AFYON (Türkiye) 7th September 2025 – In overcast conditions which kept the temperatures low for the area, the MXGP of Türkiye took place today at the Afyon Motor Sport Center with vital World Championship points on the line at round 18, the first of the three-week run-in to the end of the series!
There was more joy for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, who won all of the races today with four different riders, but it was their most successful racer ever that took overall victory in MXGP.
Jeffrey Herlings was second to Lucas Coenen in race one, but fought back to take the second race win and claim his 111th Grand Prix winner’s trophy in the process, and his second on the bounce! Behind him, title rivals Coenen and Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s series leader Romain Febvre fought a close duel in the closing stages of race two, with the young Belgian taking second overall ahead of the Frenchman, despite losing out in that second race.
The MX2 class was again full of wild racing with the cream rising to the top, as Simon Längenfelder fought his way forward to take overall victory ahead of his title rival Kay de Wolf after a late charge from the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing star just fell short in race two! Längenfelder’s teammate Sacha Coenen took third overall after winning race one and sealing the Fox Holeshot award for the season with lightning starts in both races.
As always, there was so much more action than the results can tell at a tense and intriguing MXGP of Türkiye!
Championship leader Romain Febvre set the fastest time in morning Warm-up ahead of Jeffrey Herlings, with the Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine of Andrea Bonacorsi looking better than yesterday in third spot. Qualifying Race winner Lucas Coenen was not pushing it with just 12th in the session.
In an almost carbon copy of Saturday’s Qualifying Race, Coenen took the Fox Holeshot Award while Herlings disputed second place with the Honda HRC machine of Tim Gajser. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP pilot Maxime Renaux fought with the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP duo of Pauls Jonass and Febvre, who made two commanding moves through turns four and five to fire himself into fourth behind Gajser.
The Slovenian’s teammate Ruben Fernandez fought into seventh ahead of TEM JP253 KTM Racing rider Jan Pancar, followed by the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP duo Calvin Vlaanderen and Jago Geerts. They were to go in opposite directions, as Vlaanderen forced past Pancar on lap two, but Geerts fell prey to a move from Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team leader Mattia Guadagnini on lap three!
Fernandez, moving forward as well as he did on Saturday, fired past Jonass on lap six, before working all race long to catch Renaux, which he did on lap 13, taking fifth place from the Frenchman with a brilliant switchback move through a right-handed corner. Vlaanderen had also got past Jonass in a drag race along the Pit Lane straight on lap nine, and the pair finished seventh and eighth ahead of Pancar and Guadagnini.
The big four at the front were far from done, however, pushing to the maximum on the slick and treacherous surface. Febvre had made a brilliant move through the split lane section, being one of the few to transfer from one lane to another, making it work for him to pass Gajser for third on lap seven, and set after Herlings in second. He got to within two seconds before “The Bullet” cranked it up again, and it finished with a Red Bull KTM 1-2, as Herlings got as close as 3.3 seconds to Coenen. The teenager had set the Acerbis Fastest Lap of the day on lap six, and reduced Febvre’s Championship lead to 24 points going into race two!
Race two saw a flying JK Racing Yamaha fire into the lead around turn one, earning Isak Gifting his first career Holeshot in the MXGP class, a stark contrast to his first corner crash in race one, which limited him to 16th place. However, Febvre hauled the factory Kawasaki past the Swede into turn two, with Herlings quickly through in the following corners which saw multiple first lap manoeuvres in every race!
Half a lap later and Gajser was up into third, after both HRC Honda men had relegated Coenen to sixth during the first half a lap! However, the title challenger had worked back up to fourth by the end of the first lap, ahead of Gifting, Fernandez, Renaux, Vlaanderen in eighth, and Brent van Doninck up to ninth for JM Racing Honda, ahead of Jonass.
Jonass got the better of Van Doninck on lap two, as Coenen used a good line through the corners after Pit Lane to take third away from Gajser! With similar lap times throughout the top ten, making ground was proving to be tough for everyone, and it took until lap eight for Herlings to close in on Febvre, attacking in the corners before the finish line, before amazing everyone with a brilliant launch over a difficult double jump into a hairpin bend, cutting across the front of the Frenchman to grab the lead in breath-taking fashion!
By this time, Van Doninck had been nudged out of the top ten by Fantic Factory Racing MXGP duo Glenn Coldenhoff and Bonacorsi, with Glenn struggling through his 250th GP start after a big crash in Saturday’s Free Practice session. The Fantic men took ninth and tenth behind Jonass, as Gifting fell out of the top ten on lap 12. Coldenhoff took ninth overall ahead of Pancar, who came home 12th.
