Following an extended break in the calendar, the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship recommences with round two – the Enduro del Invierno – in Argentina.
- South American date for 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship
- Todd Kellett and Amandine Verstappen defend leads in Moto and Moto Women classes
- Defending champion Pablo Violet aims for victory in Quad class
Originally scheduled to run over three days, a major storm forecast for the final day has forced organisers to cancel Sunday’s racing and reshuffle the programme to stage both Moto races and a single Quad race today (30 August).
With the main Moto class category upgraded to full FIM World Championship status this season, Britain’s defending champion and series leader Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha heads to South America with a five-point advantage over his French team-mate Milko Potisek.
The pair, who finished one-two at the opening round of the championship – the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais – in early February, are expected to go head-to-head on the four-kilometre Mar del Plata course over two thirty-five-minute plus one lap races, a very different format to the single three-hour race that got the series under way.
A back-to-back FIM Sand Races World Cup champion, Kellett was unbeaten last year, although he did not have to contend with Potisek who missed the full series through injury and the thirty-five-year-old from Cassel, near Dunkirk, starts with a point to prove.
However, the battle for supremacy in the Moto division will not just be about two riders and there is a strong showing from registered racers aiming to add to their points totals as they chase coveted FIM medals.
A forceful fifth at the opening round, Frenchman Alexis Collignon – Honda will be in action alongside his compatriot Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha who currently sits seventh in the points table and knows he has ground to make up if he is to improve on his second place in last season’s title fight. Joey Nuques – Yamaha has also made the journey from his home in France, as has sand specialist Camille Chapeliere – GASGAS who was seventh in 2024, but failed to make it to the finish at round one.
Another rider yet to open his account this season, Belgium’s Cyril Genot – Honda has scored a top-ten finish in the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship at Lommel so his credentials in sand are impeccable and the shorter race distances could suit him.
Competition is expected to be intense in the Moto Women class where Belgium’s defending champion Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha, who was unbeaten last season, holds the early series lead from series newcomer Camille Viaud – Yamaha from France.
Champion in 2023, Mathilde Denis – Yamaha represents an ever-present threat to Verstappen’s dominance, although while she will undoubtedly be aiming to improve on her current third-placed position, she will be looking over her shoulder at her fellow French racer and series newcomer Sara Jugla – KTM who is fourth in the standings following the opening round.
The Moto Veterans class is also expected to be fiercely fought with Uruguay’s Fernando Rubio – Honda hoping to use his home continent advantage to take the championship lead, but he can expect strong challenges from the French pairing of Nicolas Lavenant – Yamaha and Rodrigue Lescaillet – Honda.
Determined to defend his Quad title, Pablo Violet – Yamaha is making the journey from his home in Le Touquet Paris-Plage in northern France, but he knows from last season’s Enduro del Verano just how strong his Argentinian opposition is likely to be and it is essential that he brings his A game for what is guaranteed to be a super-intense thirty-five-minute plus one lap race.
The action at the Enduro del Invierno gets under way on today (30 August) with the opening Moto race at 11:00 (local time) followed by race two at 14:30 (local time). The Quad race is scheduled to start at 16:30 (local time).
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