The four-rider Honda HRC contingent of Tim Gajser, Ruben Fernandez, Ferruccio Zanchi and Valerio Lata have arrived in Argentina, ready to take on the challenges that the first round of the 2025 World Motocross Championship present.

Held at a new venue in Cordoba, Argentina, it will be a brand-new circuit for all four riders, as well as a brand-new country for the team’s most recent addition – Lata. Previously, we’ve headed to Patagonia for the Argentina round, but Cordoba, the second-largest city will now host the exciting prospect of the world’s best motocross riders battling it out for the first time in 2025.

Gajser is heading there as one of the favourites for the MXGP crown, after narrowly missing out on the title in 2024. His pre-season races have gone very well, and the Slovenian knows how to manage what will likely be another long, gruelling campaign. Solid points, and staying healthy is the key, but the #243 knows that winning motos, and the extra points that comes with that, will also be critical.

For fellow CRF450R teammate, Fernandez, his goals are to solidify his status as one of the fastest riders in the class and challenge for wins and podiums on a regular basis. Having won in Argentina in 2023, this is one of his favourite countries to visit, and he’ll be motivated to put on a good showing in front of his Spanish-speaking fans.

Returning with the team for his second year in the MX2 class is Zanchi, who now has a much better understanding of what to expect in the world championships. The young Italian put in a solid season last time out, finishing 10^th overall and having several good rides, but now the hope is to be fighting for positions nearer to the front of the field and trying to get himself on the podium.

Joining him on-board another Honda CRF250R is Lata, who moves up from a successful EMX career into the bright lights of the Honda HRC awning. The Italian has won races in pretty much every year of his career so far, but this will be his biggest challenge yet and the team has stressed that this first year will be one of learning and building. He has never raced outside of Europe before, so Argentina will be a completely new experience, however he is ready to embrace everything that comes his way and show that he has the speed to mix it up with the best MX2 riders in the world.

With the travelling complete, all that awaits the riders now is to take to track and see what this new circuit holds for them. Early photos and video show an impressive set-up, but there is a threat of storms over the weekend so everyone has fingers crossed that we can escape the worst of the weather and just enjoy the spectacle of the 2025 MXGP World Championships.

History was made in Australia today as Stefano Manzi took the all-new Yamaha R9 to a maiden victory in its debut outing in the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. 

It was poetic for Yamaha, as Manzi opened the R9’s World Championship account with victory just 126 days after closing the iconic R6’s chapter in the history books with a win in Jerez back in October. 

It hasn’t been a straightforward week ‘down under’ for the Italian, who struggled initially in the two-day official test but, working hard with the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate team, he made progress session by session. The twice vice-champion qualified eighth for the R9’s debut race but being on the third row of the grid didn’t hinder Manzi as he launched off the line to join the battle for the podium on the opening lap. 

It was Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing’s Can Öncü who took the holeshot from fourth on the grid, with Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) holding his third-place starting position in the opening exchanges. 

As the race reached the halfway point with the mandatory pit stop window opening, it was Öncü, Manzi and Jaume Masia fighting for the lead. Entering the pits on the same lap, Masia seemed to gain an edge on the two R9s on the restart but was later handed a 3.5 second penalty for leaving pit lane too early. 

Following the pit stops, Marcel Schroetter and Tom Booth-Amos joined the fight for the lead making it a five-way scrap at the front. Manzi asserted himself at the head of the field, but was unable to make a break, leading to a dogged battle with Masia in the closing stages. A pass at the bottom of Lukey Heights was enough to secure the Italian enough breathing room to cross the line first and make history with the R9’s maiden win on its race debut. 

Öncü crossed the line fifth for Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing, with 2017 champion Lucas Mahias completing his race in ninth. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GMT94 Yamaha), who had looked to have pace to fight for a podium, retired with a technical issue on lap six. 

Having shown impressive pace as a rookie, reigning WorldSSP300 champion Aldi Satya Mahendra’s (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) WorldSSP debut came to an early end as he crashed unhurt at turn ten on the opening lap.