Renaux and Vlaanderen stuck their factory Yamaha machinery into sixth and seventh, both in race two and in the overall, with Jonass eighth in both races and the overall! The factory Hondas of Gajser and Fernandez took fourth and fifth, also in both races and the overall results for the day.
Up front, Herlings kept a minimal cushion over Febvre, but Coenen made a last-ditch effort with the fastest third sector time of the entire race on the very last lap, diving to the inside of his French title rival in a right hander, but he just missed making contact and Febvre kept the position! He was still close as they chased across the line less than two seconds behind Herlings, but “The Bullet” had landed his second straight GP win, with Coenen doing enough to take second overall on the day ahead of Febvre, even though the points gap went back out to 26 points with just two Grands Prix remaining!
Both riders won races in China last year, with Lucas Coenen winning the MX2 GP overall. On a completely new layout, the penultimate round should provide more tense action as the MXGP World Championship fight promises to go all the way to the wire in Australia!
Jeffrey Herlings: “It was really good, better than I could expect. Obviously, we’re quite high here, so we had to change some things on the bike, but it was all positive. I think our bike was really, really good throughout the weekend, so shout out to KTM for providing me with such a good bike. I went 2-2-1, and today 2-1, which gives me the overall. Super pleased with that, GP win number 111, so now I’m looking forward to China next weekend. Two more GPs to go, so let’s try to finish this year as strong as we can.”
Lucas Coenen: “I mean, not much to say. The beginning of the weekend was good until the second race start. I wanted to go a bit early, and I came from the back while they were already in front. I tried to come back, but at one point I was a bit sleepy out there. In the end I wanted to push, but I’m still young, maybe a bit shy on the last lap, I could have run into him, but that’s racing. I had one opportunity and didn’t take it, but now it’s on. Two races to go, so I’ll give everything, try to learn, get sharper, and get stronger as I grow older. Looking forward to the next two races.”
Romain Febvre: “The second race was better. I think I took the holeshot, which was good. We made a change a little too late for the first race, but it worked in the second one. I was leading and thought I was winning the GP, but then Jeffrey [Herlings] passed me. I tried to stay with him, and in the last laps Lucas [Coenen] came really hard to try and pass me, but I managed to finish second. Didn’t lose too many points, so that’s pretty good.”
Main Photo: Jeffrey Herlings
Top Photo: MXGP Start Afyon
Bottom Photos: 1. Lucas Coenen; 2 Romain Febvre
MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34:40.359; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:03.287; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.945; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:18.161; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:41.375; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.962; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:46.354; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:57.545; 9. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:06.608; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +1:09.225;
MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:49.589; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.632; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:02.419; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:08.537; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:16.964; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.865; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:32.572; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:35.874; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:39.074; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:44.783
MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 36 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 32 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 26 p.; 9. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 21 p.; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 21 p.;
MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 885 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 859 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 638 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 557 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 528 p.; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 522 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 483 p.; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 480 p.; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 411 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 358 p.;
MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 931 points; 2. Kawasaki, 891 p.; 3. Honda, 785 p.; 4. Yamaha, 729 p.; 5. Fantic, 695 p.; 6. Ducati, 447 p.; 7. Beta, 298 p.; 8. Husqvarna, 93 p.; 9. GASGAS, 7 p.; 10. Triumph, 6 p.;
As he did in yesterday’s Time Practice session, Honda HRC rookie Valerio Lata set the top time in morning Warm-up, with Camden McLellan second for Monster Energy Triumph Racing, and yesterday’s Qualifying Race winner Sacha Coenen in third.
For the 14th time this season, Coenen rocketed to the Fox Holeshot award, confirming that he is uncatchable in this contest for the season. Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing teammates De Wolf and Liam Everts gave chase, with Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s Guillem Farres well up in fourth ahead of a scrap between Mathis Valin on the sole Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 machine, McLellan, and red plate holder Simon Längenfelder.
Jens Walvoort got a good start in eighth for BTS Racing KTM, while Italians Lata and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo held ninth and tenth. Adamo, already losing points on Saturday to the top two in the standings, urgently passed Lata and Walvoort on successive laps, but couldn’t approach the top seven, who were swapping back and forth in the early laps! He eventually finished eighth ahead of Lata, with Thibault Benistant pushing his Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 machine into tenth at half distance, and staying there!
Valin fought hard with the Triumph riders after Längenfelder had squeezed past Farres on the jump following the split lane. McLellan made a mistake to allow the French rookie through for sixth on lap six, also briefly allowing Adamo past before taking seventh back, which he would keep to the flag.
