Round four of the FIM Motocross World Championships takes place this weekend in the deep sand of the Crossodromo Comunale “Le Dune” circuit at Riola Sardo, halfway down the west coast of Sardegna, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Corsica.

The first of two straight GPs on Italian territory, the MXGP of Sardegna is the fifth such event to visit the circuit, and the deep beach sand usually combines with the unseasonably warm weather to present a serious challenge to the world’s elite riders, many of whom use the facility for training and testing during the off-season.

The MXGP class in 2025 is being led by three former World Champions, although not one of them has enjoyed a winning feeling at Riola Sardo, merely a single taste of podium champagne each! Tim Gajser leads the series for Honda HRC, and his best result at the track came only last season, when he finished second overall behind Jorge Prado. Romain Febvre sits in second position for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, with his best result here coming in 2021 with a third overall. Fellow Frenchman Maxime Renaux finished second overall here in his 2021 MX2 Championship-winning season, but the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP man is looking for more as he recovers from a recent wrist injury.

The big news in MXGP is that Red Bull KTM Factory Racing megastar Jeffrey Herlings will line up for the first time in 2025, returning from an off-season knee injury which has taken longer to heal than expected. He is the only rider to have won two MXGP events here overall, and even if he isn’t physically at 100% yet, he cannot be ruled out on his favourite type of terrain!

The MX2 class saw some incredible racing in France last time out, and it could be just as wide open in Sardegna, however for sure the reigning World Champion Kay de Wolf must be a favourite for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing after taking overall victory last year and second overall in 2023. His teammate Liam Everts carries the red plate, however, and is no slouch in the soft stuff. Just eleven points cover the top four in the Championship, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Simon Laengenfelder and Andrea Adamo lying second and fourth, each behind one of the Husqvarna riders! 

The Sardinian sands will host the opening round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship for 2025, and the “Queen of Sand”, reigning World Champion Lotte van Drunen, will be out to repeat her double win from last season for De Baets Yamaha MX-Team. Strong challenges should come from Italian favourite Kiara Fontanesi on her FontaRacing GASGAS, as well as last year’s silver medallist and 2023 Sardegna winner, RFME Spain National Team rider Daniela Guillen! Van Drunen’s Dutch compatriot Lynn Valk was on the podium last year and could well be a contender again, now on the Van Venrooy KTM Racing team.

The only Italian with a red plate in Sardegna will be Niccolò Mannini, as he holds an eleven-point lead for TM Moto CRD Motosport in the EMX125 Championship Presented by FMF series, through sheer consistency in what has been a hectic couple of rounds so far for the two-stroke flyers! Filippo Mantovani, Francesco Bellei, and Riccardo Pini are three more Italians hoping for success in the wide open EMX125cc pack!

The MXGP of Sardegna is difficult to predict in all classes and the challenging circuit will mean the races are never won until the chequered flag flies!

Five-time World Champion Tim Gajser has looked in total command of this year’s MXGP World Championship since the first European round at Còzar in Spain, having won all four GP races and one of the two Qualifying Races from rounds two and three. With Renaux struggling through a wrist injury after his win in Argentina, Febvre has taken up the running in second, with a 29-point gap to chase down on Gajser.

The only rider to finish ahead of Gajser since Argentina is Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rookie Lucas Coenen, who won the Qualifying Race in France and took his first career MXGP podium on the Sunday. His first MXGP event in deep sand ahead of him, the teenage Belgian could be a threat at the circuit where he was only beaten by De Wolf in MX2 last year, after winning race one. Lying fourth in the Championship, he will be joined for the first time by another factory rider for an Austrian brand, as “The Bullet” fires into his first Grand Prix since winning the final race of the 2024 season in Còzar.

Herlings was looking menacing to Prado in last year’s second race in Sardegna, before a crash cost him the chance of a win, as well as second overall to Gajser. Winner at Riola Sardo in 2021 & 2023, the latter victory was his 100th in Grand Prix racing, so he has great memories of this circuit to draw from, although in his first race back he will not start as favourite.

Another rider returning from injury will be Brent van Doninck, back in action for JM Racing Honda after suffering a pre-season injury, and the Belgian is also very much at home in the sand. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP flyers Calvin Vlaanderen and Jago Geerts have also tasted overall victory at Riola in the past, while Glenn Coldenhoff took a race win in 2023 and will look to continue his great start to the season as he lies in fifth, level on points with Coenen for Fantic Factory Racing.

Sadly, another rider who had started the season so well, Mattia Guadagnini, broke several ribs in a training crash for the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team, and is likely to miss both Italian rounds while he recovers. The leading Italian rider in the class will therefore be Andrea Bonacorsi, who has been training at the facility for Fantic Factory Racing and will be keen to repeat his podium result from the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha!

The snarling 450s are undoubtably the toughest machines to wrestle through the beach sand of Riola, so look for some thrilling action right to the end of this tough Grand Prix!

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 167 Points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 138 Points; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 121 Points; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 107 Points; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 107 Pts; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 86 Pts; 7. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, DUC), 84 Pts; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 81 Pts; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 77 Pts; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 63 Points.

Whatever glue they use for the Championship leader’s red plate has not been working in the MX2 World Championship, as it simply hasn’t stuck on any one bike for a significant length of time!

Adamo and his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Sacha Coenen have worn it after Qualifying Races, but first De Wolf and then Everts have taken it back for the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing squad, with Liam managing to retain it through the Sunday of the MXGP of Europe, ready for Sardegna.

Laengenfelder is just three points down in second place, and desperate to grab his first win for nearly 20 months. However, the German has yet to finish on the podium at Riola Sardo, whereas De Wolf, just two points behind in third, has yet to finish off of it! Third in 2021, he was absent injured in 2022, before taking second in 2023 and the overall win last season. Everts’ best here was a fifth in 2024, just behind Laengenfelder, while Adamo has also never shone at this venue. The 2023 Champ sits just six points behind De Wolf, eleven off the points lead.

Monster Energy Triumph Racing’s Camden McLellan took a brilliant first career podium in RIola Sardo last year, and Thibault Benistant has twice been third overall here for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2. The Frenchman is fifth in the points this season and on a high from a great MXGP of Europe on home soil. Can he be a surprise challenger in the deep sand this weekend?!

Sacha Coenen had a torrid weekend in France and will be looking for solid points to recover from sixth in the series. His starts mean he is always likely to be up there, but staying upright will be key to making a serious Championship run from here. Dutch rookie Cas Valk enjoyed a dominant domestic Championship weekend for Van Venrooy KTM Racing, and is only ten points back of Coenen after finishing sixth overall in each of the first three rounds!

Behind Adamo, Honda HRC man Ferruccio Zanchi is the next best Italian in MX2, sitting in eighth ahead of McLellan and his rookie teammate Valerio Lata. The boys in red will be up for a good performance to also build the crowd up for the Monster Energy MXGP of Trentino the following weekend!

The deep sand is sure to challenge the MX2 contenders throughout, and all of the classes should enjoy some amazing racing in Sardegna! Not one to be missed!

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 135 Pts; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 132 Points; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 130 Points; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 124 Pts; 5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 111 Pts; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 101 Pts; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 91 Pts; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 74 Pts; 9. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 72 Pts; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 65 Pts.

All the photos from the MXGP of Sardegna will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY:
09:30 WMX Free Practice, 10:00 EMX125 Free Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 12:20 WMX Qualifying Practice, 13:00 EMX125 Qualifying Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 WMX Race 1, 15:45 EMX125 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.

SUNDAY:
09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX125 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1 14:15, MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.