Strength to strength for Luca Marini who backed up his best Honda Sprint result with his best Honda Grand Prix result to date. Recovering from early drama and fighting through to fifth, Marini leaves Hungary in fine form as Joan Mir’s weekend ends early.

With another lightning start, Luca Marini immediately found himself in podium contention as the 26-lap Hungarian GP began. But a flurry of incidents around him, including Bastianini sliding into the middle of the circuit, forced the Italian to stand up his Honda RC213V to avoid the multiple potential contacts. Sixth when the dust had settled, Marini remained there just behind reigning World Champion Jorge Martin for the majority of the race. The final laps saw the #10 lock horns with Franco Morbidelli, the smooth handling Honda getting the better of the Ducati and earning Marini fifth place. Improving on his best from Germany this year, this marks Marini’s sixth top-ten of the season.

Fourth in the Sprint and fifth in the Grand Prix, Hungary ends as the best weekend to date for Marini aboard the Honda RC213V and the first time a Honda HRC Castrol rider has achieved two top five results since the Sprint format was introduced. The results have Marini 13th in the World Championship with 72 points, also moving the Honda HRC Castrol team ahead of LCR in the Team standings.

Joan Mir’s race was complicated from the very start as the #36 found himself in the midst of the melee that was Turn 1. Losing early ground, he rallied to try and catch the group fighting for points but would fall on early in the race, pushing too hard and losing the front. Unharmed, he attempted to remount but was forced to return to the garage. Despite the unfortunate finish, Mir was able to once again regularly place himself in the top six and help further accelerate Honda’s return.

The pattern of 2025 continues, the MotoGP World Championship heading into a week off before Barcelona and Misano arrive as back-to-back races. Misano gives a final in-season test of 2025 before heading for four races across Asia and Oceania.

The Grand Prix of The Netherlands closed the western European chapter of 2025 MXGP. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing departed the rough sand in Arnhem with more acclaim thanks to Jeffrey Herlings sweeping the board with his KTM 450 SX-F as teammate Lucas Coenen finish 2nd overall. Andrea Adamo and Sacha Coenen classified 2nd and 3rd with the KTM 250 SX-F in MX2. The team have won in either the MXGP or the MX2 class in 13 of the 17 rounds of the season to-date.

• Jeffrey Herlings rules every session and moto at Arnhem for his third MXGP victory and fourth podium of 2025. The Dutchman now has 110 career GP wins and 16 on home sand
• Lucas Coenen recovers 10 points on his main title rival with his twelfth rostrum appearance of 2025 in his rookie term in the premier class. He now trails the red plate in MXGP by 31
• Andrea Adamo goes 3-3 for his eleventh set of MX2 silverware of the season (the second highest tally) and remains in the championship chase. Sacha Coenen finishes 3rd overall for his eighth podium
• Simon Laengenfelder recovers from adversity to take 6th overall and still leads the MX2 series by 15 points
• MXGP now moves further afield. A triple header of Grands Prix in Turkey, China and Australia will bring a quick end to the calendar, and the stint begins with the trip to Afyon in two weeks

For the second time in three Grands Prix, MXGP moved into the sand. The second consecutive weekend of action drew the paddock from the hardpack of Sweden to the compact and shifting surface of the Motorportpark Gelderland Midden. The venue first staged MXGP in 2023 and was won by Jeffrey Herlings in 2024. The meeting occurred under bright but cloduy skies both days as the course churned and evolved into tough bumps.

Saturday’s MXGP qualification heat belonged comprehensively to Jeffrey Herlings, who set off from P1 in the gate and was unchallenged. Coenen rode to 4th. In MX2 Andrea Adamo escaped to win ahead of teammate Sacha Coenen while Simon Laengenfelder had to pit after a first turn pile-up and qualified with 15th place.

On Sunday Herlings extended his run across the motos with bright starts and forceful early moves. The Dutchman led both 30 minute and 2 lap races from gate to flag. Coenen, in contrast, could not be as prolific off the line. He crashed on the inside of Turn 1 in the first moto and was mired in mid-pack in the second. On both occasions the young Belgian had to charge up the order and carve through the field to regain points. He arrived to P2 both times and was even drawing up to Herlings’ rear wheel in the second moto. The effort was rewarded with his eleventh overall top three from the last twelve Grands Prix.

