Lucas Coenen and Andrea Adamo ruled proceedings for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing at a muddy Agueda for the Portuguese Grand Prix and the seventh round of 2025 MXGP.
The Belgian and Italian won their Qualification Heats and the difficult and demanding motos in MXGP and MX2 for an ‘orange wash’ with KTM SX-F technology.
- Lucas Coenen continues to head the MXGP class in his rookie season and goes 1-1 for the second meeting in a row to move into title contention
- Jeffrey Herlings runs to 9th after another two weeks of recovery and domestic race mileage but takes a heavy hit on Saturday in Portugal. The Grand Prix wins record holder was 10-7 on Sunday
- Andrea Adamo goes 1-1 for the first time this season in MX2 and with three overall wins is the most prolific racer in the category so far. #80 also won the Saturday Qualification Heat for the GP ‘triple’
- Simon Laengenfelder appears on the podium for the second Grand Prix in a row with a hard-fought 3rd place and is close to the top of the championship standings
- Sacha Coenen leads both MX2 motos but counts the costs of mistakes in the first race to go 19-2 on the day for P7 in the rankings
- MXGP makes the short hop north for the Grand Prix of Lugo and round eight next weekend
The team rolled into Agueda fresh from their double victory success two weeks previously in Switzerland where Lucas Coenen and Simon Laengenfelder triumphed in their respective categories for the first time this season. The crew were slightly apprehensive of another grim weather forecast and a repeat of the mudder from 2024. The showers poured on Saturday for the Qualification Heats. Andrea Adamo emerged from the slick mud with his second MX2 Pole Position, with Sacha Coenen in P2 and Laengenfelder obtaining points for P5. Lucas Coenen profited from his decent start to ease to another Saturday victory (his second of 2025). Jeffrey Herlings was 2nd until a last lap slip and was then clipped by another rider and was lucky to escape injury, aside from a painful torso that affected his Sunday speed.
Sunday was stormy and changeable. Heavy rain in the morning flooded the track and forced a delay to the MX2 and MXGP program. Sunshine appeared in the afternoon and helped to improve the conditions but the track was still very rutted and boggy, applying a slice of fortune to the final results sheets.
Lucas Coenen threaded his way through the red ooze for the holeshot and an early lead in the first MXGP race and then withheld pressure from Romain Febvre to grasp his fifth consecutive checkered flag, third GP moto win in succession and fourth of the campaign. In a drier second outing (later hit by another shower) the Belgian starlet again edged the holeshot with his KTM 450 SX-F and again led Febvre to go 1-1-1. Two weeks after becoming the youngest winner ever in the premier class, Coenen now has three podiums and is P3 in the championship, 43 points adrift of P1.
Herlings fought his way to 10th and then registered a 7th in the second moto for 9th overall and more progress considering the lack of an off-season.
Sacha Coenen led for the first three laps but then a pair of crashes put him down to 19th. Adamo crafted a margin ahead of Kay De Wolf and Simon Laengenfelder, who tussled with the Dutchman for P2. Even through the German had to ditch his goggles with ten minutes he was still able to confirm the runner-up spot nearly 13 seconds behind Adamo. The Italian holeshotted the second moto and then carefully stalked Coenen until making the pass for the lead at mid-race distance. The teammates took a 1-2 with Laengenfelder making it to the line in 4th after recovering from a first lap spill. Adamo celebrated his third victory and his fourth podium appearance from the last five events – closing to just 10 points from the peak of the MX2 table – while Laengenfelder also lifted his fourth trophy of 2025 and is only 4 points from the red plate. Coenen was 7th overall and is 6th in the standings.
Another meeting for the European Championship and the EMX125 and EMX250 categories meant a further weekend of competition and learning for both the Racestore KTM Factory Rookies Team (EMX125 with the KTM 125 SX) and Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors squad (EMX250 with the KTM 250 SX-F). Nicolo Alvisi and Aron Katona scored an impressive 1-2 in the first EMX125 moto on Saturday but the deluge of rain made the surface worse to deal with on Sunday. Alvisi was 7th for the second step of the podium while Katona DNF-ed (taking 11th overall) but still leads the championship by 26 points. Gyan Doensen raced to a 7-17 for 10th in EMX250.
After a successful inauguration in 2024 with the Grand Prix of Galicia, the tight circuit in Lugo will now host the Spanish GP next weekend. EMX250 will also travel with the FIM world championship classes while EMX125 next comes to the gate in France for round nine of MXGP.
Lucas Coenen, 1st and 1st for 1st overall in MXGP: “A really good weekend. 1-1 again and the three motos! The rain made the track so sketchy and I was all over the place but it was a positive first moto; good start and I tried to ride smart. It was hard to handle all those edges in the ruts with the 450 but we made it happen. In the second moto I managed the pressure from Romain and I was a bit nervous at times but I’m so happy to win again. Let’s go again in Lugo.”
Jeffrey Herlings, 10th and 7th for 9th overall in MXGP: “Yesterday we were quite hopeful until the crash in the Heat when I was thinking about pushing for the lead. I was hit by another rider and bruised my ribs and had a sore elbow. I was struggling with the ribs today and I could feel every bump. It was annoying! We could finish 10-7 and that’s not what we wanted from this GP but after Saturday I think it was OK. I’ll definitely be 100% for the next race and I hope to be closer to that top five.”
Andrea Adamo, 1st and 1st for 1st overall in MX2: “I rode well, really well. No mistakes and good starts, especially yesterday, and that put me in a good position for today, which was really important with the weather. In the first moto the conditions were crazy but the second moto was not too bad. 1-1-1: it’s the first time for me, so I’m super-happy.”
Simon Laengenfelder, 2nd and 4th for 3rd overall in MX2: “So much mud! It was really hard to pass in the first moto, there was a lot of water and even though they worked on the track there was only one line. It was difficult but I could get Kay for 2nd. I folded the front on the first lap of the second moto and had to come from last. I had a good feeling on the bike though and unfortunately I ran out of tear-offs which made overtaking a challenge. A decent second race but a bit unlucky. Today could have been much better.”
Sacha Coenen, 19th and 2nd for 7th overall: “Better than the last GP. We made quite a lot of changes to the set-up of the bike in the last two weeks and I was feeling good on Saturday. I had a comfortable lead in the first moto but just jumped a little off track and got stuck in a mud pile. Anyway, we had good speed. The second moto was OK, Andrea was a bit faster today but P2 is more of what we need.”
Joel Smets, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “I’m really, really proud of this win and career milestone for Andrea. When he came into the team we could see that he has a lot of heart and is a hard worker and after winning the championship then having a difficult year and to come back and do well in this season I cannot be prouder. He deserves it. In MXGP we know that these conditions can see Jeffrey Herlings in ‘beast mode’ but we have to understand that he is not there yet to ride at his full potential. I am confident that we are not far away and we will be fighting for podiums soon.”
