The weekend’s MXGP of Finland, the first international event to be held at the new KymiRing facility near the city of Kuovola, delivered a tough day of racing for the 13th round of the 2025 Motocross World Championships.
The northernmost stop of the series brought bright sunshine for the whole weekend on the physically demanding new circuit.
After an overnight thunderstorm put some moisture into the circuit for the morning sessions, the sunny weather continued for Sunday to keep the soft surface in a fast but rough condition for the Grand Prix races themselves, and with temperatures running high for the area, the physical challenge for the riders was not to be under-estimated.
After five consecutive trophies for second-place finishes, Lucas Coenen finally took his third MXGP win of the season for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing to complete a perfect 1-1-1 weekend, and nudged himself closer to the lead of the series, although red plate holder Romain Febvre fought tirelessly from average starts to still take second on the day for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.
Third overall, in classic 70th Anniversary colours for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, was a thoroughly-deserved first podium of the season for Calvin Vlaanderen.
The MX2 class saw a return to form for reigning Champion Kay de Wolf (pictured here), who took his first Grand Prix win for over two months for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
In a similar recovery from a bad run of form, Andrea Adamo took a fine second overall to help his Championship campaign, with fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flyer Sacha Coenen taking third overall for the fourth time this year.
This allowed the Belgian to move past the injured Liam Everts into fourth in the championship title chase.
There was action all over the track at the new Finnish venue, which was well received by both fans and riders alike, with many stories to tell throughout the pack.
The Sunday morning warm-up saw great pace from the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP squad, as Andrea Bonacorsi and Glenn Coldenhoff took first and second in the session ahead of Febvre, but Jago Geerts crashed on his second lap and would line up in the races for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP with bruising to his shoulder.
Even with a gate pick from outside the top ten, it was Coldenhoff who fired the Fantic from the middle of the gate into the lead to claim his third holeshot of the season, although Lucas Coenen was quickly onto his back wheel as the battles raged behind them.
Mattia Guadagnini had got a great jump for the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, but was passed in the next few corners by Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez, although Bonacorsi carved through into third place by turn five with some decisive riding.
Febvre had suffered a poor start and had to fight from outside the top 10.
Coenen, the chief chaser in the title race, scorched down the pit lane straight on the inside of Coldenhoff to take the lead before the start of the first full lap, and proceeded to get the hammer down.
Behind the two Fantics were Fernandez in fourth, Vlaanderen in fifth, then Guadagnini ahead of the third Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine of Brian Bogers.
Febvre was swiftly on the move, passing Bogers at the start of lap two, although he had to cope with a retaliatory move from the Dutchman before sealing the deal, but then took just two further corners to get past Guadagnini.
In the meantime, Coenen set a blistering pace, shocking observers with a lap time nearly five seconds faster than anyone else.
The speed was almost too much as he survived a massive near-crash through the uphill wave section, and wisely backed it down from there.
Fighting in to the top 10 was the Team Motoblouz Honda SR Motul rider Alberto Forato, who moved past both Guadagnini and Bogers to take seventh at the close, ahead of the Fantic-riding Dutchman, while Brent van Doninck took ninth for JM Racing Honda, and Forato’s team-mate Kevin Horgmo took tenth by the finish.
Febvre took until lap eight of 19 to catch and pass Vlaanderen, but then made a mistake to drop behind him again, allowing the South African-born Dutchman to close in on Fernandez and pass him for fourth in the closing stages.
Febvre also made his way past the Spaniard, but Coenen took a commanding 13-second victory, as Fantic Factory Racing MXGP enjoyed 2-3 finishes for Coldenhoff and Bonacorsi.
The day looked like it was going to get even better for Fantic as Coldenhoff took his second holeshot of the day in race two, although Coenen was instantly leading into the second corner and started to pull away again.
His gap at the front was widened by a collision between Fernandez and Coldenhoff as they disputed second place into turn five. Both hit the ground hard, and Fernandez was forced to retire with machine damage by the end of lap eight.
Coldenhoff was left to fight through the pack, and team-mate Bonacorsi also got held up as he hit Glenn’s bike on the ground.
Just as in the qualifying race, Britain’s Adam Sterry was up into third for Chambers Racing KTM, but this time he was unable to hold back the factory riders as Geerts, Seewer, and Febvre soon got past.