Sacha Coenen holeshotted the first MX2 moto and finished 2nd to Kay De Wolf with Adamo taking a steady P3. Laengenfelder was outside of the top ten at the start but started to make his way back to th front until a late crash halted his progress and he ranked P8. In the second race Adamo kept his pace in another P3 slot ahead of Coenen in 4th and Laengenfelder in 5th. The trio therefore filled 2nd, 3rd and 8th on the day.

A maximum of 240 points remain in both MXGP and MX2 this year. Coenen is 31 adrift and Herlings could still make the top four in the MXGP standings. MX2 is closer. Laengenfelder’s advantage is a slender 15 over De Wolf and 38 from Adamo with Sacha Coenen in 4th.

The Netherlands hosted the penultimate round of the EMX250 European Championship. Gabriel SS24 KTM team missed Gyan Doensen as the Dutch youngster needed surgery to fix a broken lower left leg. Max Werner rode his KTM 250 SX-F to 23rd overall.

The flat hardpack of Afyon awaits MXGP in Turkey and then the long trek to Shanghai and Darwin for Chinese and Australian Grands Prix on successive weekends. Round 18 will take place on September 6-7.

Sixth place in the Hungarian GP for Franco Morbidelli, who is the best independent rider at the finish line. Technical problem for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who is fifteenth.

The Sunday of the Hungarian Grand Prix poses a challenge for the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, which puts up a good fight with Franco Morbidelli, finishing sixth in the race and top independent rider. Bad luck for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who started from the pit lane due to a technical issue.

Starting from fifth on the grid, Morbidelli was very close to the front in the first laps and fought for the podium positions. Franco finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in sixth place, heading to parc fermé as the top independent rider. After Sunday at Balaton Park, the #21 rider sits sixth in the World Standings with 161 points.

The front-row start slipped away for Di Giannantonio, who was forced to start from the pit lane on his second bike due to a technical issue in his first one. Despite a difficult start, Fabio showed good pace and managed to score a point by finishing in fifteenth place. With the result of the Balaton Park race, the #49 rider is seventh in the World Standings with 154 points.

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team is back on track in two weeks for the Catalunya GP, that will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from 5th to 7th September. 

The 2025 Yamaha YZ BLU CRU FIM Europe Cup SuperFinale concluded in Uddevalla, Sweden, on Sunday with a thrilling finale as Nixon Coppins and Drew Stock secured victories in the YZ85 and YZ125 classes respectively. 

The day got underway with the YZ125 race and it was a frenetic affair, with Bertram Thorius taking the holeshot ahead of Hayden Statt, Drew Stock and polesitter Storm Maymann. 

Thorius had built a lead of over a second by the end of the first lap, with Statt and Stock lying second and third until Statt crashed out on the second lap, folding the front and rejoining in fourth position. 

Further drama would strike on lap five, as race leader Thorius crashed out of the lead. Remounting in fifth, the Danish rider was seven seconds behind new leader Stock. A determined Thorius pushed hard to bring the gap down, halving it by the end of lap eight before finding himself on Stock’s tail on lap nine. Re-taking the lead, Thorius found that Stock wasn’t going to let him get away. Putting up a fight, the British rider pushed hard to stay with Thorius, with an exciting battle ensuing which saw the leading duo touch at least once as the race came to its conclusion. The pressure was on, and after the coming together, Thorius tried to get away but another crash from the lead put pay to his victory chances with three laps to go. 

Meanwhile, after his earlier crash, Statt had moved back into the podium positions and was promoted to second following Thorius’ second crash. Again undeterred, Thorius tried to regain second place but Statt put up a fight to hold on for a British 1-2 with Thorius crossing the line third overall. 

Maymann, from Denmark, took fourth ahead of Spaniards Alejandro Torres and Jose Luis Moreno, who had been in podium contention until falling in the latter stages. 

