The fifth round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships provided more great racing and a highlight was the Triumph bike brand celebrating its first-ever MX2 class win.
Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s lone wolf Camden McLellan took the holeshot to chequered flag masterclass, earning the South African his first win at this level.
However, for the third straight year in MX2, the overall victory went to a rider who didn’t win either race, as Andrea Adamo survived last lap passes in each outing to keep Italian fans happy and claim his fourth career victory for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Championship leader Kay de Wolf kept the red plate on his Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing machine with second overall, while second race winner Thibault Benistant climbed to the third step of the podium for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.
It was perhaps the most significant day yet in the championship with varying fortunes for the four men who started the weekend just 14 points apart.
McLellan’s race one victory was the result of a stunning performance at the MXGP of Trentino, where McLellan took the holeshot and led every lap aboard the TF 250-X to claim both his and Triumph’s maiden moto victory.
An unfortunate crash in race two dashed McLellan’s hopes of an overall podium finish, and he ultimately placed sixth overall on the day.
The Pietramurata circuit hosted the fifth round of the 2025 campaign, and with its rough, rutted, and technically demanding surface, the Italian track is among the most challenging on the calendar. Saturday’s action unfolded under sunny skies, while overnight rain into Sunday made for more challenging conditions.
One week on from landing on the overall podium in Sardinia, McLellan was eager to build on his first top-three finish of the season.
The change from deep sand last week to slippery hard-pack this weekend did little to deter the South African, who placed fourth in the MX2 qualifying race.
Camden secured the first holeshot of his career in race one and remained unchallenged.
Within a handful of laps, he built up a three-second margin and maintained it to the finish, as the battle for second raged behind him.
Riding with confidence at the front of the field, Camden’s impressive performance and stunning race win marked the first Grand Prix moto victory for Camden and Triumph in the MX2 World Championship.
With the overall victory within reach, McLellan started well inside the top 10 in race two.
By the end of the third lap, he was up to fourth and challenging for third. However, disaster struck when a small mistake resulted in a crash.
Rejoining the race in pain and in 24th position, Camden dug deep to score valuable points, ultimately crossing the finish line in 16th for sixth overall.
It was a bittersweet end to the weekend for the South African after his dominant race one victory. Heading into round six next weekend, McLellan remains seventh in the series standings.
“It’s been a very positive weekend for me here in Italy as I picked up my first-ever race win,” said McLellan afterwards.
“From the get-go on Saturday, I felt good, and my bike was working perfectly. My starts were also good all weekend and to holeshot and then win race one was amazing.
“The second race was going good until I hit neutral before a jump and crashed – that ruled out any chance of getting on the overall podium. I want to thank the team for what they do and helping me to get this win, and now the focus is on Switzerland next weekend.”
Meanwhile, the MXGP class was ruled by Slovenian championship leader Tim Gajser, who took his record sixth GP victory at the circuit with a perfect 1-1 for Honda HRC, in front of a legion of his flag-waving supporters who responded accordingly.
Frenchman Romain Febvre put up spirited resistance for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP and took second overall in front of the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine of Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff.
After winning Saturday’s qualifying race, Febvre was fastest again in warm-up, with Gajser second and Andrea Bonacorsi third for Fantic Factory Racing MXGP.
On Saturday, Febvre was denied a Holeshot by the private Kawasaki of Nicolas Lapucci, but in the first MXGP race on Sunday there was no stopping the factory rider from claiming the holeshot for the first time this season.
While 39-year-old multi-time former world champion Antonio Cairoli did his best from the outside for the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, it was Frenchman Maxime Renaux who gave chase in second for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, although he lost traction around the second corner and got passed on either side by Gajser and Coldenhoff.
By the end of the first full lap, Lucas Coenen had moved up for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing by passing Renaux and looked set on chasing down the leaders, but Febvre and Gajser set a blistering pace out in front, and Coldenhoff was going with them.
Ruben Fernandez was fighting in the top ten for Honda HRC and had the two Ducati riders behind him as Jeremy Seewer passed Cairoli for seventh by the end of the first full lap. Also fighting in the top 10 was Austrian privateer Marcel Stauffer, last year’s EMX 2T Champion for the Osicka MX Team, getting as high as seventh at one point! On lap six, Coenen made a move on Coldenhoff for third, and Renaux also got past the Dutchman a lap later. They would stay in those positions for the rest of the race.
