Qualifying Highlights
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CRAWFORDSVILLE (Indiana, USA), 4th October 2025 – After an incredible build-up to the 78th Edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, the action got underway today with the Qualifying Races at an already packed Ironman Raceway, as the Indiana countryside bathed in glorious sunshine to make it one of the hottest Nations events in the last decade.
Over the three races, Team Australia were the top team by some margin, with both Jett and Hunter Lawrence destroying the opposition with Holeshot to Chequered Flag performances that featured some dazzling riding for the two Honda HRC riders, giving the reigning Champions a perfect two-point haul from their best two results!
Sacha Coenen was the other winner of the day in the MX2 Qualifying Race, with the young Belgian fighting to the front early and holding off a late challenge to win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Team Belgium, on his first visit to the USA!
His result helped the Belgian trio to finish third overall today, behind Team Netherlands, whose joy at two top three finishes was muted by a big crash for Glenn Coldenhoff, who might not be able to compete tomorrow. Team USA battled from their unfavourable 35th gate pick to a respectable fifth overall behind Team Germany.
At the end of the three races, the lowest six teams then competed in the C-Final, which was won by Team Costa Rica, with a 1-2 for GASGAS riders Yarod Vargas and Jose Pablo Chaves.
With more crowds expected for the main race day tomorrow, the amazing atmosphere of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations is bound to reach fever pitch, especially if the home team can compete for the Peter Chamberlain Trophy!
With Jett Lawrence setting a best lap time by over 1.2 seconds from fellow Honda HRC pilot Tim Gajser, the writing was on the wall for the opposition. Despite a small crash, Lucas Coenen was third best on his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine, ahead of home hero Eli Tomac on his Star Racing Yamaha.
In the race itself, from Team Australia’s fortunate P7 gate pick, Jett fired into the lead immediately, although Ken Roczen railed around the outside of Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Glenn Coldenhoff to challenge the Australian at the start of the race! Coenen was on the floor in the first corner, leaving the Belgian with a lot of work to do. Team Estonia’s Jorgen-Matthias Talviku was well-placed early on, even passing Coldenhoff for third in the first few corners! They were both caught and passed by Gajser and Romain Febvre, with the Slovenian carving inside the new World Champion on the final corner of the first full lap to take third place.
Febvre, hassled by Ruben Fernandez and the JK Racing Yamaha of Isak Gifting, was able to hustle back to catch Gajser, passing him on lap three, with Fernandez also able to battle past his Honda HRC teammate for fourth. At the same time, Coenen had fought up into the top ten, holding ninth after passing a handful of riders, including Tomac, Talviku, and the Aruba.it Ducati of Jeremy Seewer.
Coenen would eventually make his way up to sixth place with four laps to go, with a pass on Gifting, who took seventh. Antonio Cairoli was only elevated to eighth spot with the late crash for Coldenhoff, while Tomac was unable to pass the Italian veteran and came home ninth. Seewer rounded out the top ten.
The top five stayed set to the end of the race, with Gajser fifth behind Fernandez, and Febvre content with third as he was still adjusting to the fast nature of the circuit. However, the younger Lawrence brother cruised to an eight-second win over Roczen, meaning the Australians began the day in the best way possible!
Jett Lawrence – Team Australia: “I executed a good start, I didn’t hit the gate this time, so I’m happy about that! The last time I was here, in the first race, I hit the gate, so already starting off better. I just wanted to get some solid laps in. I knew Kenny [Roczen] would be fast early on, he’s really good at sprinting in those first few laps, so I just had to stay composed, hold him off, find my lines, and try to make as few mistakes as possible.”
RAM Qualifying Race MXGP – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jett Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 24:12.424; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:08.277; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.474; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:19.399; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:23.550; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:29.282; 7. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:37.641; 8. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Ducati), +0:46.545; 9. Eli Tomac (USA, Yamaha), +0:49.904; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), +1:02.833;
One of the biggest cheers from the crowd during Free Practice was heard when Justin Cooper set the fastest time of the session on his Star Racing Yamaha, by nearly a second from Kay de Wolf and Sacha Coenen. Guillem Farres showed that he was comfortable to be back in the USA with fourth fastest on his Monster Energy Triumph, ahead of Team Australia’s Kyle Webster.
Newly-crowned MX2 World Champion Simon Längenfelder pulled a picture-perfect Holeshot from Team Germany’s 18th gate pick, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Coenen right behind him, and Cooper also in the top three! Andrea Adamo was part of a multi-rider pile-up in turn one, with Team Denmark’s Mikkel Haarup initially fourth ahead of De Wolf.