British Lucas Moncrieff was seventh ahead of Szymon Masarczyk from Poland and Kay Zijlstra from the Netherlands. Israeli Tal Ovadia rounded out the top ten. 

There was little drama in the YZ85 class, as polesitter Nixon Coppins’ put in an almost flawless race for a dominant win. Narrowly missing the holeshot didn’t hamper the Yamaha Motor UK entered New Zealander, who took the lead in the first few turns and built an impressive 16 second lead by the time of the chequered flag. 

After taking the holeshot, Dutch up-and-comer Thijs van den Bogaard held on to second place, while Denmark’s Willads Gordon chased down Spain’s Ivan Vidal to steal the final podium spot in the closing stages of the race. 

Nael Lehmann of Switzerland finished fifth ahead of Austria’s Maurice Heidegger with Slovenian Leo Gasjer, Danish Lucas Taylor, Finnish Miska Laine and Dutch Brett Kastelijn completing the top ten. 

Stock and Coppins, together with YZ65 winner Tymon Andrzejewski will now be offered the chance to head to the United States for the YZ BLU CRU Cup World SuperFinale which takes place alongside the prestigious Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations at Ironman Raceway, 3-5 October. The top three from each category, plus two wildcards, will also be invited to the BLU CRU Masterclass later this year to fight it out for Yamaha Motor Europe support next season.

Uddevalla, Sweden hosted the 16th round of the 2025 MXGP World Championships, where Tim Gajser rejoined Honda HRC alongside Ruben Fernandez and MX2 rider Valerio Lata.

On a lovely summer day in Scandinavia, Gajser’s DNF-seven don’t tell the full story for the #243, nor does Fernandez’s four-eight give a fair reflection on how close the Spaniard came to the podium in an intense second moto that had everyone on the edge of their seats.

After his third in the qualification race yesterday, Gajser was hopeful of more success today and a great start in race one really gave him a good shot of another top three result. The Honda CRF450R rider was in fourth place, and challenging for third when the rider in front made a small mistake, giving a slight opening for the Slovenian. Unfortunately the door closed as quickly as it opened and the pair collided, leaving Gajser unable to finish the moto due to damage from the impact. Race two started off very similarly, but this time he was able to make the move into third quickly and kept the leaders firmly in sight. However, his time away from race action eventually took its toll and he made a small mistake, dropping him down to seventh, where he finished. There was still a lot of promise shown and it certainly gives him a good base to improve upon in the final four rounds of the series.

Fernandez also showed a lot of speed on a track that certainly isn’t his favourite. Taking an excellent fourth place in moto one, where he rode his own race without too many of the chaotic battles that were taking place elsewhere gave him another opportunity for a podium overall. However, like in previous rounds where the chance was there, he hasn’t quite been able to make the most of the moment and that is probably the biggest disappointment for the #70. An eighth is still a respectable result, but he is definitely after more and will be trying to make that happen in the Netherlands, Turkiye, China and Australia.

MX2 rider Lata will also be hoping for a change of fortune in the final four rounds as he still isn’t showing his full potential in the race environment. The Italian got a good start in race one, but then got shuffled back in the opening laps and ended up in 10th place. Then in race two, he didn’t get out the gate so well and was only just inside the top 20 on lap one. He did manage to move up to 15th, but it still isn’t the level that he showed earlier on this year and that will be his goal starting next weekend in the sand of Arnhem.

Tim Gajser  ²⁴³

Overall, a good comeback weekend, I rode a good pace for a lot of the races but there were obviously some moments that I wish had turned out differently. It’s a shame what happened in race one because I saw Isak make the mistake and I thought I could get past him, but I think he thought he could block me and we obviously collided. It would have been good to have got 35 minutes under my belt, as then in race two, I got a bit of arm pump and crashed in one of the corners after changing my lines. Like I said though, a lot of good points and I’m definitely ahead of where I thought I would be, so now we have to keep that momentum up in the Netherlands.

