The 2025 FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship is finally underway, with round one taking place March 1-2 at the new venue of Argentina’s Infinito Race Track at Cordoba, located about 1000 miles north of the former venue in Villa La Angostura. With defending champ Jorge Prado now racing in America, many are eager to be the next new MXGP World champ. Fans were treated to exciting racing all weekend long, with Maxime Renaux and Kay de Wolf taking the overall victories.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
MXGP
A historic holeshot kicked off the 2025 campaign as Jeremy Seewer took his all-new Ducati Desmo 450MX across the Fox Holeshot line first. This is the Italian team’s debut season in the MXGP Championship and things looked promising from the get-go. A few turns into the race, Kawasaki’s Romain Febvre passed for the lead and never looked back.
The former MXGP Champion looked comfortable out front as fellow Frenchman Maxime Renaux followed suit. Renaux later launched off the track while pursuing Febvre, but he kept his Yamaha upright and returned to the course still in second place. This mistake from Renaux allowed Febvre to open an insurmountable lead and claim the opening victory. Renaux held on for second, with Tim Gajser rounding out the podium.
Race two once again saw a Ducati take the holeshot, this time piloted by Mattia Guadagnini. The Italian rider got off to a great start but was quickly overtaken by Renaux for the top spot. The Yamaha rider sprinted away at the front, while Febvre took too long to pass Guadagnini for second.
During this time, Renaux opened up a nearly 10-second lead. Renaux cruised to the moto victory and used 2-1 finishes to take the day’s overall win. Febvre came home second with 1-2 results, while Gajser’s consistent thirds put him third overall.
“You never know what to expect at the first GP of the season,” said Renaux. “To come out and win feels great. It’s also special to take my first red plate in the 450 class, but the championship is the big picture, and I know the competition is strong. Physically, I’m in the best shape I’ve been, and the bike is working better than ever. Now, it’s about keeping the momentum going.”
MX2
The MX2 division is more stacked than ever, with factory teams adding more competition to their rider lineups. Still, the defending champion Kay de Wolf looks to be the man to beat with the bold number one on his Husqvarna.
The reigning World champ grabbed a crucial holeshot in race one as muddy conditions challenged the riders early on. It was smooth sailing for the Husqvarna rider as he navigated the tough course and limited the mistakes. Behind him, crashes were plentiful, but de Wolf kept it on track to take the opening race win by nearly nine seconds.
Simon Laengenfelder claimed second aboard his new KTM, with another Dutchman, Cas Valk, earning a career-best result in third.
Race two saw a much drier track as Sacha Coenen took the holeshot and the early lead. MX2 rookie Valerio Lata stayed close to Coenen’s rear wheel on the opening laps but later fell with pressure from the class heavyweights. Coenen continued to lead and opened a 14-second lead at the checkered flag.
Laengenfelder ran second for most of the race and looked to have the overall win in the bag with 2-2 scores. His potential victory looked even better as race-one winner de Wolf suffered a big crash while coming through traffic. In the closing laps, however, Laengenfelder crashed twice and slipped back to sixth. These mistakes shook up the overall rankings in a tremendous way. De Wolf managed to slip past Laengenfelder and used 1-5 finishes to claim the overall victory. Coenen’s win in race two bumped him to second on the day with Laengenfelder dropping to third.
“The first race was tricky with the mud, but I got a great start and just rode my own race,” said de Wolf. “The second moto was more eventful—I didn’t have the best start, worked my way up, but then had a crash and needed some time to recover. Still, I managed to fight back and finish strong. Just a few weeks ago, we didn’t even think I’d be here, so to be racing at this level already is amazing.”CN
2025 FIM MXGP Round 1 Results
MXGP (Top 5)
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 2-1
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 1-2
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 3-3
- Mattia Guadagnini (Duc) 4-4
- Glenn Coldenhoff (Fan) 5-7
MX2 (Top 5)
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 1-5
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 9-1
- Simon Laengenfelder (KTM) 2-6
- Liam Everts (Hus) 8-3
- Camden McLellan (Tri) 5-8
