Britain’s Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha travels to Portugal’s beautiful Algarve region this coming weekend (28-30 November) for the Monte Gordo Sand Experience – the fifth and penultimate round of the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship – knowing that victory will guarantee him the title in the premier Moto class.
Victory will also be good enough for France’s Pablo Violet – Drag’on Yamaha to retain his Quad class crown and for Uruguay’s Fernando Rubio – Honda to take the Moto Veteran title, while in Moto Women it is former champion Mathilde Denis – Fantic who now leads after her win last time out at the Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton.
With the Moto category upgraded to full FIM World Championship status this season, twenty-eight-year-old Kellett – who has not lost since the 2023 edition of the Monte Gordo Sand Experience – is in pole position to win the crown for the third consecutive time, despite massive pressure from his French team-mate Milko Potisek.
The thirty-five-year-old, who missed last season through injury, sits twenty-nine points behind Kellett and needs to finish ahead of the defending champion this weekend if he is to keep his championship dream alive with two races – a ninety-minute moto on Saturday followed by a sixty-minute race on Sunday – counting towards the final result.
The only other rider still in with a mathematical chance of taking the Moto title is third-placed Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha, although the Frenchman is currently forty-nine points behind Kellett so it is safe to say that his chances of overtaking the British rider are incredibly slim.
Belgium’s defending Moto Women champion Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha suffered a serious blow to her title aspirations last weekend at the Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton when a mechanical issue forced her out after the halfway mark while she was leading.
With Denis taking maximum points and Verstappen failing to score, it is now the French racer who leads, but her two-point advantage will be tough to defend over the weekend’s pair of races and she will also want to stay ahead of her third-placed compatriot Sara Jugla – KTM who is twenty points behind.
The fiercely-contested Moto Junior class is currently led by rising French star Evan Demeester – Honda who heads his compatriot Matheo Gerat – Yamaha by twelve points, while Freddy Seguin – Honda holds a slim two-point advantage in the Moto Vintage category ahead of fellow Frenchman Sebastien Antony – KTM.
With two wins and two seconds, South American star Rubio has dominated the Moto Veteran class this season and with a thirty-one-point lead over France’s Nicolas Lavenant – Yamaha he could wrap the title up this weekend with one round remaining.
Starting off with a second-placed finish at the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais in February, reigning Quad champion Violet took maximum points at round two in Argentina and again at the Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton, earning him a thirty-four-point lead ahead of Fabien Michel – Yamaha that he could translate into a second consecutive crown this weekend.
After missing the opening two rounds of this year’s series, Belgian racer Dirk Schelfhout – Honda has taken back-to-back wins in the Quad Veteran class, but it is Frenchman Benoit Sebert – Yamaha who leads with an eleven-point advantage ahead of home hero Nuno Goncalves – Yamaha.
The points-scoring action gets under way on Saturday (29 November) at 12:45 (local time) with the ninety-minute Moto race before the Quads take to the sand for their one-hour race at 15:30 (local time). Sunday (30 November) sees the one-hour Moto race scheduled for 13:45 (local time) followed by the forty-five-minute Quad race at 15:30 (local time).
Followers of this unique and highly-specialised sportcan stay completely up to date with all the latest news through FIM social media platforms on Facebook and Instagram and via the Sportity app using the password FIMSandRaces.
By using the tag #FIMSandRaces, fans will also be able to interact on social media with riders and like-minded enthusiasts.