MXGP

DARWIN (Australia), 20th September 2026 – With memories of last year’s downpour still fresh, there were no weather issues this time for the MXGP of Australia Presented by Sitzler, as the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex near Darwin was bathed in bright sunshine for the whole of the day, giving us a hot, full, and frantic race programme that saw the MX2 World Champion crowned and the FIM Motocross World Championship season sign off in style!

There was little left to do for Guillem Farres to seal the deal today, and the Triumph Factory Racing Team rider completed just his second GP season by becoming World Champion with a spirited first race performance, delivering the title for the British manufacturer in just their third year since returning to World Championship Motocross!  The nation of Spain celebrated their second World Champion of the day, and their first male Champ since Jorge Prado in 2024.

Despite having to deal with challenges from both of his major French competitors, Jeffrey Herlings completed his sixth World Championship-winning season with a perfect final Sunday for Honda HRC Petronas, going 1-1 for the eighth straight GP to bring his career total to a massive 125 GP victories and 237 GP race wins.  It’s been a stellar year for “The Bullet”!

Second on the day was the outgoing World Champion Romain Febvre, taking second in both races after having to move forward on each occasion in his final GP for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.  Tom Vialle sealed the Fox Holeshot Award for the season on his way to third overall, his fifth straight podium for Honda HRC Petronas which sealed fourth in the Championship, the top MXGP class rookie for the year.

Seeing his good friend and teammate become World Champion was only part of the story for Camden Mc Lellan, as he took back-to-back GP wins for the first time in his career, and his fifth in total for the Triumph Racing Factory Team.  He also secured second in the World Championship, making it an historic 1-2 for the British manufacturer! 

Liam Everts took second overall with a fine second race win for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, his fifth podium in a row lifting him to fourth in the final Championship standings.  The season’s top rookie Janis Reisulis finished the season with third overall for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, his third podium of what has been a solid first year in Grand Prix racing. Farres took fourth overall after clinching the title at the end of race one.

The Grand Prix season ended with a great day of racing here in Australia, and the Paddock will party at the MXGP Awards in Darwin this evening to celebrate the achievements of what has been a brilliant season of World Championship Motocross.

Jeffrey Herlings

After his run of 40 consecutive sessions or races at the top was brought to a halt in yesterday’s Qualifying Race, Jeffrey Herlings re-asserted his authority with the top time in morning Warm-Up, by nearly half a second from Romain Febvre. Andrea Adamo was a further second back in third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with Tom Vialle in fourth.

Vialle made sure of the Fox Holeshot Award for the season by bolting into the early lead of race one, but Herlings was right with him and made a rapid move up the inside of his teammate to grab the lead through the fifth corner of the opening lap!  Febvre saw it happen in third after skating around Ivo Monticelli, who had a great start for JK Racing Yamaha ahead of Adamo and the second Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP machine of Pauls Jonass!

Febvre took second with a decisive shift in line to pass Vialle through the tight section before Pit Lane, giving the outgoing World Champion every chance to chase down his successor for the lead.  Meanwhile, Adamo and Jonass quickly got past Monticelli, as did Calvin Vlaanderen to grab sixth for the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team.  By lap six, the Italian had dropped to tenth behind Jeremy Seewer on the Venrooy KTM, Jan Pancar on his TEM JP253 KTM, and the MRT Racing Team Beta of Jago Geerts.

On lap seven, as Febvre did all he could to stay with Herlings, Vialle appeared to have an issue with his machine, gesturing towards his crew in Pit Lane and allowing Adamo through to third with ease.  He was not to drop any further positions, however, as Jonass and Vlaanderen stayed close to each other, but held station to finish fifth and sixth.  Pancar put together a good charge from a poor start to pass Seewer for seventh with four laps to go. Geerts dropped the bike briefly but retook Monticelli quickly to finish ninth, with the JK man in tenth.

Febvre got fans into it by closing to within a second of Herlings, but “The Bullet” hates losing, and put the hammer down with five minutes on the clock and pulled out a fifteen second lead, surviving a tricky moment on the final lap to come home 18 seconds clear. Febvre himself was 43 seconds ahead of Adamo, who got inside the top three in a GP race for the second time this year, closing the gap between him and Vialle to two points for the honour of top rookie, as well as fourth in the Championship.