The Dutch former World Champ pressed forwards quickly, however, with an outside move on Haarup followed by an inside line pass on Cooper. Coenen had overtaken Längenfelder through a rhythm section to take the lead, then De Wolf leapt past the German into the wooded section to take second place at the start of the first full lap!
Cooper had also overtaken Längenfelder, in the middle of the main valley, to draw “hollers” from the crowd, and looked threatening to the leading two from third place. Webster had settled into a solid fifth place, which he would keep to the flag, while Farres had displaced his fellow Triumph rider Haarup to claim sixth.
Charges from Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s Nations rookie Mathis Valin got him up to eighth for Team France ahead of Team Latvia’s Janis Reisulis, while Adamo completed a majestic charge through the pack to claim tenth place.
Längenfelder was unable to get back from fourth, and although Cooper closed a little, a late charge from De Wolf kept the American in third. De Wolf got close to Coenen, who made a few mistakes, but not enough to lose the lead. It was an ecstatic US debut for the teenage Belgian, and put his team just a point behind the Aussies after the first two races!
Sacha Coenen – Team Belgium: “I messed up a bit at the start. I went too far to the inside and it closed up, but I still came out second, then passed Simon [Längenfelder] on the first lap. It was a good race overall. I didn’t feel my best out there, but we’ll work on it and try to be better tomorrow.”
RAM Qualifying Race MX2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 24:23.950; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:02.891; 3. Justin Cooper (USA, Yamaha), +0:05.097; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:36.448; 5. Kyle Webster (AUS, Honda), +0:40.205; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:49.999; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:51.363; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:52.036; 9. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:54.303; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:55.143;
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In the Open class, Hunter Lawrence looked even more dominant than his brother with a 1.8 second advantage over Team USA’s RJ Hampshire, while Calvin Vlaanderen looked strong for the Dutch in third, with his Monster Energy Yamaha teammate Maxime Renaux fourth for France. Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Liam Everts took a solid fifth fastest on an unfamiliar bike for him.
Once more, a Lawrence brother took the perfect start and ran with it, streaking away from the pack almost immediately. Fantic Factory Racing MXGP star Andrea Bonacorsi muscled his way into second spot in front of a duel between Valentin Guillod and Harri Kullas!
The Swiss star carried his momentum after passing the Estonian to then get around Bonacorsi, just as Jo Shimoda made an outside pass on Everts to take fourth. Guillod and Bonacorsi then locked horns for second place, crossing the line almost together at the end of the first full lap!
Vlaanderen then worked past Everts into fifth spot, and was advancing on the battle in front of him. Shimoda pulled a clever pass on Bonacorsi, just after the Italian had nearly snatched second from Guillod. The Japanese talisman then made short work of the Yamaha privateer to take second on lap four, but Hunter was already a long way up the track, so the Honda HRC duo finished in that order.
Vlaanderen drove impressively forward to claim third place and put the Dutch into second overall for the day, but Hampshire had to progress from much further back, and put his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna into a pitched battle with Bonacorsi, which thrilled for a couple of laps until the American forced to the inside on the final corner of lap eight, nerving the tall Italian just off the track! He got back on just as Everts was coming past, and the Belgian got his elbows out to take a solid fifth place, meaning that Belgium could drop Lucas Coenen’s score to take third overall. They could be the only threat to Team Australia for victory tomorrow, unless there’s a major turnaround for the home team, for whom Hampshire took fourth.
Outside the top five, Bonacorsi held on to sixth place despite a late attack from Renaux, Guillod dropped to eighth ahead of Pauls Jonass, with Jan Pancar putting Team Slovenia through with tenth to back up Gajser’s fifth from MXGP.
Hunter Lawrence – Team Australia: “It was good. Today was all about qualifying, that’s the first thing we had to check off the list to make sure we didn’t end up in the B Final, which would’ve made things tougher. I got a great start and was able to ride my flow, so I’m happy to get that one done and looking forward to tomorrow.”
RAM Qualifying Race Open – Top 10 Classification: 1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Honda), 24:36.503; 2. Jo Shimoda (JPN, Honda), +0:08.266; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:14.614; 4. RJ Hampshire (USA, Husqvarna), +0:18.703; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:22.012; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:26.542; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.526; 8. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:35.766; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:39.062; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:43.103;
Nations Qualification – Top 10 Classification
- Australia – 2 pts
- The Netherlands – 5 pts
- Belgium – 6 pts
- Germany – 6 pts
- USA – 7 pts
- France – 10 pts
- Spain – 11 pts
- Italy – 14 pts
- Slovenia – 15 pts
- Japan – 16 pts
Quelle / Source / Pictures / Bilder: MXGP
