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MXGP victory for Herlings in Turkey as Red Bull KTM win both classes once more

MXGP entered the final three weeks and last three fixtures of the 2025 season with a trip to the flat, hardpacked Afyon circuit hosting the Grand Prix of Turkey. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings won for the second race in a row and for the fourth time with his 2025 KTM 450 SX-F. Simon Laengenfelder was the overall winner in MX2 with the KTM 250 SX-F – the sixth time the German has stood on top of the box in 2025 –as the series waved goodbye to European terrain. Red Bull KTM ruled both Qualification Heats and all four motos in Afyon.

  • Jeffrey Herlings owns the Turkish Grand Prix for the fifth time and raises his career win total to 111. The Dutchman went 2-1 in Afyon and stretches his podium streak to three on the bounce
  • Lucas Coenen finishes runner-up for his thirteenth trophy of his rookie MXGP season and wins the first moto in Turkey: his thirteenth 25-pointer of the campaign and the best tally of the entire field
  • P1 for Simon Laengenfelder and a tenth podium from 15 this campaign. The German wins the second moto after Sacha Coenen takes the first outing and finishes P3: the Belgian’s ninth trophy
  • A tough day for Andrea Adamo with small crashes and mistakes putting the Italian 9th overall in MX2
  • MXGP jets east for back-to-back events in China and Australia to finish the 2025 schedule. The Shanghai International off-road circuit is first on the list in two weeks

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing began the run-in to the MXGP and MX2 title disputes with the annual trip to Afyon and the purpose-built facility in eastern Turkey. Flat, jumpy, and formed from hard-packed soil, Afyon is a familiar (elevated) site for the Grand Prix paddock after its world championship inauguration in 2018.

On Saturday it was a Coenen brothers show for the Qualification Heats. Lucas started brightly under stormy skies and won the MXGP sprint for the seventh time in 2025. Sacha grasped a customary holeshot on the KTM 250 SX-F and rode clear to his maiden MX2 Pole. In MXGP Jeffrey Herlings was runner-up for a strong 1-2 for the Red Bull KTM squad. In MX2 Simon Laengenfelder was 6th and Andrea Adamo scored 10th after a brief tumble.

Sunday’s motos followed the same trend. Coenen holeshotted and won the first race as Herlings ran to P2. The teammates swapped roles in the second outing as Coenen had to come back from a top five start. Herlings had edged clear to go 2-1 and claim the overall and Lucas came very close to relegating from title rival Romain Febvre but took P3 and a 1-2 for 2nd on the day. Herlings now has four wins for the year and has two on the bounce after acing his home Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Sacha Coenen holeshotted and controlled the first MX2 moto. Laengenfelder rose from the top five to earn P3 by the end of the distance, and Adamo had to recover ground to P8. While Adamo labored again in the second race (P9 after a crash), Laengenfelder made a better start and was able to win (the tenth time in a moto this year). Coenen was 4th and climbed the lower step of the rostrum for his sixth champagne bottle from the last eight meetings.

A maximum of 124 points remain in 2025. Coenen is 26 from the red plate in MXGP and is guaranteed a top three classification in his maiden season while Herlings is 6th in the standings and with possibilities to rise to 3rd. In MX2 Laengenfelder fronts Kay de Wolf by 12 points and Adamo is now 62 from the peak of the table.

The 2025 EMX250 European Championship is over. Gabriel SS24 KTM team’s Max Werner finished 11th overall in Turkey. Gyan Doensen missed the trip due to his left leg injury and ends his first season in the competitive feeder class with P6 in the standings.

The penultimate Grand Prix of the year will fire into life on Saturday-Sunday 20-21 of September for only the third trip to China.

Jeffrey Herlings, 2nd and 1st for 1s overall in MXGP: “Super-pleased with this win. For a Dutch rider it’s a difficult track; one of the most difficult and very hard to pass but we managed to get it done and the weekend went better than I expected. We made some good changes for the elevation so a shout out to KTM for providing me with such a good bike. 111 now, so let’s go to China and to the final two. Let’s try and finish the year as strong as we can.”

Lucas Coenen, 1st and 3rd for 2nd overall in MXGP: “Not bad in the first moto. I took a good start but the first lap was a bit hectic. I settled in and focused on my rhythm. The track was slick and it was easy to make a mistake but I felt better and better. The second: not much to say. I had to come from the back and at one point I was sleeping. I was then a bit shy on the last lap. I’m young. It’s racing: I had an opportunity and I didn’t take it. I’ll keep learning. I’m looking forward to the last two races and we’ll do what we can.”

Simon Laengenfelder, 3rd and 1st for 1st overall in MX2: “I had a crash in the middle of the moto…so I’m really happy to be able to bounce back like this. Saturday was not great and it was quite tough to race here. I made a mistake with the first start but did better in the second, I think I was 3rd after the second corner. It was an intense track and you had to push everywhere. I like it when it was a bit more technical in the second race.”

Sacha Coenen, 1st and 4th for 3rd overall in MX2: “A really good first moto. I then had a good start in the second…but made some mistakes. It was pretty difficult so I’m happy to be on the podium. I’ve been working on my consistency, and it’s been going well.

Andrea Adamo, 8th and 9th for 9th overall in MX2: “You can have up-and-down moments through the year but this was not the time to have a bad weekend. Anyway, we move on, and we have two rounds to go so onto China and Australia.”

