Kellett, Verstappen and Walker in control on day one of Monte Gordo Sand Experience

With a comprehensive start-to-finish victory in yesterday’s opening Moto class race of the Monte Gordo Sand Experience, round five of the 2025 FIM Sand Races World Championship, Britain’s Todd Kellett – Drag’on Yamaha took another step towards his third title in three years, while in the Moto Women category Belgian racer Amandine Verstappen – Yamaha re-established control following her DNF last time out and Britain’s Harry Walker – Laeger’s topped the Quad class.

• Todd Kellett moves another step closer to Moto title
• Amandine Verstappen takes command of Moto Women
• Harry Walker tops Quads, but Pablo Violet keeps control

Kellett’s starts have been sensational so far this season as he has carved out an unbeaten four overall wins in his pursuit of the Moto class title – that for 2025 has been upgraded to full FIM World Championship status – and yesterday on Portugal’s beautiful Algarve coast he produced more of the same.

With the race formats changing on a round by round basis, the FIM Sand Races World Championship continuously challenges riders and with yesterday’s ninety-minute moto taking place on a relatively short six-kilometre course, getting clear of the pack early on and staying out of trouble was essential for success.

Kellett led by just over three seconds following the opening lap from Belgium’s Cyril Genot – Honda, French rider Jeremy Hauquier – Yamaha, his Drag’on Yamaha team-mate and main title rival Milko Potisekand Norway’s Hakon Fredriksen – Honda as the top five crossed the line all within ten seconds of each other.

With a clear track ahead of him, Kellett’s second lap was the fastest of the race and he began to slowly pull clear. By the end of lap four his advantage over Genot was almost eleven seconds and by lap eight he led by nearly thirty-four seconds.

Potisek needs to beat Kellett this weekend if he is going to take the title fight down to the final round and the Frenchman was pushing Genot hard while at the same time fighting to stay clear of Hauquier, last year’s silver medallist, as the top-four pulled clear.

At the flag Kellett was almost one-and-a-half minutes ahead of Genotwho in turn was nearly fifty seconds clear of Potisek. Hauquier, who was a further half-a-minute behind, was the last rider to match the winner’s total of thirty-one laps.

“I always feel more comfortable when I’ve got a bit of a gap,” said Kellett. “Sometimes you can win by a lot, sometimes you can win by one second. You take it as it comes and if I have a good feeling I’m going to push. I like this championship because we have so much diversity and this race is no different. It’s a really short lap and there are a lot of laps so it’s a real mental battle and you’re constantly fighting with back-markers.”

The defending Moto Women champion and unbeaten this season until her DNF with a technical issue last weekend at Ronde des Sables Hossegor-Capbreton, Verstappen came into round five trailing 2023 champion Mathilde Denis – Fantic in the title race and determined to regain control.
 
The twenty-six-year-old, who finished fifth in this season’s FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship, took an immediate lead and by lap two was running eighteenth overall, twenty-three places ahead of Denis withCamille Viaud – Yamaha sitting third in class and forty-seventh overall.
 
After ten laps Verstappen was holding steady in twenty-fourth with Denis thirty-ninth and Viaud a fighting forty-first and while Denis and Viaud both climbed the leaderboard of registered riders to finish only a handful of places behind the defending champion, Verstappen’s total of twenty-six laps was one better than Denis and two ahead of Viaud.
 
Sharing centre stage with the Moto and Moto Women competitors, the Moto Veteran class was won by Damien Prevot – Yamaha on twenty-nine laps, four clear of second-placedGuillaume Renaux – Kawasaki with series leader Fernando Rubio – Honda third on twenty-two laps.
 
Competing over a shorter forty-five-minute race duration, Moto Junior class leader Evan Demeester – Honda won by just over half-a-minute ahead of his French rivals Matheo Gerat – Yamaha and Maxime Miet – Kawasaki while in Moto Vintage it was Sebastien Antony – KTM who led home Freddy Seguin – Honda.

Starting the afternoon’s one-hour Quad race with a healthy points lead, France’s defending champion Pablo Violet – Drag’on Yamaha could also clinch the crown in Portugal this weekend and although he had no answer to Walker’s blistering form, the second step of the podium was a crucial resultfor his title ambitions.
 
Violet took the lead on lap one and the twenty-three-year-old set the pace during the early stages before Walker took control. Quickly building his advantage, the British racer was over thirty-seven seconds ahead at half-distance and when the chequered flag came out his lead stood at nearly two minutes.
 
“I’m really happy with that,” said Walker. “It’s great to be here in Portugal and what a race that was. From the third row I actually had a good start and I tucked in behind Pablo. The track deteriorated quite quickly and it got rough, but I felt good out there.”
 
Violet matched Walker’s winning total of eighteen laps to strengthen his hold on the title with Belgian Oliver Vandendijck – Honda in third and fourth and fifth-placed racers Dirk Schelfhout – Honda and Glenn Swarte – Honda also recording an impressive eighteen laps.
 
Schelfhout also won the Quad Veteran class as he continues to chase down series leader Benoit Sebert – Yamahawho finished third behind defending champion Axel Dutrie – Drag’on Yamaha.

Violet clinches Quad crown, but Moto title goes down to the wire

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 – Yamahareturned 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 style to 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’sEvan 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,” saidWalker. “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.