Whatever issue was plaguing him was clearly rectified by the start of race two, as he claimed a twelfth Fox Holeshot Award of the season by a distance from Jonass and Adamo, while Herlings was initially fifth behind Vlaanderen! “The Bullet” got around the Ducati in the second corner, while Febvre was dealing with Monticelli back in eighth!

Adamo powered up the inside of Jonass to take second through turn five, then Herlings split them at the bottom of the Sitzler downhill section to move into third!  The Dutchman’s fight-back was completed with an inside move on Adamo for second through the left-right corners before Pit Lane, as Febvre followed in his wake, getting up to fourth at the end of the first full lap.

After a few laps of trying to get around Adamo, Febvre hustled up the inside at the bottom of an uphill section to take third on lap four, and Herlings was again on the defensive as Febvre closed in!

Pancar again had a less than ideal start, and worked his way forward throughout the race, passing Seewer again for seventh on lap 16, giving him that position overall ahead of the Swiss veteran, with Geerts ninth, while a second race tenth spot for KTM Australia’s wildcard Dylan Walsh gave him that spot overall as Monticelli suffered an unfortunate DNF on lap six.

Vlaanderen had a lonely ride to take sixth again for sixth overall, and Jonass was again ahead of him to take fifth overall, and the Latvian scored enough points to move past the absent Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Kay de Wolf for ninth in the World Championship.

At the front, Vialle, Herlings, and Febvre traded fastest lap times and even segment times as the battle swung back and forth between them. As Febvre got close, Herlings turned up the pressure on his teammate, who did not yield easily, even taking a little bit of contact before the Champ powered around the outside of the corner after Pit Lane, bouncing through the waves and forcing the Frenchman wide!

Five laps later, and after withstanding a passing attempt from Febvre in the same corner as Herlings’ initial attack, Vialle made his own mistake through the following turn to give his countryman a far easier overtaking chance. Third for Vialle still kept him ahead of Adamo in their battle for fourth in the series, as they finished third and fourth overall in Australia.

Herlings went on to a 3.6 second victory over Febvre, as the pair take first and second in the 2026 World Championship, ahead of the absent Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP pilot Tim Gajser.  The 125th GP win of Jeffrey’s career is his first in Australia, meaning that he has now won in every country he has ever competed in! It’s also the 250th win by all Dutch riders in Motocross history, and yes that means that Herlings has won exactly half of those!

It’s been a stellar season for “The Bullet”, and he looks forward to the challenge of defending the title next year!  Recent GPs have shown that Vialle, De Wolf, Gajser, and Febvre will still be threats next year, as will the new MX2 World Champion as he moves up to the premiere class!

2026 was a fantastic season in MXGP, and we look forward to see what 2027 will bring!

MXGP Championship Podium

Jeffrey Herlings: “Since Foxhills I think we are seven or eight races back, with the Belgian, French and Dutch races in there too, and I have only been beaten once, so that is no big shame. I have had a really good year and the whole team did a good job. It was a big gamble for me to make that switch after 17 years on KTM, and so far it has paid out to be quite a successful story. Thirteen GP wins, 16 podiums and the Dutch Championship as well, so it is a great achievement. I was faster in 2018, but I am smarter in 2026. I do not have that pure speed and aggressiveness any more, and I am not willing to take the risks I took back then. Sometimes you have to lose to win eventually.”

Romain Febvre: “Since we came here yesterday I felt really comfortable on the track, feeling that I could push and not make too many mistakes. I got a better start in the first race and I was quickly up to second with Jeffrey, and we did almost the whole race together before I lost him with three or four laps to go. In the second race we had an okay start, but in the first turn Jeffrey was in front of me, he slid and almost took my front wheel away, so I had to work my way through the pack again. We were catching Tom, but he was riding a good pace, so I tried to finish second. Jeffrey was not far, but it was not possible to beat him today. To be vice World Champion again, I think for the third time, is not bad, and coming after a championship it is never easy to defend the title.”

