SIMON LAENGENFELDER WINS UDDEVALLA

Uddevalla is the long-established home of Swedish motocross and the annual stage for MXGP in the country. The track featured a few layout alterations for 2025 but was still formed from the same soft, rough, rutted, stoney soil and was surrounded by a decent clutch of spectators across a weekend of sunny weather.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing entered the final quarter of the campaign in championship contention for both MXGP and MX2 with KTM 450 SX-F and KTM 250 SX-F machinery. On Saturday Jeffrey Herlings, in his second GP back in action after breaking his right collarbone, scored P2 in the Qualification Heat while Lucas Coenen took P6: the starts dictated potential for positions due to the narrow course and one-line nature of the track. In the MX2 Heat it was Simon Laengenfelder who gathered the strongest finish (and therefore the best pick in the gate) thanks to 2nd position. Sacha Coenen was 7th and Andrea Adamo managed 9th.

Two vibrant starts helped Herlings to a brace of P2 positions on Sunday. The Dutchman was close to the holeshot on both occasions and profited from Isak Gifting’s late crash to assume the runner-up slot in the second outing. The results ensured 44 points for the former world champion and put him back into the champagne spray. Coenen was not so fortunate. He was stuck in the pack during Moto 1 and pulled up to P7 despite suffering arm-pump. The Belgian then crashed into Turn 3 in the second moto and had a long race recovering ground to P12.

Sacha Coenen fronted the first MX2 race but could not halt Adamo’s charge. Red Bull KTM began their day of dominance in the division with Adamo in P1 (his seventh moto success of 2025), Coenen in P2 and Laengenfelder rounding out the top five. The German was quicker out of the gate for the second moto. He led the way with Sacha in 7th and Adamo in 8th as the race order barely changed after the opening lap. The team toasted the sight of at least two riders on the MX2 rostrum for the tenth time this year.

The world championships? In MXGP Coenen is 2nd and 41 points from the red plate. The close MX2 chase has Laengenfelder ahead of Kay De Wolf by 40 points and Adamo by 59. Coenen in 4th in the table.

The EMX250 European Championship entered the eleventh round of thirteen and with the Gabriel SS24 KTM team hoping to give more laps and education on the KTM 250 SX-F for Gyan Doensen and Max Werner. The Dutchman posted the more profitable scorecard with 6-DNF for 13th overall and the German didn’t grab any points.

Now for more sand. Two races after the difficulty of Lommel in Belgium, the FIM world championship plunges back into the shifting surface at Arnhem and Herlings’ home Grand Prix in seven days’ time. The fixture is the last western European date on the calendar before the triple of races in Turkey, China and Australia.

Jeffrey Herlings, 2nd and 2nd for 2nd overall in MXGP: “Really good. Three 2nds! In the last moto I felt quite close and was really pushing but I ran out of tear-offs. I didn’t have any more for the leader. 2-2 for 2nd overall is not bad for being on the bike for only two and a half weeks. Now we’ll look forward to my home GP at Arnhem and hopefully we can be back on the box there. I won last year and it would be great to repeat. I just need more starts and I know I can do the rest. My physical condition is getting better and better.”

Lucas Coenen, 7th and 12th for 8th overall in MXGP: “I really have nothing to say about this weekend: only bad starts and bad luck. That’s it. We go again next time.”

Simon Laengenfelder, 5th and 1st for 1st overall in MX2: “Not the best start in the first moto and you need to ride differently in the pack, try new lines and be aggressive: lately I’ve not been too good at this… but I showed I can do it this weekend! In the second race I got a better start and could find my way to 1st position. I hope we can be better prepared for our starts in Arnhem, and then be open in the races for whatever might happen. I feel comfortable and I’m feeling good.”

Sacha Coenen, 2nd and 7th for 4th overall in MX2: “An up-and-down weekend. I had the holeshot in the first moto and created a big lead but then had some arm-pump and had to fight it. I wasn’t too happy to finish the race like that. Not a good start at all in the second moto and I did what I could to come back to 7th. Let’s see what we can do in Arnhem.”

Andrea Adamo, 1st and 8th for 3rd overall in MX2: “The GP was not great. We need to go for the win each time and we didn’t reach the goal. The first race was really good. I made my way to 1st and closed a big gap to Sacha. I was really happy and motivated for race two but I didn’t get the best start and unfortunately after five laps my kit broke. I then had a crash and broke the clutch! A disaster. Anyway, happy at least to be on the podium. We have to go all-in for the remaining races.”

1. Romain Febvre (FRA), Kawasaki, 1-1

3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED), Yamaha, 3-4

4. Maxime Renaux (FRA), Yamaha 5-3

5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED), Fantic, 6-5

1. Romain Febvre (FRA), Kawasaki, 794 points

3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED), Fantic, 572

4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP), Honda, 502

5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED), Yamaha, 480

2. Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna, 3-3

5. Thibault Benistant (FRA), Yamaha, 8-2

1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 754 points

2. Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna, 714

5. Thibault Benistant (FRA), Yamaha, 558

7. Liam Everts (BEL), Husqvarna 497