NEW BERLIN, N.Y. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle raced to his fifth podium of the 2025 Pro Motocross Championship at the Unadilla National on Saturday, recording a 4-2 moto scorecard for third overall at the famed New Berlin circuit. 250MX teammate Julien Beaumer returned to front-running form, making an impressive step forward with P5 overall at Round 10.

After posting the seventh-fastest time in qualifying, two-time MX2 World Champion and reigning 250SX East title-holder Vialle powered to the holeshot onboard his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION in Moto 1, racing to a measured P4 finish on the technical Unadilla layout.

In rocketing to another holeshot at the start of Moto 2, the number 16 was in the mix throughout the race, charging hard for the duration of the moto to claim a solid second-place result, and earning him third overall for the weekend.

Following the Unadilla National, Vialle is currently classified fifth in the 250MX point-standings with a single round remaining.

Tom Vialle: “The goal is to finish this year's Pro Motocross season strong, and this was another good step towards that. We made some good bike changes for Moto 2 this weekend and I was riding much faster in that race with more comfort and confidence to push the speed. The goal is to keep improving next weekend and be prepared to fight for the SMX title in September."

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Beaumer made a convincing return to front-running form at Unadilla, with the 19-year-old qualifying third quickest at the conclusion of this morning’s qualifying sessions. Two fast starts and a hard charge in both races yielded Beaumer 6-4 moto scores and fifth overall.

Julien Beaumer: “I made some progress today! Two good starts were nice and in the last 15 minutes of each race, my riding was really good. I finished with 6-4 results for fifth overall, and both myself and the bike are improving, so we’re headed in the right direction and I am excited for Budds Creek”.

NEW BERLIN, New York (August 16, 2025) – On Saturday at Unadilla MX in Upstate New York, Honda HRC Progressive rider Jett Lawrence clinched the 2025 450 AMA Pro Motocross National Championship one round early, with a 1-1 moto tally aboard his factory CRF450RWE race machine. The Australian’s performance brought his season total to nine overall wins in 10 rounds, with only the finale—next weekend’s Budds Creek National in Maryland—remaining.

It was Lawrence’s second time earning the prestigious title, and it came barely a week after his 22^nd birthday. He first claimed the crown two years ago in his rookie premier-class season, sweeping every moto, but an injury last year cut short his title defense. This marks the ninth professional title in Lawrence’s still-young career, and it comes during a year that also saw him forced to recover from a torn ACL that cost him a chance to defend his 2024 450 AMA Supercross Championship.

“All around it was a great weekend, and I’m super happy with the result,” Lawrence said. “Going 1-1 on the day and finally wrapping up the championship feels amazing. HJ put a lot of pressure on me in that second moto, so it definitely wasn’t easy, but I’m really thankful for my team and everyone who’s helped me get to this point. Huge thanks to my family, my girlfriend, my agents—everyone who supports me and makes it possible for me to line up each weekend. I’m just super grateful and really happy right now.”

A native of Landsborough, in Queensland, Australia, Jett has ridden for Honda’s factory team since 2021, a year after he turned pro with the Honda-supported Factory Connection squad. This is Honda’s 15^th premier-class AMA Pro Motocross Championship, moving the brand into sole possession of the record for most titles in the division (a mark previously shared with Kawasaki). Past Red Riders to earn the crown include Gary Jones, Donnie Hansen, David Bailey, Rick Johnson, Jeff Stanton, Jean-Michel Bayle, Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael.

In addition to winning the 2025 riders’ crown, Honda is on track to take the Manufacturers’ Championship. Jett’s teammate and older brother, Hunter Lawrence, has had an impressive season, earning his career-first premier-class overall win last weekend in Indiana, and sitting a comfortable second in the points standings heading into the final round. The squad has also earned four overall wins so far in the 250 class, with Jo Shximoda earning three and Chance Hymas taking one. Shimoda currently sits second in points.

