Gajser wins, as Lata podiums on Honda HRC debut

A muddy Mantova circuit in northern Italy hosted the first round of the Internazionali d'Italia, where the entire Honda HRC team took to the track for their first shakedown event of 2025. Despite the horrible conditions, Tim Gajser showed his class by taking a dominating one-one performance and sending out a warning to his rivals that once again he'll be up their challenging for the top honours this year.

The Slovenian led every single lap of the race, getting good starts and making quick passes to get to the front and pull away from the field. As he showed last year, when the conditions get worse, he gets better, so it was good to see he still maintains that excellency when the rain falls. For Honda CRF450R teammate Ruben Fernandez, things didn't quite go so well though. The Spaniard had a collision on the first lap which dropped him down the field, forcing him to pick himself up and fight back through the pack in sloppy mud. He came back to sixth place though and was hoping for better in the second gate-drop, with things looking good early-on as he was following Gajser around in second place. However, a small tip-over left him stuck under his bike and after eventually being assisted out from underneath it, he pulled into the pits where they decided to pull off the race track.

MX1 Race 1

1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Lucas Coenen
3. Andrea Bonacorsi
4. Isak Gifting
5. Jeremy Seewer
6. Ruben Fernandez (Honda HRC)

MX1 Race 2

1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Lucas Coenen
3. Andrea Bonacorsi
4. Jeremy Seewer
5. Mattia Guadagnini
6. Isak Gifting

MX1 Overall

1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Lucas Coenen
3. Andrea Bonacorsi
4. Jeremy Seewer
5. Isak Gifting
6. Mattia Guadagnini

In the MX2 class, new Honda HRC signing Valerio Lata proved his speed by going two-three in his debut for the team. The young Italian got two decent starts and fought hard for the duration of both races, minimising mistakes and making the necessary passes in order to get himself onto the second step of the podium. After only having a few months to get used to this brand-new machine, it was an impressive start to his Honda career and gives him a big boost of confidence heading into the MX2 world championship.

For Ferruccio Zanchi, things didn't quite go as well, but that is the precise reason that the team choose to do these warm-up races, so that they can put the riders and the machines through a vigorous test, that only racing can provide. Small mistakes in the first race cost Zanchi a possible shot of the podium, before he had to pull off the race track in race two whilst running third. It was slightly disappointing, but the youngster knows bigger and more important races are to come and that's what he's been training hard for this whole winter.

MX2 Race 1

1. Andrea Adamo
2. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
3. Sacha Coenen
4. Simon Langenfelder
5. Ferruccio Zanchi (Honda HRC)
6. Cas Valk

MX2 Race 2

1. Cas Valk
2. Andrea Adamo
3. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
4. Julius Mikula
5. Quentin Prugnieres
6. Sacha Coenen

MX2 Overall

1. Andrea Adamo
2. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
3. Cas Valk
4. Sacha Coenen
5. Simon Langenfelder
6. Quinten Prugnieres

Tim Gajser   243

It was a good day of racing, despite the weather. Always important to get in a couple of gatedrops against some fast guys and just get back into the rhythm of racing. Conditions were tough, and the ruts and everything weren't easy but I found a good flow and just settled in, with a strong pace. Very happy to win both races, and now onto next week in Montevarchi and hopefully continue in the same way.

Ruben Fernandez   70

I didn't have the best day, in what weren't very nice conditions. A collision on the first lap of race one left me picking my bike up, and that meant I had to come from way down to field to finish sixth. Then in race two, I had a good start and was following Tim early on, but a slight mistake on a slippery corner and I fell over and the bike landed on top of me. By the time I got help, to get out from underneath it, I was last, and although I tried to ride on, in the end it was a better decision to pull off the race track. Still, it was good to have a race and just get back into that state of mind again after training for so long, and to see everyone again. Hopefully better results will be around the corner though.

Valerio Lata   18

I had a really good day in Mantova, riding in the mud and the rain and with Honda HRC for the first time. Two-three results got me onto the podium for second place overall, and it was nice to have the battle at the end of the second race to gain me a position. We have worked hard as a team to be here and I'm very happy with how we started. Hopefully it will continue!

Ferruccio Zanchi   73

The track wasn't the best due to all the rain, but I still hoped I could do well. Unfortunately it didn't go as well as I wanted, but it was still good to be here and just get back racing again. I made a couple of mistakes in the races and when it is this muddy, that makes things really difficult, but we will learn from this and keep working hard to do better in the future.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

Overall it was a successful day, but also a learning day. Tim and Valerio had some great results and that's always useful in these pre-season races. However, we also had some difficulties, and that is also useful because it gives the new members of the team a challenge to overcome – which they did. We always find coming to these Internazionali d'Italia valuable experience and it'll definitely help us for when the world championships start.