Kellett Sand Master - Portugal
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.
“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.”
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 Potisek and 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 Genot who 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.
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 with Camille 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-placed Guillaume 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.