Fernandez dropped the bike and handed Seewer sixth position, which he would keep to the flag, while the Spaniard had to fight back up to seventh with passes on Cairoli, Stauffer, and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Calvin Vlaanderen, who would come home in eighth.
The TEM JP253 KTM Racing rider Jan Pancar took ninth, and Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings looked to be in a better position than yesterday with a fighting tenth place for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, just getting past Stauffer with three laps to go.
For 13 laps, the patient Gajser stalked Febvre at the front, before finally hounding the Frenchman into a mistake in the middle of the circuit, then diving inside the Kawasaki at the next corner.
Febvre was not done, however, and although he nearly crashed on a couple of occasions, fought back to the Honda’s rear wheel with the fastest lap of the whole race on the penultimate lap.
Sadly for him, he just pushed the front wheel into some soft dirt and fell at the top of the hill, bringing a roar of ecstatic relief from the Slovenian fans near the finish line as their man cruised to victory.
Febvre’s starting prowess deserted him in race two, as Coldenhoff edged across the line, although Fernandez grabbed the early lead alongside Pit Lane, allowing Gajser to charge around the outside of the following corner to make it a Honda HRC 1-2.
Towards the end of the first lap it was the red plate of Gajser who emerged in the lead after out-braking his team-mate into a right-hander.
Sadly for Ducati fans, Seewer was left to pick up his machine after a first corner crash that left the Swiss with more than just a torn race shirt.
With the full gate of riders to work through, he got back to 22nd at the flag, three places behind Cairoli, who hadn’t started much better.
Febvre was taking his time to work through the pack, and it wasn’t until lap five that he got past Renaux for fifth, and was chasing down Lucas Coenen.
Coenen was driven forward to pass Coldenhoff for third, but came up against the bullish Fernandez, who defied the Belgian’s attempts to push him aside.
In similar fashion, Coldenhoff was keeping Febvre behind, and for four thrilling laps the quartet circulated together.
The cycle was only broken by Coenen, whose front wheel washed out on a slick section, holding up “The Hoff” long enough to allow Febvre past into third. It took the Frenchman a further lap to dispose of Fernandez, by which time Gajser was over 11 seconds up the track
Team Motul Honda Motoblouz SR rider Kevin Horgmo, who had started the weekend sixth in the series, was again on the pace, and inherited fifth in the race with Coenen’s crash, keeping the Belgian back to sixth in the race.
Renaux could get no higher than seventh, with Pancar eighth, Bonacorsi fighting through a few riders to get to ninth, and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man Jago Geerts taking tenth with a last lap pass on Herlings.
Britain’s Ben Watson scored twelfth in both races to again finish in the top ten overall for MRT Racing Team Beta, just behind Herlings who ended the day ninth overall.
Coenen’s sixth looked good enough to still get him on the podium, but Coldenhoff pulled a brave outside pass on Fernandez for third in the race, and his second straight podium result with third overall.
Febvre did his best to hack down Gajser’s lead, but the Slovenian controlled things to the close, claiming his 52nd career GP victory and stretching his Championship lead to 39 points
Last year Gajser was dominant at the MXGP of Switzerland (this year’s edition, round six in the series, set for next weekend, April 21) in mixed conditions which could affect the event again, but Febvre insists he has the pace to run with him and make it another Grand Prix not to be missed.
Photo courtesy Triumph
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:50.568; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.678; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:34.468; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:42.879; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:44.042; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +0:45.141; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:45.540; 8. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +1:04.347; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:10.324; 10. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +1:12.767.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO,
Honda), 34:52.569; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.958; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:08.216; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:17.086; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:21.747; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:38.862; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:43.142; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:44.644; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:47.053; 10. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:48.613.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 36 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 32 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 23 p.; 9. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 18 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 274 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 235 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 196 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 176 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 164 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 148 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 137 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 122 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 102 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 99 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), 35:08.624; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:03.027; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:04.610; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:11.910; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:36.882; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:39.842; 7. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:42.869; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:51.174; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:53.425; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:57.018.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), 34:47.031; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:01.822; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:03.514; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:04.468; 5. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:32.127; 6. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:36.412; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:45.012; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:51.405; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:52.984; 10. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:55.422.
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 42 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 34 p.; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 24 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 23 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 231 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 219 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 213 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 203 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 171 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 169 p.; 7. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 155 p.; 8. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 151 p.; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 121 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 111 p.