1. Romain Febvre; 2. Tom Vialle

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:24.505; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.362; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:02.170; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +1:07.125; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:11.155; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:13.043; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:42.497; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +1 Lap; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1 Lap; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, Yamaha), +1 Lap

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:45.558; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.600; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:07.742; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:49.372; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:53.702; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:07.131; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:12.735; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +1:14.516; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:18.525; 10. Dylan Walsh (NZL, KTM), +1 Lap

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 44 points; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 38 points; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 38 points; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 32 points; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 30 points; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 28 points; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), 26 points; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, BET), 24 points; 10. Dylan Walsh (NZL, KTM), 21 points

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 973 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 805 points; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 659 points; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 641 points; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 637 points; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 points; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 523 points; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 449 points; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 438 points; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 428 points

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 1063 points; 2. KTM, 893 points; 3. Kawasaki, 834 points; 4. Yamaha, 794 points; 5. Husqvarna, 461 points; 6. Ducati, 411 points; 7. Fantic, 317 points; 8. Beta, 248 points; 9. Triumph, 155 points; 10. JHL, 19 points; 11. GASGAS, 14 points

MXGP Championship Podium

With the heat already starting to build in the morning Warm-Up, the MX2 riders weren’t all pushing to their maximum, but all credit to Maxime Grau for taking a surprise top spot for Maddii Racing Honda ABF Italia! Liam Everts continued to show good pace in second place, while Sacha Coenen took third for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. 

Guillem Farres just had to finish to wrap up the title, but he pushed Coenen wide in the first corner, while his teammate Camden Mc Lellan darted to the inside to take just the second Fox Holeshot Award of his career, and first all year!  The two Triumph Factory teammates nodded to each other as they enjoyed the moment of opening this banner day for the manufacturer with a clean 1-2 at the head of the field!

Everts was snapping at their heels, however, while Janis Reisulis and Coenen also held top five positions. Sadly, the pack was missing the outgoing World Champion, Simon Längenfelder, who sat out the GP due to health issues, and as a result would finish fifth in the series for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

Kay Karssemakers started well in sixth for Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki, ahead of KTM Australia’s local hero Byron Dennis! Grau was eighth ahead of the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 machine of Karlis Reisulis and local KMP Honda Racing Team ace Deacon Paice.

By the end of the race, Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team’s sole MX2 rider Ferruccio Zanchi lifted himself into tenth place behind Karlis, while Karssemakers slowed momentarily, thinking he heard a strange sound from his machine. The Dutchman lost positions to Dennis and Grau, but would get back past the Frenchman after a fiery little battle! The teenage Aussie Dennis took the best GP race result of his career with sixth, while Coenen survived a near-crash over a jump that led to him running into a trackside barrier, momentarily causing him to drop the bike. He recovered to finish a lonely fifth behind Janis Reisulis.

The leaders stayed close, but Mc Lellan would not roll over and give his teammate a winning run to the world title, while Everts would also not let the Triumph boys relax! The leading three crossed the line within 2.2 seconds of each other, in the order Mc Lellan, Farres, and Everts, enough to crown the Spaniard as the new MX2 World Champion! An incredible achievement for Triumph, the first British manufacturer to win a world title since BSA, with British legend Jeff Smith, in the 500cc class of 1965!  To take the title, as well as the manufacturer’s crown, in just the third year of competition is a monumental achievement for everybody involved. 

Everts’ third put him ahead of Längenfelder, but it wasn’t enough to give him a chance of catching Sacha Coenen, who was confirmed as the bronze medal winner, while Mc Lellan had sealed the silver medal, making it a 1-2 in the Championship to add to the joy for the Triumph Racing Factory Team!

There was still a race to run, however, and Janis Reisulis was certainly still in a racing mood, firing to a clear Fox Holeshot Award, his third of the year, by some distance from Grau, Everts, and Coenen, while Mc Lellan and Farres were back in fifth and sixth! 

By the end of the first half-lap, Everts jumped alongside Grau to advance into second, while Farres, sporting a red and gold #1 plate and #1 race jersey in celebration, put on a great charge to pass Coenen as Everts was passing Grau, then caught the Frenchman at the start of the first full lap to move into third! Behind Coenen were Mc Lellan, Karssemakers, Dennis, Karlis Reisulis, and Zanchi, already up into tenth by that point.

Grau slipped behind Coenen and Mc Lellan by lap three, as the South African seemed to be patient in the opening laps.  Janis Reisulis seemed to start believing that he could deliver the first 2026 win for a Yamaha in MX2, and he was holding the GP win in his hands at the same time.  However, Everts started to close, and at the top of the circuit the Latvian had a scary moment over a jump and ran briefly off track, giving Everts the chance he needed to take the lead on lap nine, in the overall GP as well as the race!

Mc Lellan had passed Coenen at the top of the first hill to take fourth, then Karssemakers passed Grau to take sixth in the race, which is where he would finish to take sixth overall. Grau would finish seventh ahead of Dennis, but the Australian’s better first race gave him seventh overall ahead of the Maddii Honda man.  Karlis Reisulis and Zanchi would again take ninth and tenth to finish in those positions overall.