In WorldSSP, the grid for the second race is set by the fastest laps in the opening race meaning Manzi, who set the third fastest lap, will start from the front row. Mahias moves to sixth on the grid with Öncü ninth.

RACE 1 RESULTS

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) – 1st

“It is amazing to open the era of the new R9 with a win! There are not many words at the moment, I need to thank Yamaha and the team as they have put a lot of effort in to this project to make this possible. It was not easy, because it was a hard fight and the pit stop also made things challenging, but I am happy to be able to say I finished first! In the winter tests in Spain, the test earlier this week and even yesterday I was not super quick, but in the end we were able to close the gap. When we left the pits and Masia had a gap on me, I thought either I’ve done something wrong, or he did something wrong, so my only goal was to catch him and win. It was a hard fight, like always in this class, but I am a fighter, so in the end it was good for me!” 

Niccolò Canepa – Road Racing Sporting Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe

“This is an incredible result for Yamaha, for the R9 to take the win in its first WorldSSP race is a dream. We felt confident in the package heading into the season, but pre-season testing was hampered by bad weather and our WorldSSP teams participated in private tests away from their rivals. Since we arrived in Australia, our teams have made progress session after session and fighting for the podium was our target. Stefano rode an incredible race in true ‘Manzi style’ and he will now go down in history as the last winner on the R6 and first on the R9. Congratulations to him, the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing team and all of the engineers who have worked so hard on this project over the last year. We still have work to do, but we could not have made a better start!”

Jonathan Rea has undergone surgery to stabilise the foot injury sustained in his testing crash at Phillip Island earlier this week. 

In the opening day of the final test session at Phillip Island on Monday, Rea fell at turn two and sustained multiple fractures to his left foot. After treatment at the circuit medical centre and further scans and specialist consultation, Rea flew home to Belfast on Wednesday. 

On Friday, he met with Dr Michael McMullan at the Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast and underwent surgery to stabilise the fractures. The procedure was deemed a success and Rea has since returned home to begin his recovery. 

While the exact timeframe for rehabilitation remains unclear, Rea will miss the upcoming Portimão test (14-15 March) and Round 2 at the Autodrómo Internacional do Algarve (28-30 March). 

Jonathan Rea – Pata Maxus Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team 

“I would like to thank Dr Michael McMullan and his team at the Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast for the urgency and care to deal with my foot injury. After reviewing the scans from my crash in Australia we made the decision to fly home directly and perform surgery to stabilise and fix the injuries in my foot. The surgery was successful and I will continue my recovery at home with my medical team. I want to thank my team, my family and of course all my fans who have been sending me positive messages during these difficult days.” 

Niccolò Canepa – Road Racing Sporting Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe

“We are missing Jonathan here in Australia, as he travelled to the opening round of the season fully motivated and with a growing confidence in the Yamaha R1, only to be sidelined by the testing crash. Unfortunately, the recovery time for the injury he sustained means he will not be able to race in Portimão next month. We extend our best wishes to Jonathan for a speedy recovery and hope to see him back soon.”

Monster Energy Honda HRC’s Tosha Schareina made the strongest statement possible in his first participation of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge with a fantastic second consecutive stage win.

With the riders getting their first taste of the expansive Arabian dunes, stage one today provided a true test of skill and endurance over the 243km special stage as they navigated away from the first bivouac at Al Ain across to the awe-inspiring landscapes of the Liwa region and onto the finish line at Mezaira’a.

As the prologue winner, Schareina secured a prime starting position for today, setting tenth off the line that played into the Spaniard’s hands as the heat of the day rose.  He mastered the sandy terrain and dunes to finish nearly two minutes ahead of second place finisher Ricky Brabec. This result has put him firmly at the top of the overall standings with a 2’07” margin over his Honda teammate.

A late charge from Brabec, the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge runner up, saw him move up from fifth during the stage as some key adjustments he’d made to his Honda CRF450 RALLY last week in testing helped him hand over fist towards a fast finish.

