HERLINGS AND THE SIXTH

There is no denying, Honda HRC Petronas factory rider, Jeffrey Herlings has been relentless in the search of his sixth Motocross world title. Major injuries have cost him at least four titles, maybe even more, and while nobody wanted to see Lucas Coenen go out injured in England this year, the next man in line, Herlings, not only felt the pain for the Belgian, but understood, you have to be in it, to win it.

Now, as we head to the 18th round of the 2026 MXGP championship at the Afyon Motor Sports Center in Afyonkarahisar, Türkiye, “The Bullet” will be ready to add that sixth world championship to the five he already has.

Of course, a win will see him join the great Joel Robert, who for decades was the holder of the most world motocross championships and most Grand Prix victory, with six titles and 50 GP victories. Stefan Everts broke those records around 25 years ago, and in the last decade, it’s been Herlings who had broken records, with 122 GP wins.

He would become statistically, the third best GP rider of all time, only behind Stefan Everts and Antonio Cairoli, who have ten and nine world championships each. Everts has 101 GP wins and Cairoli 94. For Herlings, 2026 has been very good to him.

“We have won 10 GPs this year, out of 17 right now. Outside the DNFs, I haven’t been outside the top three in Sunday races. I was third twice, otherwise first or second, so I have been very consistent. It does bring some pressure in the team, but nobody spoke about the championship. There is a lot of experience, and we just focus from race to race. Now its time to think about the championship. We are now more than 140 points in front, so only an injury can stop us. We need to be smart, but when you are alive, everything is a risk.”

And while Herlings doesn’t forget how he got into this position, he also knows that those years of broken bones and championships lost, he has had seasons where he has been by far, the fastest man on the planet. His 2018 season is now being compared to this 2026 title fight.

“The second part of the year yes (similar to 2018). I am still ashamed that Lucas got hurt, because I feel like I got something from that. I am not saying I am beating him every single time, but I feel like I can fight with him now. I don’t know if he goes to the next three GPs, because the big rumour is he is going to America next year. It would be a shame not to race him in the near future, because at the beginning of the year, he was the man to beat. I beat him on occasions, but he started better than I was. 2018 I was better, but I feel like the competition wasn’t as strong as it is today. In 2018 I was only fighting a 32/33-year-old Antonio Cairoli, but now I am facing a lot of young guns, facing Lucas Coenen, Kay de Wolf, Tim Gajser. Romain Febvre. It was basically just me and Lucas winning motos. I think Tom won one and Tim won one. If you take away Lucas, I would have won almost all the races. Right now, I feel like 2018, but the beginning of the year, I was not on that level, but I feel like now, I am pretty close and I am almost 10 years older.”

And if he can claim title number six this weekend, he isn’t looking at hanging up the helmet. In fact, he is in deep discussions with HRC to extend his contact for more years and hopefully, with that partnership, also more titles.

“Sometimes, when I wake up in the morning and I am sitting in my garage, its weird, but I still have so much passion for doing it. Yes, I like money, I am not going to lie, but, at the same time, I am not racing for money anymore. I can have a great life if I stop tomorrow. At the same time, I still enjoy the sacrifice. I still want to be at the top. I have nothing to prove. I have won the most Races, the most GPs, without injuries, I probably had the most championships. Many times, I was leading by a big margin, so I have nothing to prove to anyone, but I still wake up every morning with the same desire to be the best I can be. Even now, we are considering extending the contract. I am like an old bulldog that doesn’t want to give up.”