Lommel, Belgium is known for being the toughest track in the world, and that is exactly where Honda HRC duo Ruben Fernandez and Valerio Lata are heading for round 15 of the 2025 MXGP World Championship.

After the hard-pack terrain of Loket last weekend, this is when the world championships really show their diversity as Lommel is nothing but deep, deep sand. This saps the power of the machines and the energy levels of the riders and turns the racing into a battle of survival as much as track position.

Once again, Fernandez will be on-board the new prototype CRF450R, which was introduced in the Czech Republic with excellent results as the rider/bike combination went three-two-seven over the course of the weekend. Lommel though, is a completely different challenge and the team have spent this week trying to make sure they are as prepared as they can be for this truly brutal circuit.

Valerio Lata is also busy getting ready for the soft stuff after another tough GP in Loket. An excellent Saturday performance gave him a lot of confidence heading into the GP-scoring motos, but unfortunately the Italian wasn’t able to transfer that speed into the longer races and instead finished eight-ten.

It was a disappointing end, but he’s trying to channel that into some motivation for test that awaits this weekend, when he once again lines up against the best 250cc riders in the world.

Ruben Fernandez: We had a good round in Loket, despite missing out on the podium. We made a lot of progress with the prototype, and I really enjoy riding it and testing what it can do, in a race situation. Now we have probably the toughest challenge on the calendar, with the deep sand of Lommel so it will be difficult, but I’m motivated to do well and ready for this test.

Valerio Lata: The last couple of rounds haven’t gone to plan, and it’s disappointing for me and for the team. I know that Lommel won’t be easy either, but I need to go into with a positive mind and trust that what we are doing will work. We are into the last quarter of the season and I really want to finish strongly.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas - HRC General Manager – MXGP: We always circle Lommel on the calendar, because we know just how difficult this track is for an MXGP race. It tests the rider and their machines to the limit and really is a gruelling 35 minutes for everyone. It isn’t the favourite track for either Ruben or Valerio, but they know that they can’t use that as excuse and instead we know we’ve been working hard with them to try and make this weekend as good as possible.