MXON. Lawrence Brothers Dominate as Australia Tops Qualifying at the 2025 Motocross of Nations

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Under blazing sunshine and in front of a packed Ironman Raceway crowd, the 78th edition of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations kicked off in spectacular fashion. Team Australia ruled the day, with Jett and Hunter Lawrence delivering flawless, start-to-finish performances that left no room for doubt — the defending champions are here to win again.

With both Lawrences taking their respective MXGP and MX Open Qualifying Races by storm, Australia finished with a perfect two-point tally, well ahead of the rest. Team Netherlands and Team Belgium followed in second and third, while Team USA fought through a difficult gate pick to end fifth overall behind Germany.

Belgium’s young gun Sacha Coenen was the other standout of the day, snatching victory in the MX2 Qualifier for Red Bull KTM — his first-ever race on U.S. soil. Unfortunately, Team Netherlands suffered a blow when Glenn Coldenhoff went down hard and may be out for Sunday’s main event.

MXGP: Jett Lawrence Flies the Flag

Jett Lawrence wasted no time proving who’s boss. The Aussie set the tone early, clocking the fastest lap by over a second in practice before blasting his Honda HRC out of the gate to grab the holeshot.

Despite early pressure from Ken Roczen, Jett kept his cool, building an eight-second gap to take the win. Romain Febvre, Ruben Fernandez, and Tim Gajser rounded out the top five, with Lucas Coenen charging from a first-corner crash to finish sixth.

Jett Lawrence (Team Australia):

“I executed a good start, I didn’t hit the gate this time, so I’m happy about that! The last time I was here, in the first race, I hit the gate, so already starting off better. I just wanted to get some solid laps in. I knew Kenny [Roczen] would be fast early on,  he’s really good at sprinting in those first few laps, so I just had to stay composed, hold him off, find my lines, and try to make as few mistakes as possible.”

Top 3 – MXGP Qualifying:

1. Jett Lawrence (AUS – Honda)
2. Ken Roczen (GER – Suzuki)
3. Romain Febvre (FRA – Kawasaki)

MX2: Coenen Shines on U.S. Debut

In MX2, Belgium’s Sacha Coenen pulled off a dream race, taking an early lead from Simon Längenfelder and holding off Kay de Wolf and Justin Cooper to the flag. Coenen’s victory pushed Belgium up the rankings and proved his speed on American soil.

Sacha Coenen (Team Belgium):

“I messed up a bit at the start. I went too far to the inside and it closed up, but I still came out second, then passed Simon [Längenfelder] on the first lap. It was a good race overall. I didn’t feel my best out there, but we’ll work on it and try to be better tomorrow.”

Top 3 – MX2 Qualifying:

1. Sacha Coenen (BEL – KTM)
2. Kay de Wolf (NED – Husqvarna)
3. Justin Cooper (USA – Yamaha)

MX Open: Hunter Lawrence Goes Full Send

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Hunter Lawrence dominated the MX Open race from the first corner. The Honda star checked out early and never looked back, crossing the line eight seconds ahead of Jo Shimoda and Calvin Vlaanderen.

Hunter Lawrence (Team Australia):

“It was good. Today was all about qualifying, that’s the first thing we had to check off the list to make sure we didn’t end up in the B Final, which would’ve made things tougher. I got a great start and was able to ride my flow, so I’m happy to get that one done and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Top 3 – MX Open Qualifying:

1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS – Honda)
2. Jo Shimoda (JPN – Honda)
3. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED – Yamaha)

Team Standings After Qualifying

1. Australia – 2 pts
2. Netherlands – 5 pts
3. Belgium – 6 pts
4. Germany – 6 pts
5. USA – 7 pts
6. France – 10 pts
7. Spain – 11 pts
8. Italy – 14 pts
9. Slovenia – 15 pts
10. Japan – 16 pts

With both Lawrences in unstoppable form and the Aussie squad firing on all cylinders, the rest of the field has a mountain to climb if they want to stop Team Australia.

If Team USA can turn that home-crowd energy into speed, Sunday might just deliver one of the wildest Motocross of Nations finales yet.

Source: MXGP