“Winning championships is an immensely difficult achievement,” said Brandon Wilson, Manager of Racing and Advertising at American Honda. “It requires an extraordinary rider, a top-performing motorcycle, and a team of highly skilled and passionate individuals working in unison. We fully recognize the magnitude of what Jett is accomplishing and do not take this success for granted. On behalf of everyone at American Honda, we congratulate him on another historic championship run. Securing his second title in the class—clinching both early—within only his third season is a truly remarkable feat. To do so so soon after major surgery only further underscores Jett’s determination and commitment to winning. We also extend our gratitude to our incredible team, our valued sponsors, and all of our supporters. None of this would be possible without you.”

After next weekend’s AMA Pro Motocross finale, Honda HRC Progressive will take on the three-round SuperMotocross series, in which Jett will defend his perfect record as premier-class champion. The first round takes place September 6 in Concord, North Carolina.

The Austrian Grand Prix proved to be another strong home event for Red Bull KTM as three KTM RC16s fill positions in the top seven: more than any other manufacturer. Pedro Acosta raced to 4th position today at a warm Red Bull Ring for the thirteenth round of the season and for the resumption of the 2025 calendar. Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder classified 5th and 7th.

Home ground and happy hunting. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 managed expectation both inside and outside the pit boxes at the Red Bull Ring: a consistent venue for MotoGP in Austria since 2016. Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini scored 3rd, 5th and 7th positions in the 14-lap Sprint on Saturday for a trio of points-scores with the KTM RC16. On Sunday and in dry but cloudy weather conditions in the Styrian region the racers were going after more plunder in the 28-lap Grand Prix.

Bastianini, starting from P5, Acosta from P7 and Binder from P11 on the grid were without Maverick Viñales who decided against competing because of his recently operated left shoulder.

Acosta made the best start and slid into podium contention. The 21-year-old set a race rhythm good enough for more silverware and was only denied P3 in the final five laps. Bastianini didn’t make the best start and had to dedicate the full potency of his tires and grip to catch positions. The Italian forced some impressive passes to rise to a decent 5th: his highest ranking of the season. Binder was also occupied with a clutch of mini-duels. At one point the South African was forced off track and out of the top five – even sustaining some bike damage in the incident - but he rode back with fiery form and achieved P7 by the flag, which equaled his second-best result of 2025 and marked his third top eight in a row.

MotoGP moves to new territory with the debut of Balaton Park and the first Hungarian Grand Prix since 1992 to occur next weekend.

Pedro Acosta, 4th and 7th in the championship standings:“We pushed until we destroyed the front tire! It’s never easy but we have to be happy. We’ve been in the top five all through the weekend. We made a big step with our race time and our potential here. We still have a lot in the pocket and we’re still learning. We wanted a podium in our home GP but we’ll keep pushing.”

Enea Bastianini, 5th and 14th in the championship standings: “I’m happy with the result; my best of the year. I made a mistake after two laps, in Turn 1, and I tried to comeback. I was strong and I did what I could. We still have some solutions to find for the future…but the improvements are clear in the last GPs. The top five was my target today. I’ve changed the bike a lot this year but we have a base set-up now and I haven’t changed anything for the past two races; only working on myself. The factory have done a good job and the new aerodynamic worked really well. We’ll continue to try being more competitive.”

Brad Binder, 7th and 11th in the championship standings: “Today could have been much better. I didn’t get a good start but made some moves and was up to 5th. I was then sent into the fans by another rider! I lost a few seconds there and one of my wings. It was tough from then on because it was hard here for the wheelie without the aero and the bike was wobbling more. It was a long race! I felt like I put up a good fight and did all I could. We got 7th today but the potential was there for more.”

A best result since the 2023 Indian Grand Prix, Joan Mir claimed a well-earned sixth place on Sunday to end his run of bad luck as Luca Marini took 13th and extended his run of point scoring finishes.

The weekend’s efforts were rewarded with a solid Sunday for the Honda HRC Castrol team in Austria as both Joan Mir and Luca Marini battled through 28 laps of Spielberg, bringing their Honda RC213V machines home while collecting points and data for the future. Dark clouds kept away in the late stage of the race, the team preparing second bikes for the rain just in case.

