The penultimate round of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championship took place in China at the Shanghai International Off-Road Circuit for round 19 on September 14. Torrential rains soaked the track after the qualifying races, which made for tricky conditions come Sunday, along with high temperatures that shocked the riders. Still, two of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machines came out on top, with Jeffrey Herlings and Sacha Coenen claiming their overall wins.
MXGP
Jeffrey Herlings is on a roll right now. The former MXGP Champion continued his domination from the qualifying race and posted the fastest time on Sunday’s warmup. Herlings quickly jumped to second during race one and stalked the early leader, Maxime Renaux, for most of the moto before pouncing on the top spot with three laps to go for the win.
Race two looked much the same as the KTM rider took control of the moto on the opening lap and proceeded to check out. By the end, Tim Gajser applied pressure, but not enough to crack Herlings. A dominant 1-1 day sees Herlings take his third overall win in as many weeks and puts him fifth in the championship with one round remaining.
“The heat was so tough,” Herlings said. “Coming from Holland, I’m not used to these conditions. Tim pressured me the whole weekend, every race, and it wasn’t easy at all. Maybe it looked simple, but this was one of the hardest ones for me to win.”
Gajser finished second overall in what proved to be his best race back from injury. The HRC Honda rider moved through the pack in both motos and made a late-race pass on Renaux for second to start the day. In race two, Gajser fought to the end to catch Herlings but couldn’t manage a pass in the final laps.
“Not easy, especially with the hot weather, but I feel like I’m slowly coming back to my old self again after the injury,” Gajser said. “I tried on the last lap [of the second moto] to make a move, but he was riding perfectly, covering all the insides and not making mistakes.”
Gajser’s teammate Ruben Fernandez rounded out the podium in third overall. The Spanish rider crossed the line in fourth behind Romain Febvre in race one but flip-flopped results with the points leader in the final race of the day. Knowing that Febvre wouldn’t risk extra positions, Fernandez passed the Frenchman for third late in the second moto and used the extra points to earn the final spot on the box.
Febvre continues his stronghold on the points lead with fourth overall. His main rival, Lucas Coenen, struggled with the heat and later crashed at the start of race two. He finished outside the top 10 overall, which allowed Febvre to safely take fourth and still gain points. He now leads by 47 going into the final round.
MX2
The championship is coming down to the wire in the MX2 division as Simon Laengenfelder held a small 12-point advantage over Kay de Wolf heading into round 19. Laengenfelder’s teammate, Sacha Coenen, grabbed the holeshot in race one and took off with the early lead while the championship contenders battled for a podium position. Sacha held the advantage until a crash on the final lap dramatically decreased his 14-second lead. He remounted in first and claimed the win as de Wolf slipped to second and Laengenfelder recovered for third.
Laengenfelder, the points leader, took the holeshot in race two and looked to maximize his points take on the day as de Wolf started outside the top five. The reigning champ, de Wolf, spent the early laps working his way up to fourth behind the three front-runners but fell and lost a ton of ground. Laengenfelder continued to hold the top spot as Coenen crashed while going for the lead but later came under fire from his fellow KTM teammate Andrea Adamo. Adamo made a pass for first on the final lap and stole the race win away from Laengenfelder.
This late-race shakeup bumped Sacha to the overall win with 1-3 finishes, Adamo to second with a 4-1, and Laengenfelder to third with 3-2. With de Wolf finishing fourth overall, Laengenfelder still holds a 16-point gap heading into the final round.CN
2025 MXGP & MX2 of China Video Highlights
2025 FIM MXGP of China Results
MXGP
- Jeffrey Herlings (KTM) 1-1
- Tim Gajser (Hon) 2-2
- Ruben Fernandez (Hon) 5-3
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 4-4
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 3-6
MX2
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 1-3
- Andrea Adamo (KTM) 4-1
- Simon Laengenfelder (KTM) 3-2
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 2-4
- Camden McLellan (Tri) 7-5
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