Heartbreak in Darwin: De Wolf denied back-to-back crown

Arriving in Australia, Kay de Wolf trailed Simon Längenfelder by just 16 points and knew only victories would do. He set the tone in Saturday’s qualifying race, taking his fourth qualy win of the year to trim the gap to 13 points, before carrying that form into Sunday’s opener.

In Sunday’s opening moto, de Wolf produced a signature masterclass. After shadowing the leaders in the early stages, he pounced on lap 14 and immediately stretched a nine-second cushion. Controlling the pace to the finish, he crossed the line 4.4 seconds ahead of Längenfelder, setting the fastest lap in the process and igniting the final title fight.

Race two began with the Dutchman again at the sharp end, running second and piling pressure on race leader Sacha Coenen as torrential rain hit the circuit. Längenfelder crashed multiple times, dropping well outside the top ten, and the championship momentum swung decisively towards de Wolf. But with the track turning into a swamp of sticky red clay, disaster struck: technical issues forced de Wolf out on lap eight. Despite heroic efforts to push his FC 250 through the sludge, it was the team’s first mechanical retirement of the season – ending his hopes of consecutive world titles.

De Wolf was eventually classified sixth after the rain-lashed second moto was red-flagged, yet his 1-6 scorecard was still enough to secure the overall Grand Prix victory. Agonisingly, the championship slipped away by just nine points. He closes the 2025 season as Vice World Champion on 919 points, with six wins, 13 podiums, and a campaign that will be remembered as one of the most exciting in MX2 history.

Team-mate Liam Everts signed off his season with a fighting weekend. Fifth in the opening moto, only 0.8s from fourth, he looked set for another top-five in race two before a fall dropped him to eighth. The Belgian wrapped up the year sixth overall in the championship with 635 points, his highlights including a Grand Prix win in Spain and three podiums across the season.