Vlaanderen held second at the end of the first full lap from Geerts and a charging Febvre, who needed to limit the points damage to Coenen.
Van Doninck, enjoying the soft surface, held a solid fifth place ahead of the remarkable Bonacorsi, who had charged past several riders including Seewer to hold sixth place after his early hold-up.
Forato, Sterry, and the MRT Racing Team Beta of Tom Koch completed the early top 10.
Suddenly, on lap five, Coenen’s lead shrunk as he fell awkwardly in a right-hander that he admitted to struggling with all day, but remounted just in front of Vlaanderen and Febvre, who had blasted past Geerts into turn two on lap three.
The factory KTM man then made a further mistake on the corner before Pit Lane, going over a berm and handing the lead to Vlaanderen. The retro colours had deservedly got to the front.
It didn’t last long, however, as Coenen regrouped to hold off Febvre and jump past Vlaanderen on a downhill “staircase” section to re-take the lead on lap seven.
On the same lap, Van Doninck got past a sore Geerts to take fourth, and Coldenhoff sneaked past both Koch and the other MRT Racing Team Beta of Ben Watson to climb up to ninth.
Febvre took just two more laps to get back past Vlaanderen, but couldn’t run down the flying Coenen. The top three, as well as Van Doninck in fourth, would finish the race in that order, but Coldenhoff’s valiant charge up to fifth place left him in a three-way tie with Febvre and Vlaanderen for second in the GP.
Unfortunately for the Dutchman, the last race tie-breaker put him in fourth overall, just ahead of Bonacorsi, who had got up to fifth in the race before slipping down to eighth.
Van Doninck’s great second race was enough to put him in sixth overall, his best of the season by a distance.
Forato also put in his personal best since August last year with two seventh places putting him in that position overall ahead of Bogers, with Geerts salvaging ninth overall thanks to a fine sixth in race two.
Swiss rider Jeremy Seewer soldiered away to reach tenth overall with 11-10 finishes for Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team.
While some sportsmen fear the number 13, Lucas Coenen might consider it his friend as he won round 13, on the 13th of July, which was his 13th career Grand Prix victory.
His perfect weekend was enough to slash Febvre’s points lead from 32 points to just 15 as the series moves to the Czech Republic, where the Frenchman is a three-time winner, in just two weeks’ time.
This season’s duel for the MXGP crown continues to be a fascinating one.
Lucas Coenen: “That second race wasn’t easy, but I’m pumped with how it turned out. I got out front early and just took off.
“Saturday was a bit of a struggle, but today we made some good changes, and it all came together. Super happy with the 1-1 and how I rode, let’s keep this momentum going!”
Romain Febvre: “This weekend I had to work really hard, probably the most all season. I crashed in Saturday’s qualifying and again in race one, so I was constantly fighting back.
“In race two, I didn’t get the best start either, but I gave everything. I saw a chance when Lucas (Coenen) made a mistake, but I was just missing that last bit of energy. We know where we need to improve, starting up front makes all the difference. That’s the goal for the next ones.”
© Photo courtesy KTM
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RESULTS & STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 13:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:16.114; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:13.879; 3. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:20.853; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:34.179; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:43.453; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:43.700; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +1:01.324; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +1:10.359; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +1:19.544; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:24.184.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:03.807; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:08.850; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:24.134; 4. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:36.186; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:46.826; 6. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:51.295; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +1:01.767; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +1:03.424; 9. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +1:04.076; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:05.353.
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 38 p.; 5. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 33 p.; 6. Brent Van doninck (BEL, HON), 30 p.; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 28 p.; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 25 p.; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 21 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 21 p.
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification:
1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 627 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 612 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 449 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 407 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 366 p.; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 353 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 347 p.; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 325 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 305 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 296 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:13.030; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.703; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.113; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:25.788; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:34.540; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:48.976; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:00.675; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:04.121; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:19.338; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.535
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 34:45.532; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:08.740; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:17.805; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.246; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:38.586; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:50.955; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:01.829; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:05.479; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.447; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:36.573;
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 31 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 23 p.
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 613 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 570 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 565 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 482 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 464 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 458 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 393 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 297 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 289 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 272 p.