Simon Längenfelder (KTM, 5th place): Returning to the old set-up has paid off

The speculation surrounding the ongoing slump in form of MX2 title defender Simon Längenfelder continued in Agueda, Portugal. Although there was another silver lining on the horizon for Simon following two third-place finishes in Saturday’s qualifying race and Sunday’s first race, this did not yet mark a fundamental turnaround.

Problems in the second race

Sixth place in the second race was almost a flattering result. Simon couldn’t find a way past Camden Mc Lellan (Triumph), and in the final laps Karlis Reisulis (Yamaha) even closed in menacingly behind him, but the Latvian ran out of time in the end. Simon Längenfelder looked back several times during the second race to see who was next in line to make a move. And yet: the situation in Agueda was significantly better than a week ago in Montevarchi, and following the crash of World Championship leader Sacha Coenen (KTM) in the first race, the gap to the front was kept within reasonable limits overall. Before Agueda, Längenfelder’s deficit stood at 59 points. It has now increased by just 3 points to 62, because Sacha Coenen, despite his comeback in the first race, was again unable to find a way past Guillem Farres in the second race.

A 62-point deficit isn’t a disaster yet, but...

With a 62-point deficit, Simon’s title defence is by no means over, as we’ve only just passed the halfway point of the season. What’s important now is a general turnaround in form. The chart shows that Simon has been on a clear upward trend over the last three Grands Prix. A similar upward trend can be seen in Guillem Farres’s results, and Liam Everts’s curve is also pointing upwards, albeit less pronounced.

Der Trend von Guillem Farres und Simon Längenfelder (rot) zeigt nach oben

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

‘Perceived’ situation versus reality

If we look at World Championship leader Sacha Coenen, his trend over the last three Grands Prix doesn’t look all that good, even though he ‘seems’ to be dominating the championship. Following his hat-trick of victories at Kegums, things went steadily downhill for him in the next three rounds. His lead over Guillem Farres has shrunk from 41 to 27 points.

Simon Längenfelder compared to last year

Simon Längenfelder has started this season significantly better than last year. In 2025, he averaged 46.4 points per round. So far this year, he has averaged 41.5 points per Grand Prix. His worst result in 2025 was 29 points following a crash in Arnhem. This year, his lowest score to date came in Kegums with 26 points after a crash and a retirement in the second race. However, if we compare World Championship round 10 with the corresponding result from last year, he scored 39 points in 2025 compared to 43 points last weekend in Portugal. In other words: if Simon can continue this upward trend, there is a chance he can turn things around once again. The trend is pointing upwards again.

Punkteausbeute von Simon Längenfelder im Jahresvergleich 2025/2026

Foto: Thoralf Abgarjan

In the second race, I lacked that bit of bite.

Simon Längenfelder

Root cause analysis and a reset

The Red Bull KTM factory team has reset the set-up to how it was at the start of the season. That was a wise decision, as Simon was undoubtedly performing better at the start of the season than he is now. Simon Längenfelder has emphasised that he now feels more comfortable with this set-up. “We made a few changes this week and tried to go back to my old set-up. That’s given me a bit of confidence,” he explained. “Third place in the qualifying race and third place in the first race weren’t bad. I wanted to show a bit more intensity in the second race, but I lacked that bite. I struggled to take risks on the track. But we’ll keep working on it.”

Learning from Ken Roczen’s experiences

Ken Roczen has emphasised on several occasions this year that the constant desire to improve the set-up can also be counterproductive. He has attributed his confidence in his bike to the consistency of his set-up, which, by his own account, he hasn’t fundamentally changed since last year. In the end, Ken Roczen won the US Supercross Championships with this strategy.