2025 Dutch Masters of Motocross Championship
450cc, 250cc, 125cc and 85cc racing at Rd 1 of the Dutch Masters in Harfsen
On Sunday 30th March we were at round 1 of the 2025 Dutch Masters of Motocross Championship in Harfsen. Hosted by MC Hamac mx club, a lot of big name riders and factory teams were there. Four classes were racing - MX1 class (450cc), MX2 class (250cc), 125cc class and the 85cc class. Each class raced twice, with the points accumulated from each race (moto) going towards the overall result. It was thought Red Bull KTM's Jeffrey Herlings would be starting his season here after an injury, but he decided to sit it out as his recovery continues. Below we give a breakdown of each classes results.
There were some big names at the event including Romain Febvre (#3), Calvin Vlaanderen (#10), Mitch Evans (#43), Jago Geerts (#93), Valentin Guillod (#92) and Andrea Bonacorsi (#132)
MX1 Class Moto 1
Kawasaki Racing Team's Romain Febvre won by 10 seconds from Monster Energy Yamaha's Clavin Vlaanderen. Privateer Valentin Guillod on a Yamaha YZ450F grabbed the holsehot and put in a strong performance to finish P3, ahead of Jago Geerts and Fantic Factory Racing's Brian Bogers.
MX1 Class Moto 2
Febvre again won quite easily from Calvin Vlaanderen with the Fantic Factory Racing's Andrea Bonacorsi grabbing P3 on his XXF 450. Monster Energy Yamaha's Geerts grabbed P4 again with Guillod P5. This meant Romain Febvre took the overall with a 1-1 and 50 points (plus he was also the fastest qualifier on the day), Calvin Vlaanderen took P2 with 44 points and team mate Jago Geerts clinched P3 with 36 points. Yamaha privateer Valentin Guillod took a great P4 with 36 points and Bonacorsi rounded out the top 5 with 32 points.
MX2 Class Moto 1
After Rick Elzinga was fastest qualifier, Van Venrooy KTM's Cas Valk dominated moto 1, winning by about 30 seconds from Monster Energy Yamaha's Janis Reisulis. JM Honda's David Braceras rode strongly for P3, ahead of his countryman Oriel Oliver on his BTS Racing Team's KTM 250 SX-F. Germany's Maxime Grau took P5.
MX2 Class Moto 2
Even though he was outside the top 5 on the first lap. Valk quickly moved up into P1 and never looked back. After DNF'ing Moto 1, HRC Honda's Ferrucio Zanchi grabbed P2 with another strong P3 for Braceras. P4 went to Oliver again and JM Honda's Noel Zanocz P5. The overall belonged to KTM's Cas Valk with a perfect 1-1 and 50 points. P2 overall went to David Braceras with 40 points and P3 overall to Oriel Oliver with 36 points. 3 riders finished on 30 points with Noel Zanocz taking P4, Rick Elzinga P5 and Maxime Grau P6.
125cc Class Moto 1
KTM's Dean Gregoire won moto 1 by about 5 seconds from Team MJC Yamaha's Levi Townley. These two riders were way out front. P3 went to Douwe van Mechgelen on his Fantic XX 125. Northern Ireland's Cole McCullough qualified P1 on his Fantic but unfortunately crashed in moto 1, coming back through the field for P11. McCullough also put in the fastest lap of the race.
125cc Class Moto 2
It was Dean Gregoire and Levi Townley again who dominated moto 2, but this time Townley on his YZ 125 got the better of Gregoire, taking the win by about 3 seconds. Both Gregoire and Townley scored 47 points, but due to the fact that Townley got the win in moto 2, this gave him the overall with a 2-1. Belgium's van Mechgelen was 3rd again to take P3 overall. McCullough was running in P2 in moto 2 until he had to retire due to a problem with his bike.
85cc Class
The 85cc class overall was won by Lucas Leok on his KTM 85 SX. He won both motos, narrowly beating British junior star Harry Dale by 1 second in Moto 1 and then winning Moto 2 more comfortably by 19 seconds from Dale again. P3 overall went to Luca Nierychlo with a 4-3. All 3 were on KTM's and it will be interesting to see if these youngsters are stars of the future.
Are there any videos from the Dutch Masters of Motocross Rd 1?
Click here to see the MX1 class riders leaving Parc fermé and the moto 1 gate drop. Click here for a video of Cas Valk in Parc fermé before he dominated the MX2 class. For a video of Levi Townley's Yamaha YZ 125 click here. For a slo-mo video of 85cc class overall winner Lucas Loek, click here.
What was the Harfsen MX track like?
The track was about 1.6km in length and consisted of soft, sandy soil, so got rutted quite quickly with braking bumps forming too. Deep ruts formed on the face of the jumps. After an open start straight, the track layout hooked a tight left and then a right into woodland with trees on each side of the track. There were table tops and rollers and a few different line choices at various corners. We detail what the track looked like with some pictures below.
A wide open start straight before a tight left and right before the track entered the trees
Most of the track was tree-lined
A lot of corners had different line choices
Ruts formed quite quickly on the face of the big jumps
How many rounds make up the Dutch Masters of Motocross Championship?
The 2025 Dutch Masters of MX championship is made up of 3 rounds. Round 2 takes place in Oldebroek on 26th April and Round 3 takes place in Markelo on 18th May. We will likely be going to another one of these rounds, so we look forward to that.
