The 2025 Motocross World Championships holds its final event on mainland Europe this weekend for round 17, the MXGP of Netherlands, hosted at a track just north of the city of Arnhem.
This venue is in the centre of the country with the lowest altitude in Europe.
Arnhem has seen two fantastic MXGP events already and is looking forward to seeing a bumper crowd welcome the two Dutch defending World Motocross Champions to their first GP on home sand this year.
The Arnhem venue has seen overall victories for Jeffrey Herlings and Romain Febvre in MXGP, and Lucas Coenen and Liam Everts in MX2, while the record for most GP successes in the country itself is obviously held by Herlings, who has earned 15 wins in his home country, all for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and rarely been beaten when he’s been fit enough to race.
The battle at the top of the MXGP World Championship was blown apart by a maximum for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s red plate holder Febvre in Sweden last weekend, and with his closest rival Lucas Coenen suffering his worst GP for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing since the season opener, the points gap has now opened up to 41 between the veteran and the class rookie.
However, with Coenen’s great record at Arnhem and sense of nothing to lose, the Belgian could be a fearsome opponent this weekend.
Dutch Motocross of Nations team members Glenn Coldenhoff for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP and Calvin Vlaanderen of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP currently sit in third and fifth in the standings, and are both very keen to win their first GP on home sand. However, the maestro Herlings was amazing here last year and looks close to his top form after taking second overall in Sweden.
MX2 Championship leader Simon Längenfelder regained the initiative with the GP win at Uddevalla for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and made a small amount of ground on his closest challenger, reigning world champion Kay de Wolf (pictured here).
The Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing star will wear his number one plate for the first time in front of his home fans, and with perfect GPs in the sand of both Finland and Flanders this year, it’s tough to imagine the local hero struggling this weekend.
The gap is now 40 points between him and the German red plate holder, with Andrea Adamo now 19 points further back in third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Home riders Cas Valk for Van Venrooy KTM Racing, Rick Elzinga of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and Jens Walvoort of KTM BTS Racing Team will all be trying to improve their championship positions in the top 20 as well.
The FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship resumes with the start of its second half of the season, and it sees a tight tussle at the top between the “Queen of Sand” Lotte van Drunen, defending world champion for De Baets Yamaha, and veteran six-time champ Kiara Fontanesi, who is only six points behind for her own Fonta MX Racing GASGAS squad.
Van Drunen has never been beaten in a race around Arnhem in the two GPs held here, and with Fontanesi finishing sixth in each of those rounds, then the Italian could face a tough weekend ahead.
Lynn Valk will also look to enjoy her home GP for Van Venrooy KTM Racing as she looks to challenge from third in the points, just 15 behind Lotte, while Shana van der Vlist and Danee Gelissen could be in the running to make it an all-Dutch podium.
Daniela Guillen and Amandine Verstappen can also not be counted out in what could be an almighty battle amongst the world’s fastest girls on wheels.
The EMX250 European Championship has its penultimate round this weekend, and the title chase is getting close between Team VHR VRT Yamaha Official rider Janis Reisulis, who is just 27 points ahead of Hungarian Noel Zanocz after the JM Racing Honda man took overall victory at Uddevalla.
Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Spaniard Francisco Garcia is 40 points back from Zanocz and keen to show improvement in his sand skills after a race win in Finland.
Sadly, rising Dutch star Gyan Doensen, who won in EMX125 here last year, suffered an injury in Sweden and won’t be able to defend his fourth place in the standings for Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors, so the home fans will turn their attention to the prodigious Ivano van Erp, team-mate to Reisulis who has shown good form since returning from injury with a race win in France.
The MXGP of Netherlands is sure to be a tough physical challenge as sand always is, and with a passionate crowd cheering on their home heroes in close proximity, the atmosphere should be out of this world.
The MXGP of Sweden saw the first ever maximum 60-point haul across a GP weekend in Romain Febvre’s career, and it was a case of perfect timing for the Frenchman as his closest rival suffered his worst GP since the opening round.
It gives the red plate holder a 41-point margin over Lucas Coenen, as they come to a track where Febvre took the overall win just two years ago.