Farres appeared to give little resistance around the first corner as his teammate was still on the hunt for the GP win, and a bit further on from his first mistake, Janis ran off-track again, but lost a lot more time to drop to third behind the South African!  Coenen also passed Farres to take fourth, leaving him fifth overall behind the new Champion.

Janis Reisulis’ 4-3 scorecard was good enough for his third podium of the season, and he picked up the Jan de Groot award for top MX2 rookie with sixth in the Championship!  Everts’ win was still only enough for second overall, and fourth in the series, while Mc Lellan sealed the fifth GP win of his season, and career, winning two consecutive GPs for the first time ever. 

It was a momentous day for Triumph with the GP win, the World Champion, and a 1-2 in the World Championship in just their third season of racing. Farres will lead their charge into the MXGP class next season alongside the returning Mikkel Haarup, while Mc Lellan will start the 2027 MX2 campaign as one of the leading contenders alongside second race winner Everts.

It’s not quite the end of the season, however, as most of the GP line-up will return in two weekends’ time for the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations at Ernée in France to round the season off with the biggest event in the sport! Join us then, but in the meantime, massive congratulations are due to Jeffrey Herlings, Guillem Farres, and Daniela Guillen, your 2026 FIM Motocross World Champions!

MX2 Championship Podium

Guillem Farres: “It feels pretty good, I am not going to lie. Yesterday I had a solid qualifying race and today I got off to a good start. Camden passed me in the second corner and from there I just followed him, he had a good pace and I could not pass him, so second was really good for me. The second race was a bit the same, a difficult start, but I was riding comfortable. Going into the season we had a great winter, we worked a lot on and off the bike and we got some improvements, and me and Camden always push each other to the limit. Next year I go up a class, the goal is always the same and that is to win, but I am going to have to learn a lot of things.”

Camden Mc Lellan: “The title was not really in my mind. I spent a lot of time with Guillem and I knew a mistake from him was going to be very rare, and that is all it was going to take for me to win. I was very motivated this weekend to make a statement going into the off season, and I think I did a good job all weekend, with good starts, good speed and feeling good on the bike. In my opinion Guillem was the best 250 rider throughout the year, and once he started rolling in Portugal there was not much that would stop him. It is not an easy pill to swallow, but I am very happy for him and I can learn a lot from him. From 2025 to 2026 we made a major step forward with the bike, and this 1-2 in the championship is very important for the guys who work night and day.”

Sacha Coenen: “I had an up and down season. I started not so good in Argentina, but I came back swinging after that and had the red plate for four rounds, which was kind of good. Then I crashed and broke my collarbone, and I made everything possible to get back. I got some decent results after that, but going to Turkey I was completely off because I was really sick. That is how it is, it is racing, so I need to accept it. I was not the best over the last three rounds and I came up a bit short, but I am quite happy with my season overall. I am always learning, I am still young, and we will work hard this winter because I have some goals for next year.”

Top photo: Guillem Farres MX2 World Champion

Bottom photo: Guillem Farres

1. Camden Mc Lellan; 2. Liam Everts

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 33:23.805; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:01.367; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.168; 4. Janis Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:17.635; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:26.107; 6. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:31.044; 7. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:39.062; 8. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:45.270; 9. Karlis Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:47.661; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +1:35.433

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 33:31.260; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:11.166; 3. Janis Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:14.418; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:22.488; 5. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:32.261; 6. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:35.387; 7. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:38.666; 8. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:39.986; 9. Karlis Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:41.190; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +1 Lap

MX2 Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 47 points; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 45 points; 3. Janis Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 38 points; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 38 points; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34 points; 6. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 29 points; 7. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), 28 points; 8. Maxime Grau (FRA, HON), 27 points; 9. Karlis Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 24 points; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, DUC), 22 points

MX2 - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 904 points; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 868 points; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 814 points; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 795 points; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 768 points; 6. Janis Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 691 points; 7. Karlis Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 555 points; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 414 points; 9. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 401 points; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 388 points

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Triumph, 1037 points; 2. KTM, 983 points; 3. Husqvarna, 808 points; 4. Yamaha, 747 points; 5. Kawasaki, 583 points; 6. Honda, 557 points; 7. Ducati, 199 points; 8. GASGAS, 95 points; 9. TM Moto, 87 points; 10. JHL, 13 points; 11. Fantic, 8 points

MX2 Championship Podium

All the photos from the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

MXGP OF AUSTRALIA PRESENTED BY SITZLER QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1540m

Type of ground: Red clay

Temperature: 33°C

Weather conditions: Sunny

Crowd Attendance: 23,100

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

DARWIN (Australia) 19 September 2026 – The MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler brought something new on Saturday. For the first time ever, the After Race Show put the riders right next to the public, in a longer format that started straight after the MXGP Qualifying Race. The WMX, MX2 and MXGP classes came on one after the other, handing out signed caps and posters to the delight of the huge crowd.