 

Results MXGP Turkey 2025

 

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 2-1

2. Lucas Coenen (BEL), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 1-3

3. Romain Febvre (FRA), Kawasaki, 3-2

4. Tim Gajser (SLO), Honda, 4-4

3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP), Honda, 5-5

 

Standings MXGP 2025 after 18 of 20 rounds

 

1. Romain Febvre (FRA), Kawasaki, 885 points

2. Lucas Coenen (BEL), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 859

3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED), Fantic, 638

4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP), Honda, 557

5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED), Yamaha, 528

6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 522

 

Results MX2 Turkey 2025

 

1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 3-1

2. Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna, 2-2

3. Sacha Coenen (BEL) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 1-4

4. Guillem Farres (ESP) Triumph, 6-3

5. Mathis Valin (FRA) Kawasaki, 4-6

6. Liam Everts (BEL) Husqvarna, 5-5

9. Andrea Adamo (ITA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 8-9

 

Standings MX2 2025 after 18 of 20 rounds

 

1. Simon Laengenfelder (GER), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 833 points

2. Kay de Wolf (NED), Husqvarna, 821

3. Andrea Adamo (ITA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 771

4. Sacha Coenen (BEL) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 648

5. Thibault Benistant (FRA), Yamaha, 575

7. Liam Everts (BEL), Husqvarna 538

KTM NEWS

RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING SIGNS RYDER DIFRANCESCO AND DAXTON BENNICK

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Red Bull KTM Factory Racing has signed Ryder DiFrancesco and Daxton Bennick ahead of the 2027 SMX World Championship season, joining an expanded four-rider 250 program alongside Julien Beaumer and Sacha Coenen. The new-look roster will compete aboard KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION machinery across the AMA Supercross Championship, Pro Motocross Championship, and SMX Finals post-season, further strengthening KTM's READY TO RACE commitment to the next generation of 250 class talent. DiFrancesco, 21, joins Red Bull KTM Factory Racing following a breakout 2026 season, finishing runner-up in the 250SMX World Championship, fifth in 250MX, and fourth in the 250SX Western Division standings. The Californian earned his first-career 250SX podium at Anaheim 1 and carried that momentum into the outdoors and playoffs with a collection of podium results, firmly establishing himself as a title challenger into the future. Ryder DiFrancesco: "I'm super-excited to be joining Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. It's been one of the top-tier teams in the paddock since I can remember, so it's going to be a cool feeling being on the orange bike in 2027 – it only grows the confidence in myself and the team. The next thing to do now is to go out there and win. I'm excited, and the season can't come soon enough." Bennick, 20, is another exciting addition to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing effort after a strong 2026 campaign that saw him claim third in the 250SX East standings and secure his first 250SMX podium at SMX Playoff 1 in Columbus. The North Carolina native has continued to progress through the professional ranks since his highly-successful amateur career as part of the KTM Orange Brigade and will enter 2027 targeting title success. Daxton Bennick: "I'm so excited to be on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team next year. It's always been a dream of mine, so it's a super-cool and surreal moment for me. There are a lot of familiar faces on the team and also some new ones, and I think we're going to make a really good combination and go after the championships – I'm ready to get to work." The arrival of DiFrancesco and Bennick coincides with a significant expansion of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's 250 program, which will also feature Beaumer and incoming Belgian standout Coenen. Beaumer, 20, will return for his fourth season with the team after recently extending his contract through 2027 and beyond, while 19-year-old Coenen arrives from the MX2 World Championship following a Grand Prix campaign that saw him finish third in the 2026 standings. Nathan Ramsey, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 250 Team Manager: "What an incredible opportunity to be a part of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for 2027 and beyond. I will be managing the 250 race team, alongside of Ian and his crew on the 450 side. I believe this expansion and structure for the complete Red Bull KTM program is very strong and I look forward to having an unbelievable season. I couldn’t be happier to add Dax and Ryder to the team! They both had very strong seasons in 2026 and should absolutely be in the championship conversation in 2027. Dax and Ryder alongside Juju and Sacha make up a very young and extremely strong Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 250 effort for 2027! I am honored to be a part of this group moving forward and can’t wait to see what the future holds." Ian Harrison, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 450 Team Manager: "We are incredibly excited to introduce our strengthened Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 250 program, which will debut in 2027 with a four-rider lineup equipped with KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION machinery. KTM has enjoyed significant success in the category for many years, and this next step further underlines the brand’s READY TO RACE commitment into the future." Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s expanded 250 program will make its competitive debut at the opening round of the 2027 AMA Supercross Championship in Anaheim, California, on January 9, marking an exciting renewed chapter for the Austrian manufacturer's presence in U.S. competition alongside its factory 450 team of reigning SMX World Champion Jorge Prado and new recruit Lucas Coenen.

Victory for Team Belgium & the Coenen brothers at packed MXoN in France

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The 79th FIM Motocross of Nations drew a huge record crowd of 105,000 to the ‘amphitheater’ setting of the Ernee circuit in northern France where Red Bull KTM’s Lucas and Sacha Coenen contributed to Team Belgium first victory in the annual contest since 2013. Red Bull KTM also had SMX champion Jorge Prado inspiring Team Spain to 2nd place and their first ever podium result.