The skies were as blue as the backing of the nation’s flag today at the MXGP of Sweden, as the classic venue of Uddevalla played host to round 16 of the 2025 FIM Motocross World Championships, and the emotions ran high on the tough and technical Swedish track, especially during the rollercoaster of MXGP race two!
The beautiful weather had helped to fill the cliffside spectator areas, as the passionate Scandinavian fans added a boisterous atmosphere to the occasion in the undulating valley of the circuit itself, and their home hero Isak Gifting responded with an incredible effort that so unfortunately ended in heartbreak for the Super Swede, and all of his fans!
The results will always show that it was a perfect weekend for red plate holder Romain Febvre, as the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP veteran took two race wins to add to yesterday’s Qualifying Race win and give him the first 60-point weekend haul of his illustrious career. However, with a late race charge that very nearly took the second race win in front of his home fans, it was JK Racing Yamaha’s Swedish hero Gifting who won the hearts of Motocross fans everywhere by passing two legends of the sport in the last three laps to take the lead, only to drop the bike within sight of what would have been an epic first ever race win!
Jeffrey Herlings put together an excellent day to take second overall for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, while Calvin Vlaanderen earned his third podium result in four GPs for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP!
The MX2 class again saw the momentum swing in all directions between the three men at the top of the table, who ended up climbing the podium in Championship order at the end of the day, with Simon Längenfelder tightening his grip on the red plate with his fifth Grand Prix win of the year for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Kay de Wolf earned his very first podium at Uddevalla with second overall for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, while Andrea Adamo had an up-and-down day to claim third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
There was so much more to the 2025 MXGP of Sweden than just the results, so here’s the story from a Grand Prix Sunday that had just about everything!
Saturday’s Qualifying Race winner Febvre took fastest time in morning Warm-up, although it was by less than a tenth of a second over Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser, with Tim’s fellow Slovenian Jan Pancar third fastest for TEM JP253 KTM Racing.
Immediately, Febvre asserted his authority over the field by taking the Fox Holeshot Award ahead of Herlings, Gifting, and Gajser, while the main challenger to the Frenchman’s red plate, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen, was buried in the pack, coming through the first timing zone in a lowly 22nd place!
Gifting’s presence at the sharp end was enough to get the crowd into it, but Herlings made them gasp first with a piercing move on Febvre to lead after the third corner, but the Kawasaki man struck back immediately at the bottom of the next hill! Meanwhile, Gajser was snapping at the heels of Gifting for third, as Vlaanderen held fifth. Behind them was a major tear-up between Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and the Aruba.it Ducati Factory MX Team leader Jeremy Seewer, which the Swiss star won before ejecting over the handlebars on lap six!
By then, it had gone a little quiet in the valley, as Gifting and Gajser came together on a downhill jump in a scary crash that left the Slovenian unable to restart his bike, and the Swede having to work forward from outside the top 20.
All this elevated Vlaanderen to third ahead of Fernandez, with Pancar in a solid fifth ahead of the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP of Maxime Renaux and Glenn Coldenhoff of Fantic Factory Racing MXGP in seventh.
While the top four held station, Coenen was advancing by at least a position a lap until around half distance, when he passed the second Aruba.it Ducati of Mattia Guadagnini for eighth. Factory men Renaux and Coldenhoff had gotten around Pancar by lap 12 for fifth and sixth, and Coenen followed suit almost immediately!
The Belgian was unable to advance any further however, and he had to settle for seventh at the flag, ahead of Pancar, while Andrea Bonacorsi took his Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machine past Guadagnini with two laps remaining, taking the honour of top Italian in ninth ahead of his countryman. Gifting was able to recover to 17th despite a further fall on lap 11.
Febvre had extended the gap at the top of the table to 25 points, but clearly that wasn’t enough for him as he rocketed to another Fox Holeshot Award, his seventh of the season, but the roar from the crowd signalled that Gifting was right with him through the first corner and nearly passed him there and then!
Herlings had no time for sentiment, however, as he dived past the Swede into second around the third corner, but his fellow factory KTM rider Coenen had another awful start, this time tangling with riders around him and hitting the ground, remounting at the very back of the pack with a mountain to climb!
Gajser and Gifting were at it again, and collided on the end of the start straight during the first full lap, with the Slovenian holding the inside line and forcing the home hero wide to take third place. Behind them was a factory Yamaha battle between Renaux and Vlaanderen, which the Frenchman took the advantage in, for at least the first half of the race. Coldenhoff, Fernandez, Pancar, and the returning Kawasaki Factory Racing MXGP rider Pauls Jonass rounded out the initial top ten.