With the difficult task as one of the opening riders today, Adrien Van Beveren was joined on the stage by Rally 2 rider Michael Docherty as the pair set the pace together at the front.  Although he finished the day over seven minutes behind Schareina, the Frenchman had expected to lose time with no tracks to follow, however, he came away pleased with his performance.

Happy to get to the finish was eighth placed Skyler Howes who relished the challenges of the soft sand even if some small mistakes lost him time as he continued to adapt his Honda CRF450 RALLY setup for the desert.

Stage two will be a 302km loop around Mezaira’a as they head into the iconic Rub’ Al Khali, also known as the Empty Quarter that is one of the world’s most legendary and mesmerising desert landscapes that spans parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.  The towering dunes, some of which can be over 250 metres high, will test the riders both physically and mentally under the intense heat.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton captured a third-place finish during Round 7 of the 2025 AMA Supercross Championship, posting a consistent scorecard of results across the three-race Triple Crown format in Arlington.

Equipped with his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, Sexton registered the fifth-fastest time in the afternoon qualifying sessions, as the degradation around the Texan circuit layout made for technical conditions.

With consistency being at a premium for Triple Crown events, Sexton logged a P3 ride to open his night. A P2 finish in the second race had Sexton in the box seat for the overall, before an untimely fall in the third outing relegated the number 4 to fifth position in the race, and third overall on the podium.

In terms of the championship standings, Sexton now sits five points down on the series lead as Supercross heads to Daytona for Round 8 next weekend.

Chase Sexton: “I'm excited to get on the plane out of here and leave that performance in Dallas. I've been grinding pretty hard over the last couple of weeks, and maybe it's time to hit the reset as it's three weeks in a row of these costly mistakes. Really frustrating, although it's only Round 7, so plenty more time to fight for this championship." 

With a consistent 7-7-10 scorecard across the three finals, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Aaron Plessinger took a solid seventh position overall to conclude his weekend in Arlington.

Aaron Plessinger: “In the first practice of today, I hit someone's handlebar, and my right arm swelled up like a balloon. I struggled a little bit with that for the day as it was sore, but in Race 1 I got off to a great start but didn't capitalize – I rode tight and finished up seventh. Second race was not a great start and worked my way up to seventh. Then I holeshotted the last race, was leading for about half a lap, and then swapped out in the whoops and went into the tuff blocks. Not a great day, but we’re working our way upward.”

250SX West contender Julien Beaumer returned to action following a break in western division, entering with the red plate and surging to the third-fastest qualifying time on board his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION despite injuring his shoulder in practice.

Beaumer struggled with mid-pack starts and the lingering injury over the course of the three Triple Crown races, with 6-8-4 results enough to earn sixth overall in Arlington and remain in the 250SX West Class title hunt.

Julien Beaumer: "Tough night in Arlington. A crash in practice dislocated my shoulder and I just had to manage things from there. My riding wasn’t the greatest, but all we can do is shift our focus and get ready for Indy. We’ll get the shoulder checked out this week, get back to work, and come out swinging.”

Nagashima completes the second and final WorldSBK race in Australia, collating a wealth of data with the Honda HRC test team over the weekend.

Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima has completed this opening round of the 2025 Superbike World Championship at the Phillip Island Circuit in Australia as a one-event entry. Competing with the Honda HRC test team, Nagashima lined up for Sunday’s Superpole Race and second Superbike race.

After setting his fastest time of the weekend in morning warm-up (1’30.113), the test rider lined up in nineteenth place on the grid for the Superpole race. Nagashima got away well when the lights went out but almost immediately crashed through Turn 4. Though able to immediately rejoin the race, the Japanese rider found himself in last place. He did his best to continue but ultimately had to pit on lap eight.

In Race 2, which, like Race 1, involved a mandatory pitstop and tyre change mid-way through, Tetsuta was able to make another smooth start. Having to complete a long lap as a penalty for his involvement in an incident that occurred during the Superpole Race, Nagashima found himself at the back of the field, with work to do. Twentieth at the time of the tyre change, the test rider was able to make up two positions in the latter stages to secure an eighteenth-place finish in this final race.

