Kymiring finally got its first World Championship race last weekend. Not quite the MotoGP that Jason Thomas and Adam Wheeler were dreaming of — but hey, MXGP stole the spotlight instead.
Words and Photos By: Jane Hovi
Located in the quiet Finnish town of Iitti, about 130 km from Helsinki and surrounded by more trees than people, Kymiring was born in the early 2010s from a bold idea: “Let’s build a world-class MotoGP track in the middle of nowhere in Finland!” Construction kicked off in 2016, and by 2019, the 4.6 km ribbon of asphalt was almost MotoGP-ready.
MotoGP even came to test the track in 2019, which sent Finnish motorsport fans into turbocharged excitement. But then came a not-so-fun combination of COVID-19, unfinished infrastructure, and budget issues. The dream race kept getting postponed until Dorna Sports finally pulled the plug in 2022. A year later, in 2023, Kymiring hit the wall, financially speaking and declared bankruptcy.
But like any good race bike, it wasn’t down for long. In 2024, the track found new life with a Hungarian-led consortium, TRP Hungary, now at the controls. And guess what? In 2025 track hosted first World Championship race, as MXGP landet in Finland.
Lucas Coenen (96) dominated the MXGP class, winning the qualifying race and both main motos. The Belgian closed the championship gap to Romain Febvre to just 15 points, with seven rounds still to go.
Kay de Wolf has been battling injuries throughout the early season and said he’s only been able to train at full intensity for the past couple of weeks. The Husqvarna rider claimed the full 60 points from the MX2 class at Kymiring.
Jeremy Seewer had a steady race, but maybe Big Lew should give the Ducati rider a call and sort out some extra speed.
Speaking of Big Lew—Ben Watson was the fastest Beta rider and also the fastest Brit. In fact, Seewer and Watson finished back-to-back in both motos, with Seewer ahead in both.
To celebrate Yamaha’s 70th anniversary, special edition bikes were brought to Kymiring for Calvin Vlaanderen and Jago Geerts. Vlaanderen honored the occasion by landing on the podium for the first time this year. Geerts, on the other hand, suffered a massive crash in Sunday morning warm-up but luckily avoided injury. He finished ninth overall.
The Kymiring motocross track was completed just over a week before the race, and many were skeptical about it beforehand. After the event, however, the track was mostly praised by the riders; the only real downside was the loose rocks that surfaced in some sections.
Guillem Farres finished third in Saturday’s qualifying race, but on Sunday, the Spaniard—who probably also enjoys basset hounds—had a few crashes and ended up 10th overall.
Recovering from injury, Alberto Forato fought for third place in the second moto, but the brutal conditions drained him, and he eventually finished seventh—same as in the first race. Seventh overall was by far his best result of the season. Forato beat both Seewer and Watson, so Team Matthes 1 – Team Big Lew 0.
Lucas Coenen clocked a lap time 4.3 seconds faster than anyone else in the first MXGP moto. In the second race, he led by over two seconds already after the first lap. In the press conference, Coenen said he thought everyone else had crashed since he couldn’t see them. Sitting next to him, Romain Febvre just rolled his eyes…
Liam Everts was leading the MX2 qualifying race until he crashed hard. The result was a fractured sacrum, and the Belgian headed home for further evaluation.
The factory Honda riders will want to forget Finland as soon as possible. Ruben Fernandez finished sixth in the first MXGP moto but had to retire from the second after colliding with another rider, which damaged his bike. In MX2, Valerio Lata struggled all weekend on the sandy track and finished 13th overall.
It was extremely hot in Finland and riders had different kind of cooling vests on. The Kymiring GP weekend brought the two hottest days of the summer so far. Funny thing is, the previous GP in Matterley Basin was also sunny, and now Finland saw a heatwave—while earlier in the season, races in Central Europe were run in the mud.
Romain Febvre lost 17 points to Coenen over the weekend. Although the Frenchman is comfortable on sand, Coenen showcased his strength. Later in the season, the series heads to the sand pits of Lommel and Arnhem, where Coenen is expected to have the upper hand.
Maybe I’m just old, but this new-age celebration doesn’t quite compare to the good old heel clickers and nac nacs.
MX2 series leader Simon Längenfelder will probably want to join the crowd that prefers to forget Finland. The German said he liked the track but simply couldn’t find proper speed in the sand. Längenfelder finished only fifth overall, yet he still tops the championship standings with a 43-point lead over Andrea Adamo.