The Latvian was able to stay in tenth despite being passed by Brent van Doninck’s JM Racing Honda, and Jonass took tenth overall. Bonacorsi had a rough second race but ended the day in ninth overall behind Coenen, who could only recover to 11th in race two! Pancar took seventh with 8-6 finishes, Fernandez sixth with a 4-8, and Coldenhoff fifth with 6-5 scores.
For several laps, while Febvre and Herlings were close but not in passing range at the front, Gajser held off the Yamaha freight train behind him while they also fought with each other! Just after Vlaanderen and Renaux had swapped places several times, Gajser fell in a rutted corner on lap 11, putting Gifting up to third! As Renaux ran off track to briefly lose his duel with Vlaanderen, so the Super Swede got close to “The Bullet”, finally passing the Dutchman on a downhill section with a stunning full-on attack into the bottom corner!
The crowd were ecstatic, and as Febvre had lost most of his lead with a brief stall of the engine, everyone watching saw that the Swedish dream could be on! In a repeat of his move on Herlings, Isak launched past the Championship leader on the same downhill to take the lead on the very final lap! The sense of joy around the venue was palpable, even from otherwise neutral fans who couldn’t fail to be captivated by the valiant Swede’s efforts!
In the same way, the howl of anguish could probably be heard across the country when Isak’s front wheel broke away just five corners afterwards, putting him on the floor and crushing the dream just as it looked to be coming true. It truly was a cruel blow and totally undeserved. Unable to restart the bike, he even had to suffer the indignity of walking back to the paddock, truly inconsolable.
In the wild atmosphere, it was easy to miss Renaux sneaking past Vlaanderen for third in the race, but he would still finish behind his teammate overall as Calvin was delighted to score his first hardpack podium of the year. Herlings was just over a second behind Febvre at the flag, and the Championship leader’s first 1-1-1 since the Qualifying Race counted for points has put the ball firmly in his court. Coupled with Coenen’s rough day at the office, he leaves Sweden with a 41-point Championship lead with just four Grands Prix to go!
The last word has to be saved for Isak Gifting and his Viking hat-wearing fans, however, who truly made the MXGP of Sweden something very special that will stay in the memory for decades to come. The #517 will return and be all the stronger for the experience.
Romain Febvre: “I won’t lie, this was a really good weekend. Going 1-1-1 feels awesome and it’s a big boost for the championship. It’s not done until the last round, but I was riding really well here and it feels great to win again in Sweden after such a long time. Now I just want to keep this momentum going and fight until the end.”
Jeffrey Herlings: “Two solid races today with 2-2 for second overall. In the second race I was really close to Romain (Febvre) and pushing hard, but just when I went for it I ran out of tear-offs and then he stalled, so the timing was a bit unlucky. He was really strong today, so credit to him. For me, it’s not too bad considering I’ve only been back on the bike for two and a half weeks. I’m looking forward to my home GP in Arnhem and hopefully I can fight for the win there.”
Calvin Vlaanderen: “It feels so good to be back on the podium again, and to do it on hard pack makes it even better. That second race was one of the most fun races I’ve ever had, it was like a sprint every lap battling with my teammate. We raced hard but fair and it was great fun. Back-to-back podiums feels amazing, I’m enjoying my riding so much right now and I just want to keep the ball rolling heading into my home GP.”
Main Photo: Romain Febvre
Top Photo: Isak Gifting
Bottom Photos: 1. Jeffrey Herlings; 2. Calvin Vlaanderen
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:15.808; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.504; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:12.414; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:17.972; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.059; 6. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:33.439; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:40.101; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:47.802; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +0:50.049; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Ducati), +0:52.273
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 35:36.125; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:01.072; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:01.503; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:04.389; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:20.669; 6. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:23.294; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:24.820; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:25.726; 9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Honda), +0:33.984; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:36.969
MXGP Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 50 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 31 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 31 p.; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 19 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 17 p
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 794 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 753 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 572 p.; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 502 p.; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 480 p.; 6. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 424 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 423 p.; 8. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 406 p.; 9. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, DUC), 341 p.; 10. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 327 p.
MXGP – Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 811 points; 2. Kawasaki, 800 p.; 3. Honda, 701 p.; 4. Yamaha, 665 p.; 5. Fantic, 629 p.; 6. Ducati, 422 p.; 7. Beta, 271 p.; 8. Husqvarna, 81 p.; 9. GASGAS, 7 p.; 10. Triumph, 6 p.;