Nagashima and the Honda HRC Test Team are pleased with the work completed and data collected over the course of this opening championship weekend, information that will be extremely useful in terms of moving forward with the development of the CBR1000RR-R.

Temperatures rose and lap times dropped on the final day of testing in Thailand, Joan Mir put in a spectacular afternoon to seal sixth overall with Luca Marini in 14th as the pair collected the final pieces of the 2025 puzzle.

The MotoGP pre-season officially came to a close at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand as the second day of testing and an intense period ended with the setting of the sun. A midday pause would be the only break in action before 15:00 Local Time when both Honda HRC Castrol riders headed out on track for final long runs before the season begins. Matching the conditions of the race, Marini and Mir sought to better understand what could be awaiting them on March 02 when the lights go out at the Thai GP.

Joan Mir was able to improve his best time from Wednesday by 0.7s to end the test in sixth overall with a quickest lap of 1’29.399. This concludes a very positive pre-season for the double World Champion who has been able to continually put himself and the Honda RC213V inside the top ten in a number of conditions. Especially impressive was his final afternoon in Buriram, able to consistently lap in the 1’30s during a long run and put in a headline-grabbing second place finish in the final session. Mir leaves the two tests motivated and focused on the first race, determined to continue progressing and show Honda’s development.

Wrapping up his second pre-season in the factory HRC outfit, Luca Marini leaves Buriram with a best time of 1’29.783 and 14th place overall. Thursday saw the #10 continue to work on the setup of his machine, assessing a number of options and potential changes for the impending race weekend. This concludes a busy pair of tests for the Italian who got through an immense testing program with his team to define the base of the Honda RC213V for the first races of the new year. Marini feels that the conditions during testing obscured the overall picture of where teams are and is ready for the empirical truth of a race weekend.

The Honda HRC Castrol team will now head back to base for a few final adjustments before the season begins with the Thai GP, February 28 to March 02. What will follow is set to be the longest and most intense MotoGP World Championship campaign to date as Thailand leads to Argentina, America and Qatar before landing in Europe for the majority of the season.

Joan Mir  ³⁶

Sixth  1'29.399

“The pace that we showed today in our Sprint simulation and also in the hot lap is the best I have been able to do since I have been with Honda. Today we only did one proper time attack, and we couldn’t put everything together, while other riders did two time attacks – so this makes me happy because we still have some margin and we could have been even higher. I can’t really ask for much more. Having said that, there are still some things that we need to improve so I am looking forward to seeing what the engineers do over the opening races of the year. Now it’s time to push hard in training for a week before we return here to race.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 can now look to the first of 22 Grands Prix this season after completing two hot and hectic days of testing activity at the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand. As in Malaysia last week, Pedro Acosta was the pacesetter from the quartet on KTM RC16s and ended the second day 4th fastest.

The rush to the opening round of the campaign continued in earnest and in the roasting dry heat at Buriram, the circuit where the Thai Grand Prix will take place the first weekend of March. The two Red Bull KTM teams had travelled from Sepang, Malaysia to Bangkok for the official season launch last weekend and then headed northeast from the capital for the last phases of testing and homologation decisions for this term and for 2026.

The factory had to gather and filter all the information from the hundreds of laps at Sepang. The outings at Buriram meant more evaluation and then confirmation of settings and hardware choices with the Thai GP very much on the horizon.

Acosta’s best lap was less than 0.3 of a second from P1 as Maverick Viñales, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini were all within one second of the top of the time sheets. Viñales placed 9th on combined times for the two days and 0.7 away. Binder was a fraction adrift in P12 and 0.8. Bastianini ranked P15 in just his third outing with the KTM RC16. The top 15 MotoGP riders were separated by one second at Buriram.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 will now have a brief respite to apply their final touches to the race machinery and confirm engine and aerodynamic mods for 2025. MotoGP will assemble in Buriram during the final week of February to get an exciting and anticipated year speeding into action.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 4th: “We need to be happy. Again, we tried many things and we are getting the pace quite fast. It’s been a good pre-season for me and also for KTM because all four riders are thinking the same way, and the bike has already improved from last year. We are faster and it is easier for me to go faster. We need to be calm and then see how we can start the season here.”

