but for sure the MXGP elite will give it everything to stamp their name as the first winner here in the premier class!

MX2

In the class which has been incredibly close and unpredictable for the first half of the season, the MX2 World Championship has suddenly seen a huge points lead build up for Simon Längenfelder, who posted a perfect 60-point weekend in the UK while his main Championship chasers struggled with crashes and ill fortune. The German now has a 52-point buffer over fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Andrea Adamo, and although the Italian will approach Finland with the confidence of being the most recent winner in this country, Längenfelder will also know that he was twice second to Adamo at Vantaa in 2023, and won the Qualifying Race that weekend as well!

The enigma of the season so far has to be Kay de Wolf, while looking strong for much of the opening half of the year, the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team leader is now 18 points behind Adamo, and while he missed the Finnish round in 2023 through injury, his strength in the sand is something that he can usually rely on, although 2025 has not always played out that way! His teammate Liam Everts is fourth in the series, another 41 points back, and he was third overall at Vantaa in 2023, so should be looking forward to returning to Finland.

Sacha Coenen took his only GP win of the year so far just over the water in Latvia, so he could be a major threat again for top honours this weekend. He is chased by Thibault Benistant in the points standings, and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 man will be hoping to prove that he can be a major player in soft going, which has been his main weakness this season.

Camden McLellan, on the other hand, is a proven sand master from his podium in Sardegna, so he’ll be out for a return to the top places for Monster Energy Triumph Racing. Valerio Lata is eighth in the series for Honda HRC after a rough couple of GPs, and has his old EMX250 adversary Cas Valk just behind him for Van Venrooy KTM Racing, in the country where the Dutchman finished on the podium at the FIM World Juniors 125cc Championship just three years ago. Spaniard Oriol Oliver rounds out the top ten in the series for Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors, and could surely be a threat for the podium with the speed he has shown recently!

With home hero Kasimir Hindersson making his long-awaited GP debut, and travelling fans from Latvia sure to be vocal for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 flyer Karlis Reisulis, the racing should be hot stuff at the most northern venue of the entire MXGP season! Tune in to check it out!