Avoiding any major first lap drama, Joan Mir was able to easily stay with the top ten in the opening laps and set himself up for a strong second half of the race. Lapping consistently in the mid 1’30s, Mir saw himself make steady progress and caught Brad Binder and Francesco Bagnaia with five laps to go. An exciting three-way clash would break out between them with Mir getting the better of both the KTM and Ducati riders thanks to perfectly timed moves. Sixth place is Mir’s best result of the year, one better than he went in Aragon and sees him leave Austria with 42 points – now just 13 back on his teammate Marini in the standings. A turning point after a string of dreadful luck in previous rounds.

Luca Marini walked away from the weekend in Austria with another point scoring finish, his tenth from ten race starts. Compromised in the melee into Turn 1, Marini spent most of the race playing catch up and taking the maximum result possible. Battling hard with several riders, the #10 collected good information on several of the new items trialled by the Honda HRC riders this weekend in race conditions. Continuing to make progress throughout the weekend and secure a spot in Q2 remains a crucial target for Marini and his side of the garage.

A straight dash to the all-new Balaton Park is the next challenge for riders and teams as they prepare for round 14 next weekend.

Performance, strategy, readiness to face the unexpected, and teamwork. By putting all this into play, Honda HRC team today secured its fourth consecutive victory, and Honda’s 31^st, in extreme conditions.

On Sunday, 3 August, a field of 55 teams lined up on the grid for Round 3 of the 2025 FIM Endurance World Championship, set to battle in the iconic 46th Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race (Suzuka 8 Hours) at the legendary 5.821 km Suzuka Circuit.

The race got underway at 11:30 am (local time) under extremely hot conditions, with a temperature which rise up to 37ºC.

Honda HRC started from Pole Position with Takumi Takahashi. The Japanese rider made a strong start, taking the lead, but lost it during the first lap when he was passed by #73 Yuki Kunii (SDG Team HARC-PRO. Honda). Takumi closely followed fellow Honda rider maintaining the gap between two to six tenths of a second. On lap 14 Takahashi overtook Kunii and regained the race lead.

Back in the pits at the end of his stint on lap 27, Takahashi handed over the Honda CBR1000RR-R SP to teammate Johann Zarco, who rejoined the track in first place with an advantage of around 13 seconds over #21 Andrea Locatelli (YAMAHA RACING TEAM) in second, and about 18 seconds over #73 Keito Abe in third.

Zarco controlled the advantage before handing the bike back to Takahashi on lap 55, one hour and 59 minutes into the race. Takahashi also pushed on with a strong pace, continuing to keep a gap of around 12 seconds over second place. The Honda HRC team’s third pit stop, perfectly executed on lap 83, saw Takumi come in as the last of the front runners — a strategy that would ultimately prove decisive. Zarco then took over right at the start of the fourth hour, holding a 29‑second advantage over #21 Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

Zarco steadily increased his advantage at the front, so that when he swapped places again with his teammate on lap 111 at the halfway point of the race and almost exactly at the four‑hour mark, the Honda HRC team continued to control the lead with a gap of over 40 seconds over their closest rival, always team #21.

Managing the physical effort of the long time on track and short breaks, Takahashi and Zarco completed their fifth and sixth stints respectively, with an advantage that fluctuated between 20 and 30 seconds. But some more thrill for the Honda HRC team was just around the corner.

After most of the race ran without safety cars, the seventh stint brought two interruptions. The first came shortly after Takahashi returned to the track on lap 139, still leading ahead of Nakasuga. However, this had no impact on the running order. Then, just before Takumi entered the pit lane for the team’s seventh and final stop, another safety car was deployed. Following a lightning-fast tyre change and refuelling — with the Honda HRC crew once again excelling, performing the fastest pit stops in this edition as well — Zarco had to wait for the safety car to complete its lap before rejoining the track, slotting in behind Locatelli with a gap of around 15 seconds. About half an hour from the end of the race, however, Zarco regained the lead after Locatelli pitted for his team’s final bike swap.

By the completion of lap 217, Zarco sealed what was his second Suzuka 8 Hours victory, the seventh for Takumi Takahashi — the most successful rider in the event’s history — and the 31st for Honda HRC.