Maverick Viñales, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 9th: “I am still trying to understand entry and braking – which is one of the strong parts of the bike – because I’m not yet at the maximum. The exit of the corner is so nice and I have grip. Anyway, it’s coming! I feel comfortable but to get to the next point I just need a little bit more understanding and I’m missing little bits on a flying lap. I need to put the tricks of the bike into my style and it takes time. I’m much closer than I was in Sepang, so that is good.”

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 12th: “Two days here has gone quickly. We did some time attacks in the morning today and then a longer run in the afternoon and it was not too bad. Some small steps for sure, and better than when we were here last time. I feel that we are doing quite well and we need to put some more small pieces together for when we come back here in two weeks. It will be nice to have a full race weekend: I feel like we have done a lot of testing already!”

Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 15th: “My approach has to be different. The bike is different and I have to adapt to another style and also understand the difference between new and used tires. We didn’t get a Sprint simulation done today but we can just look ahead to the race now.”

Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Very busy weeks in Malaysia and Thailand but finally we have to be happy about all the development that has happened over the winter; for that a big thanks to all the engineers and the crew at the factory who have been working hard in this short time. The team at the tracks have been very focused and we have followed the program quite well. Here at Buriram we turned to testing a bit more for the season ahead and it has been promising. Testing is always testing but the measuring point then comes at the races. As I say constantly: let’s try to be better each day and that’s the way ahead.”

Positives continued for Honda HRC Castrol riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini in Sepang, Mir taking sixth and going a second faster than his Qualifying time from the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix as Marini finished within a tenth of Marquez on day two.

Action resumed in Sepang for the second day of the test, the Malaysian heat increasing even further to add another challenge to proceedings. The Honda HRC Castrol team took it in their stride as they continued with their testing plan after an intense night of work for engineers and mechanics. Threats of rain would persist throughout the day with only the briefest of pauses in action. It all helped to produce another very positive day for the Honda RC213V riders.

Joan Mir’s improvements continued as he set a best lap of 1’57.791, placing him comfortably inside the top ten in sixth place and only half a second off the top spot. He had the potential to go faster, but a small hiccup coming out of the last corner limited his outright pace. Despite the disappoint of not having a final attempt at a fast lap, the #36 ends the day boosted by the work and speed he and the Honda HRC Castrol team have shown. A busy final day now awaits as he targets maintaining his position near the top.

On the other side of the garage, Luca Marini completed another 56 laps with a best time of 1’58.518. The second day of the test saw the Italian focus mostly on testing aerodynamic pieces to find the best combination of materials available. A big job, but with significant reward as Marini can now shift his attention to the rest of the testing plan on the final day. Even with his attentions not on a single fast alp, Marini’s time put him 15th on the time sheets and less than a tenth behind Marc Marquez.

Friday, February 07, will be the final day of the Sepang Test and the entirety of the Honda HRC Castrol team are determined to continue the positive progress shown over the opening two days.

The Repsol Honda HRC riders prepare to make their mark on Stavanger’s debut as a World Championship venue.

Repsol Honda HRC face the fifth round of the 2025 X-Trial World Championship season in Stavanger. It will be the first time that the Norwegian town hosts an indoor event, and Toni Bou and Gabriel Marcelli want to open their record at the DNB Arena with the best possible results.

Bou leads the general classification with 75 points. He has three wins out of the four rounds held so far, the most recent this past weekend in Barcelona. The Repsol Honda rider will seek to increase his lead as much as possible and claim a win for the fourth time this season.

Marcelli is in top form after taking third place in Barcelona. The Montesa Cota 4RT rider is heading into the second half of the season looking to improve on his results to date, and will aim to get into the fight for the win this weekend. He currently has two podiums in four races in 2025.