ACERBIS BEST LAP: NOTHING DECIDED IN EITHER CLASS WITH THREE ROUNDS TO RUN

Unlike the Fox Holeshot Award, the 2026 Acerbis Best Lap Competition is still live in MXGP and MX2 alike. One point separates Lucas Coenen and Jeffrey Herlings in the premier class, and Guillem Farrés can still reach Sacha Coenen in MX2. Both trophies are handed over at the MXGP Awards in Darwin.

Sixteen Grands Prix down, three to go, and the Acerbis Best Lap Competition is refusing to settle. In MXGP, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Lucas Coenen holds seven fastest laps to Honda HRC PETRONAS' Jeffrey Herlings' six. In MX2, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Sacha Coenen leads on eight from Monster Energy Triumph Racing Team's Guillem Farrés on five. With one point available at each of Türkiye, China and Australia, neither classification is mathematically closed.

MXGP: a season split in two halves

The MXGP numbers hide a clean narrative break. Lucas Coenen took seven of the first ten Grand Prix fastest laps of the season, a run through Almonte, Frauenfeld, Riola Sardo, Teutschenthal, Kegums, Montevarchi and Agueda that looked like it would decide the award before the summer was out.

Then Herlings arrived. The Dutchman has set the fastest lap at five of the last six Grands Prix, at Johannesburg, Loket, Lommel, Uddevalla and Arnhem, with only Romain Febvre at Foxhills interrupting the sequence. Coenen has not been quickest at a Grand Prix since Agueda. On current form the momentum belongs entirely to Herlings, and he needs to out-score Coenen by two across the last three rounds to take it.

There is history at stake for Coenen. He won the Acerbis Best Lap Award in MX2 in 2024 and again in MXGP in 2025, and a third consecutive title would be an unusual achievement across two classes. He is also the defending winner in the premier class, where he finished 2025 on eight fastest laps ahead of Herlings on four.

MXGP Acerbis Best Lap standings after 16 rounds

MX2: Sacha Coenen cannot be beaten outright, but he can be caught

The MX2 picture mirrors it almost exactly. Sacha Coenen had built a seven to one advantage by Johannesburg, then Farrés reeled off four consecutive Grand Prix fastest laps at Foxhills, Loket, Lommel and Uddevalla before Coenen answered at Arnhem.

The arithmetic is worth stating precisely. Coenen leads by three with three points left, so Farrés cannot pass him, but a clean sweep of Türkiye, China and Darwin would tie the pair on eight. Simon Längenfelder, the reigning MX2 World Champion and the 2025 Acerbis Best Lap winner with six, has managed just two this season.

MX2 Acerbis Best Lap standings after 16 rounds

Number worth knowing

Teutschenthal produced the anomaly of the season. Sacha Coenen's MX2 best lap of 1:57.905 was faster than his twin brother Lucas' MXGP best lap of 1:58.391 at the same Grand Prix, the only round of the sixteen so far where the MX2 field has been quicker than the premier class.

How it works, and where it ends

At the end of each Grand Prix, the rider who records the fastest lap in MXGP and in MX2 earns one point in the Acerbis Best Lap Competition. Nineteen Grands Prix, nineteen points per class, and the rider with the most at the end of the season takes the award.

Both trophies will be presented at the MXGP Awards ceremony in Darwin, at the close of the MXGP of Australia on 20 September, the final round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship. In 2025 the ceremony was staged at Mindil Casino Resort and streamed worldwide on MXGP-TV, YouTube and Facebook.