Honda HRC duo Tim Gajser (Slovenia) and Ruben Fernandez (Spain) will be leading out their respective countries at this year’s Motocross of Nations, held at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA. After record-breaking performances last year, the pair will be hoping to match that, or perhaps even improve as they look to end this gruelling 2025 campaign on a high note.

For Gajser, it’ll be hard to improve upon his perfect one-one performance at Matterley Basin in 2024, but he’ll be hoping that stronger results from his teammates – who have gained experience this year – will help Slovenian to an even better finish than the seventh place they got last time out. It will be tough going for this small nation, but after showing good form at the end of this year, Gajser will be hoping to put in some more impressive rides, at what will be a brand-new track for the #243.

It’ll also be a new venue for Fernandez, who led Team Spain to their best-ever result in 2024, with a fourth-place finish. Once again, the Honda CRF450R rider will be relied upon to help his young teammates try and deliver Spain’s first MXON podium, which will be a great finale to season where the Spaniard finished fourth in the MXGP World Championship.

After coming back from a trip that went from Turkiye to China and then Australia, this has been an especially gruelling end to the season, but as the riders and team make their way to Indiana, there is belief that they can all put in one last effort to ensure these ‘Olympics of Motocross’ are a good one for Honda HRC. It is also a nice opportunity to catch up with the American Honda team, who have obviously had such a strong end of their season with the double-SMX victories. American Honda always do a great job at hosting for these stateside MXON’s and it is a productive time for both teams to try to learn from one another.

Tim Gajser: It’s great to be lining up in America for Team Slovenia for the first time ever. After last year when we finished seventh – our best ever result – I knew it would be tough to get this organised as it is quite a lot of expense to race here. However, a big thank you to everyone that helped make this possible and now we will go out there and try and put in another strong result. Of course after last year, people will talk about that race and hopefully we can have some more good battles with all the riders, but I just want to enjoy the experience and do the best that I can once again.

Ruben Fernandez: I am very excited for this year’s Motocross of Nations. We have a young, exciting team and I think all three riders will give everything they can to put in the best result possible. It is strange to be the ‘oldest’ guy, but Guillem (Farres) has ridden in America before so that’ll help things and I think Francisco (Garcia) can do well on that 450, even if it will be his first race. We are good group and I think the fact that we have a good team spirit this year should help us do well.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas - HRC General Manager - MXGP: I think everyone looks forward to the Motocross of Nations, even if it is after such a long and tough season for everyone. Ironman is a brand-new circuit for the GP riders, so that is exciting, but knowing how they prepare the tracks in America, I’m sure it’ll be perfect. Tim and Ruben are both excited for this event, as they get to go out and try and help their countries do the best they can, and they are both leaders for their teams. Tim obviously had that unforgettable event last year when he went one-one, but Ruben also did well as Spain came fourth. We will be doing everything possible to help them out, but we are also looking forward to enjoying the hospitality of the American Honda team, who had such a good season this year.