As Coenen rocketed to a seven second lead over De Wolf, Längenfelder pulled a fantastic outside pass on Everts for third on lap eight, and the Belgian lost two further places to Valin and Farres on lap 12. McLellan made things even worse by relegating him to seventh a lap later, but Everts pulled off a brilliant last two laps to get back into fifth ahead of Farres and McLellan by the finish! Valin did even better to finish fourth, just reward for a persistent attacking ride. Längenfelder drew level with De Wolf with three laps to go, and it looked like the fight was on between the two series leaders, but the Dutchman was able to stretch out the gap and hold on to second, reducing the Championship situation to a single-digit margin of just nine points after race one! Coenen, despite saving a near-crash on the penultimate lap, held on to a near six-second victory, taking his third GP race win of the year.
We looked to be set for more of the same from Sacha as he fired to his 15th Fox Holeshot of the year in race two, but Farres, who fought off Längenfelder to grab second into turn two, had other ideas and fired inside the Belgian to lead halfway around the first lap! McLellan had won a back-and-forth battle with Valin to briefly make it a Triumph 1-3, but after Längenfelder got alongside the South African in the waves, he then fell over the rear wheel of the German and dropped back to ninth!
The series leader, with chief rival De Wolf behind Valin in fifth, was in a mood to make the best of the situation, and with a determined cut across his teammate Coenen into the top corner of the circuit, he was up into second. Farres, as usual, was tough to pass, but on lap seven Längenfelder again got brilliant drive through the waves to leave it beyond doubt!
Adamo, meanwhile, had started badly, and had to put a last lap pass on Lata to swap ninth for tenth, which is where the two disappointed Italians also finished overall. McLellan was able to recover to eighth at the finish behind Benistant, although they would reverse those positions in the overall reckoning.
Everts again fought hard with Valin, and came through to take fifth on lap 13, although the Belgian would finish sixth overall behind the lone Kawasaki factory man. The main charge came from De Wolf, however, as the reigning Champ overcame the stubborn Coenen with a sweet pass after Pit Lane on lap ten, before quickly catching Farres to pull off a move through the wave section on lap 13. He wasn’t done there, either, as he put everything into a late charge on Längenfelder, getting to within a second of the German, who took a nervous look back as he dabbed through a corner at the start of the final lap!
Ultimately he held on, enough for the overall win, his sixth of the season and ninth of his career. De Wolf took second overall ahead of Coenen and Farres, who matched his second-best result of the year. It leaves Längenfelder with a partially rebuilt series lead of 12 points, and a Championship fight which is still tightly poised, although it might now be a two-horse race as Adamo has dropped back to being 62 behind the leader.
There is everything to fight for in both classes in the final two rounds as we move still further east on each occasion, and with unknown circuits and conditions to come, either Championship could go either way! Don’t miss the thrilling finale to the 2025 MXGP and MX2 World Championship campaigns!
Simon Längenfelder: “It wasn’t easy, I really had to fight hard. After a couple of bad weekends I’m super happy with this result. I wish I’d had my heart rate monitor on in this moto because I think I went over 200 for sure after that crash. But I brought it home and now I’m ready for China.”
Kay de Wolf: “ I just ran out of a bit of time. I’m sure I was the fastest, but it wasn’t quite enough at the end. I’m looking forward to China, and then Australia. I can’t wait for the next two rounds, I’ll be there.”
Sacha Coenen: “I was quite happy after the first race, but the second didn’t go the way I wanted. I took the holeshot, but in the third corner I made a big mistake and Farres passed me, and then it was almost impossible to get him back. So I just tried to survive and finished third overall. Still, another podium, so I’m happy with that.”
Main Photo: Simon Laengenfelder
Bottom Photos: 1. Kay de Wolf; 2. Sacha Coenen
MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:04.806; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:05.873; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:10.287; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:15.332; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:16.246; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:17.173; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:17.757; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:18.958; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:22.234; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.311
MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:21.984; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:01.567; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:12.190; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:13.194; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:14.504; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.860; 7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:23.533; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:30.278; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:36.796; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:37.595
MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 45 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 43 p.; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 35 p.; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 33 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 32 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 27 p.; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 23 p.;
MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 833 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 821 p.; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 771 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 701 p.; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 603 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 582 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 576 p.; 8. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 427 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 413 p.; 10. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 409 p.;
MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 994 points; 2. Husqvarna, 905 p.; 3. Yamaha, 667 p.; 4. Triumph, 651 p.; 5. Honda, 511 p.; 6. Kawasaki, 418 p.; 7. TM, 208 p.; 8. GASGAS, 13 p.
All the photos from the MXGP of Turkiye will be available HERE.
You can find the complete results HERE.
MXGP OF TURKIYE QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1800m
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 22°
Weather conditions: Cloudy
Crowd Attendance: 32,000
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