A technical drawback noticed Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha fail in his bid to safe the Moto class crown within the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship with one spherical nonetheless remaining, however Pablo Violet – Drag’on Yamaha put the Quad title out of attain of his rivals as spherical 5 of the collection – the Monte Gordo Sand Experience – thrilled 1000’s of followers on Portugal’s stunning Algarve coast.
- Technical difficulty sidelines defending Moto champion Todd Kellett
- Pablo Violet retains Quad class crown in Portugal
- Amandine Verstappen regains management in Moto Women
In the Moto Women class, defending champion Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha returned to the highest of the factors desk following her DNF at spherical 4 as Damien Prevot – Yamaha repeated Saturday’s Moto Veteran win, though Uruguay’s Fernando Rubio – Honda can not be caught within the title race following his constant weekend within the saddle.
After his dominant victory in Saturday’s ninety-minute Moto race, defending champion Kellett knew one other good end on Sunday would see him retain his title and likewise turn out to be the first-ever FIM World Champion within the self-discipline after the premier class was upgraded this season from World Cup standing.
With a shorter sixty-minute period, Sunday’s race seemed to be shaping up in a really related modelto Saturday’s important moto with Kellett taking the early lead earlier than laying down a succession of quick laps and testing, however after 9 laps and along with his benefit constructing a technical drawback compelled him out.
As the clock ticked down the victory seemed as if it was heading the best way of French 2024 silver medallist Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha who led Hakon Fredriksen – Honda by over thirty seconds, however a late mistake dropped him to 3rd and Belgium’s Cyril Genot – Honda made a decisive go on the Norwegian to win by slightly below two-and-a-half seconds on a complete of twenty-one laps and declare most factors from the weekend.
“It was a difficult weekend and Saturday I struggled quite a lot with lower back pain,” mentioned Genot. “I felt a little bit better. My riding was finally getting like it should be, but then we started to have some problems with the bike. Otherwise, I’m very happy – we just need to keep pushing and working hard.”
Milko Potisek – Drag’on Yamaha, the one rider nonetheless in with a mathematical likelihood of catching Kellett within the championship chase, claimed a stable fourth to go along with his third-placed end on Saturday to take the title combat all the way down to the ultimate spherical, with Dutchman Lars Berkel – Fantic selecting up his second fifth place of the weekend.
Having misplaced her unbeaten file and Moto Women class lead on the earlier spherical when she suffered a technical drawback that compelled a DNF, Verstappen returned to the highest along with her second win of the weekend. After establishing a transparent early benefit over her feminine rivals, the Belgian by no means seemed threatened and posted a complete of eighteen laps with France’s Camille Viaud – Yamaha ending second on seventeen, one lap forward of 2023 champion Mathilde Denis – Yamaha.
“I am so happy to have won, but it has not been a simple weekend for me,” mentioned Verstappen. “I had a technical problem that put me out last weekend and when we arrived here we realised my bike was still not one-hundred per cent so we had to borrow another one and fully rebuild it which added to the stress.”
Proving himself to be the category act of the Veteran’s area for the second day in a row, Frenchman Prevot replicated his tenth general on Saturday to complete three laps away from Guillaume Renaux – Kawasaki, however fourth for Rubio coupled along with his third on Saturday ensures him the title.
Competing over a thirty-minute period, France’s Evan Demeester – Honda strengthened his maintain on the Moto Junior class with one other victory from compatriots Matheo Gerat – Yamaha and Maxime Miet – Kawasaki, whereas in Moto Vintage it was Freddy Seguin – Honda who reversed Saturday’s outcome to steer house Sebastien Antony – KTM.
Following on from his victory on Saturday, Britain’s Harry Walker – Laeger’s made it back-to-back wins within the Quad class, however he was chased for the total forty-five-minute period by Violet who ended the race slightly below one-minute-and-twenty-seconds in arrears to finish the profitable defence of his title.
“Portugal has been great for me,” mentioned Walker. “We spent a lot of family time here when I was younger so it is actually quite special for me to come to Portugal and win. It means a lot to me.”
Belgian Oliver Vandendijck – Honda was third, one other thirty-seven seconds behind, with Glenn Swarte – Honda and Dirk Schelfhout – Honda the final riders to match Walker’s spectacular complete of fourteen laps.
Schelfhout was additionally the primary Quad Veteran house, ending one lap forward of defending champion Axel Dutrie – Drag’on Yamaha and Portugal’s Nuno Goncalves – Yamaha and two laps up on FrenchmanBenoit Sebert – Yamaha who retains a slim collection lead.
The 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship now takes an prolonged winter break earlier than resuming for the sixth and concluding spherical – the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais – on 13-15 February 2026.
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