Febvre has said in interviews that the media always talks about nine, 10 years ago for him … well, sorry monsieur, we’ll say it again, that he first won a GP in The Netherlands back in 2016 at the circuit of Valkenswaard, as defending world champion.
Last year here he was twice fifth for that position overall, but with the title on the line he will be aiming for his 16th podium of the season – not bad for the 17th round.
For his part, Coenen is in a similar position to twelve months ago, when he had a gap to chase down in the championship that gave him nothing to lose. So far this year he has been one of the strongest riders in the sand, with victories in Finland and Belgium, and in the two MX2 GPs at Arnhem he has won the qualifying race and the second race on Sunday both times.
Second overall in 2023 after a first lap crash in race one, and the overall GP win last year with 2-1 finishes, he must come into this GP with maximum confidence, if he is fully fit.
Glenn Coldenhoff has a 70-point margin to defend in his quest for the bronze medal, but his focus must surely be on climbing the podium in his home country for the first time since 2016.
That was at Assen, where he took third place in both 2015 and ’16, but since then he has finished fourth overall four times on Dutch sand, including the last two years at Arnhem.
He did take last year’s qualifying race win, the first ever for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP, so for sure he will come in confident and hopeful, maybe even daring to dream of a first ever GP win at home, as well as the first ever for Fantic.
Ruben Fernandez was 11th overall here in 2023, but the Honda HRC rider missed this round last year, and with an average of just 28 points in sandy GPs this season, his main focus will be on keeping Calvin Vlaanderen behind him in the fight for fourth in the series.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man, who has been selected to line up alongside Coldenhoff for Team Netherlands at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, is just 22 points back from the Spaniard, and with three podium results in the last four rounds, including both of the sandy ones, he will be confident of closing the gap, maybe in its entirety.
Also looking over his shoulder in the standings will be Andrea Bonacorsi for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP, who is just a point ahead of Maxime Renaux for sixth in the Championship, as the Frenchman scored third in race two in Sweden for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.
The Italian Bonacorsi excels in the sand, and won overall at Arnhem in EMX250 two years ago, while Renaux finished sixth there in 2023, and has scored a best of second in a GP in the Netherlands, at Valkenswaard in 2020, while still in MX2.
Next in the Championship is a rider who might be considered the favourite this weekend, with a record of 15 Grand Prix victories dating back to 2010 in MX2, including last year with an awesome double win on Sunday.
Jeffrey Herlings took second overall in Sweden and looked close to his best, which could be ominous for the rest of his competition after his amazing charges through the pack to conquer the field in 2024.
Jeremy Seewer, never a favourite in the sand, is ninth in the series for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, and actually scored a podium here in 2023, so maybe a good result isn’t out of the question, while Tim Gajser has scored solid results of fifth and third overall at Arnhem so far.
The Honda HRC rider is in his second race back from injury, and proved with an overall win at Oss in 2021 that he is capable in the Dutch sand as he tries to climb from tenth in the championship.
Jago Geerts will return to action for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP after his big crash at Lommel, and will be hoping to make his sand skills pay for him, as it did when he won the MX2 class at Oss in 2021.
JK Racing Yamaha’s star of the Swedish GP, Isak Gifting, will be hoping to bounce back from the disappointment of letting that second race at Uddevalla slip from his grasp, and with his best GP of the year so far coming at Lommel, there’s every chance he can do that in the sands of Arnhem.
Other major Dutch players such as Brian Bogers for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP, and Roan van de Moosdijk for KTM Kosak Team, will be hoping for great results in their natural terrain of choice, while Lars van Berkel continues his fill-in ride for JWR Honda Racing, and he knows how to go fast in the sand.
With many wildcards filling a 40-man entry list, the MXGP of Netherlands should see a full track of the world’s best wrestling their 450cc monsters through some of the toughest terrain of the season.
© Photo Infront Moto Racing
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LEADING STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 16:
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 794 Points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 753 Pts; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 572 Pts; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 502 Pts; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM) 480 Pts; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 424 Pts; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 423 Pts; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 406 Pts; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 341 Pts; 10. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 32
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 754 Points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 714 Pts; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 695 Pts; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 599 Pts; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 558 Pts; 6. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 504 Pts; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 497 Pts; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 366 Pts; 9. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 357 Pts; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 347 Pts.