Continuing the defence of his Moto class title, Britain’s Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha will aim to extend his incredible unbeaten record at round four of the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship – the Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton – in France this coming weekend (21-23 November).
- World’s top sand specialists line up for Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton
- Defending champions Todd Kellett and Amandine Verstappen lead Moto and Moto Women classes
- Pablo Violet faces strong challenge to his Quad class crown
The twenty-eight-year-old, who is aiming for his third consecutive title in the discipline and his first since the Moto class was elevated to full FIM World Championship status, has taken maximum points from every round staged since the start of the 2024 season and knows victory in Sunday’s two-and-a-half-hour race could put him in pole position to wrap up the title at the penultimate round – Portugal’s Monte Gordo Sand Experience – on 28-30 November.
Located on the shores of the Bay of Biscay on France’s south-west coast, the Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton’s one-race format is notoriously tough on both riders and machines and Kellett’s twenty-four-point lead over his French team-mate Milko Potisek could be erased by the slightest mistake.
Although thirty-seven points behind the leader, third-placed Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha could still improve on his 2024 silver medal and will be focussed on a podium finish and fans of this highly-specialised sport can expect strong performances from a string of other contenders including NorwegianHakon Fredriksen – Honda who impressed with third on his series debut last time out at Italy’s Bibione Sand Storm at the end of October.
Winner of every overall since 2024, Moto Women class leader Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha from Belgium will start the weekend with a twenty-three point advantage over France’s 2023 championMathilde Denis – Fantic who in turn is just three points ahead of her compatriot Camille Viaud – Yamaha.
With victories in the Moto Veteran class at the previous two rounds in Argentina and Italy, Uruguay’sFernando Rubio – Honda leads by twenty-four points from France’s Nicolas Lavenant – Yamaha while Freddy Seguin – Honda is tied at the top of the Moto Vintage table with Argentina’s Danilo Goes, although the South American entry for this weekend is yet to be confirmed.
Evan Demeester – Honda currently heads the Moto Junior class by just eight points from fellow French racer Matheo Gerat – Yamaha with Maxime Miet – KTM only six points further adrift.
With three different winners from the three rounds staged so far, competition in the Quad class is very close with France’s defending champion Pablo Violet – Drag’on Yamaha leading his compatriots Fabien Michel – Yamaha by nineteen points and Benoit Sebert – Yamaha by twenty.
However, expectstrong challenges from Bibione Sand Storm winner Dirk Schelfhout – Honda from Belgium and French racer Keveen Rochereau – Honda who is making his 2025 series debut after pushing Violet hard throughout 2024.
Sebert also leads the Quad Veteran category, but his six-point advantage over 2024 champion Axel Dutrie – Drag’on Yamaha is slim and Schelfhout will also contest the class.
The points-scoring action gets under way on Saturday (22 November) at 08:45 (local time) with the one-hour Moto Vintage race before the Quads take to the sand for their two-hour race at 12:15 (local time). Sunday (23 November) will see the Junior class get racing under way with their ninety-minute race scheduled for 08:45 (local time) before the Moto class race at 11:00 (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.