A technical problem saw Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha fail in his bid to secure the Moto class crown in the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship with one round still remaining, but Pablo Violet – Drag’on Yamaha put the Quad title out of reach of his rivals as round five of the series – the Monte Gordo Sand Experience – thrilled thousands of fans on Portugal’s beautiful Algarve coast.
- Technical issue sidelines defending Moto champion Todd Kellett
- Pablo Violet retains Quad class crown in Portugal
- Amandine Verstappen regains control in Moto Women
In the Moto Women class, defending champion Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha returned to the top of the points table following her DNF at round four as Damien Prevot – Yamaha repeated Saturday’s Moto Veteran win, although Uruguay’s Fernando Rubio – Honda can no longer be caught in the title race following his consistent weekend in the saddle.
After his dominant victory in Saturday’s ninety-minute Moto race, defending champion Kellett knew another good finish on Sunday would see him retain his title and also become the first-ever FIM World Champion in the discipline after the premier class was upgraded this season from World Cup status.
With a shorter sixty-minute duration, Sunday’s race appeared to be shaping up in a very similar styleto Saturday's main moto with Kellett taking the early lead before laying down a succession of fast laps and checking out, but after nine laps and with his advantage building a technical problem forced him out.
As the clock ticked down the victory looked as though it was heading the way of French 2024 silver medallist Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha who led Hakon Fredriksen – Honda by over thirty seconds, but a late mistake dropped him to third and Belgium’s Cyril Genot – Honda made a decisive pass on the Norwegian to win by just under two-and-a-half seconds on a total of twenty-one laps and claim maximum points from the weekend.
“It was a difficult weekend and Saturday I struggled quite a lot with lower back pain,” said 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 only rider still in with a mathematical chance of catching Kellett in the championship chase, claimed a solid fourth to go with his third-placed finish on Saturday to take the title fight down to the final round, with Dutchman Lars Berkel – Fantic picking up his second fifth position of the weekend.
Having lost her unbeaten record and Moto Women class lead at the previous round when she suffered a technical problem that forced a DNF, Verstappen returned to the top with her second win of the weekend. After establishing a clear early advantage over her female rivals, the Belgian never looked threatened and posted a total of eighteen laps with France’s Camille Viaud – Yamaha finishing second on seventeen, one lap ahead of 2023 champion Mathilde Denis – Yamaha.
“I am so happy to have won, but it has not been a simple weekend for me,” said 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 class act of the Veteran’s field for the second day in a row, Frenchman Prevot replicated his tenth overall on Saturday to finish three laps clear of Guillaume Renaux – Kawasaki, but fourth for Rubio coupled with his third on Saturday guarantees him the title.
Competing over a thirty-minute duration, France’s Evan Demeester – Honda strengthened his hold on the Moto Junior class with another victory from compatriots Matheo Gerat – Yamaha and Maxime Miet – Kawasaki, while in Moto Vintage it was Freddy Seguin – Honda who reversed Saturday's result to lead home Sebastien Antony – KTM.
Following on from his victory on Saturday, Britain’s Harry Walker – Laeger’s made it back-to-back wins in the Quad class, but he was chased for the full forty-five-minute duration by Violet who ended the race just under one-minute-and-twenty-seconds in arrears to complete the successful defence of his title.
“Portugal has been great for me,” said 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, another thirty-seven seconds behind, with Glenn Swarte – Honda and Dirk Schelfhout – Honda the last riders to match Walker’s impressive total of fourteen laps.
Schelfhout was also the first Quad Veteran home, finishing one lap ahead 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 series lead.
The 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship now takes an extended winter break before resuming for the sixth and concluding round – the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais – on 13-15 February 2026.
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.