HERLINGS DOMINATES DUTCH GRAND PRIX

MXGP’s Round 17 saw the championship land on Dutch soil for the Grand Prix of The Netherlands and close the western European chapter of the 2025 season with some Dutch delight, as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffery Herlings returned home in dominate form. Herlings ruled every session and moto at Arnhem to claim his third MXGP victory of the year, with the Dutchman now reaching a milestone of 110 career GP wins and 16 on home sand.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team departed the rough sand in Arnhem with more acclaim thanks to Jeffrey Herlings sweeping the board with his KTM 450SX-F, as teammate Lucas Coenen finish second Overall. Andrea Adamo and Sacha Coenen classified second and third with the KTM 250SX-F in MX2. The KTM team has now won – in either the MXGP or the MX2 class – in 13 of the 17 rounds of the season to-date.

For the second time in three race weekends, MXGP moved to 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 in the Netherlands. The venue first staged MXGP in 2023, and was won by Dutch rider Herlings in 2024.

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

Sunday saw Herlings extend his run, as the Dutchman led both 30 minute +2 lap races from gate to flag. Coenen, in contrast, 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, and 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 12 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 second, third and eighth 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 even closer, as Laengenfelder’s advantage is a slender 15 points over De Wolf and 38 from Adamo, with Sacha Coenen sitting in fourth.

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 with Round 18 will taking place on September 6-7.

Jeffrey Herlings, 1-1 for 1st Overall in MXGP:
“I’m happy I could save energy in the first moto because I needed it later! I remember when I was 18, and racing in the sand didn’t get tired at all! I was really pushing hard in that second moto: Lucas had unbelievable speed, but my pace was fast too. I’m very happy with my weekend and very pleased with a 1-1-1. Already looking forward to Turkey in two weeks!”

Lucas Coenen, 2-2 for 2nd Overall in MXGP:
“The starts were really bad today. I crashed and came from last, and in the second moto the same. It was really tough for me and I pushed so hard. I gave everything I had and I was close to passing him [Herlings] at the end. Overall, I cannot afford those mistakes. I need those points, so we need to figure out the starts in the week-off and then we’ll be back at the front.”

Andrea Adamo, 3-3 for 2nd Overall in MX2:
“It was a solid weekend. I got the rhythm in the qualifying race and for today I think I could have done a bit better in both motos, maybe 2-2, but it is pretty difficult to challenge Kay in the sand. Still, I’m pretty happy to have made the best lap in the second race and we also gained good points in the championship. It’s not over until it’s over!”

Sacha Coenen, 2-4 for 3rd Overall in MX2: 
“I had a really good start in the first moto and made a little gap until a big mistake: I didn’t have a good flow so just finished the race. The start was worse in the second one so I had work my way back. I’m feeling quite good and the confidence is there. We have been working hard and it’s paying off.”

Simon Laengenfelder, 8-5 for 6th overall in MX2:
“Not too many positives this weekend and a lot of bad luck. Starting from last wasn’t the plan and we know at this track that gate positions are quite important: coming from 15th didn’t make it easy. Too many mistakes in the first moto and then coming through to fifth in the second. I was feeling okay in the sand … but just didn’t put it together today.”