MXGP fans got to meet Team HRC Honda Petronas' Jeffrey Herlings, the 2026 MXGP World Champion, and his teammate Tom Vialle, fresh from his Qualifying Race win. Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team's Calvin Vlaanderen, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP's Pauls Jonass and Dylan Walsh completed the line-up.

In MX2, Triumph Racing MX2 Factory Team's Guillem Farres and Camden McLellan, who take their title fight into the final day, shared the stage with Australia's Byron Dennis.

The WMX stars were there too, led by Daniela Guillen from RFME Spain National Team winner of WMX Race 1 and well on course for her first world title, alongside De Baets AIT Yamaha's Lotte van Drunen and Lachlan Turner.

Now it's time to wrap up the season in all classeswith Sunday Races that will finalise all the Championship Standings, with the champions set to receive their trophies!

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

MXGP Australia

Darwin (Australia), 19th September 2026 – Although a strong breeze kept the standing temperatures cooler than usual here in the Northern Territory state of Australia, the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex was still subject to blazing hot sunshine as the crowds gathered for the final round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships, the MXGP of Australia Presented by Sitzler!

There was a surprise in MXGP, as the long-running win streak of new World Champion Jeffrey Herlings came to an end, due mainly to a mistake in the first corner, and his Honda HRC Petronas teammate Tom Vialle stepped up to take the win, his first on a Saturday since the opening round in Argentina!  Romain Febvre chased him all the way to take second for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, with Herlings recovering to get to third position by the flag.

The MX2 World Championship could have been decided today, but Camden Mc Lellan held the celebrations off until tomorrow with his third Qualifying Race win of the year for Triumph Racing Factory Team. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Janis Reisulis held the lead for much of the race, but he would be forced into second place, still matching his career best finish on a Saturday.  Liam Everts was not far behind the Latvian to finish third for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.

There isn’t much to do for the red plate holder, Guillem Farres, to bring the title home tomorrow for the Triumph Racing Factory Team, but the expected Sunday crowd will look forward to a day of exhilarating action as well as Championship celebrations at the Hidden Valley venue!

2026 MXGP Start Australia

The continuation of the “top in every session and race” streak that Jeffrey Herlings had kept going since Foxhills in July was obviously still important to him this morning, as he topped Free Practice by just under half a second from Romain Febvre! The Dutchman then blazed to the fastest lap in Time Practice by a third of a second, making it 40 consecutive sessions at the top for “The Bullet”! Tom Vialle came in a second down on Febvre for third position, while Andrea Adamo posted a late time to grab fourth for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing ahead of Febvre’s fellow Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP pilot Pauls Jonass.

Herlings did not take his usual inside gate for the Qualifying Race, however, choosing instead to go for a mid-grid position, but he was outdone due to his neighbour on the start, Venrooy KTM Racing’s Swiss veteran Jeremy Seewer, getting a better jump off the line, only denied the Holeshot by a sly move from Vialle on the exit to turn one!

At that moment, Herlings’ rear wheel snapped sideways, forcing the Dutchman to get off the throttle and fall back to just outside the top ten!  If the streak was ever to end, his rivals needed to take advantage immediately! To that end, Adamo quickly got past Seewer to take second around the fifth corner from the start!

Vialle started to pull away, as Febvre had to work his way around Jonass and Seewer to get up to third at the end of the first full lap behind Adamo! Herlings had made several passes to get to sixth ahead of Australian Yamaha rider Levi Rogers, and the JK Racing Yamaha of Italian Ivo Monticelli. Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team’s sole survivor Calvin Vlaanderen held ninth ahead of the KTM Australia machine of Dylan Walsh.

Herlings made a nice inside move on Seewer to take fifth on lap two, then railed around the outside of Jonass on the final corner of lap three to grab fourth place!  It took until lap four for Febvre to finally move into second due to a mistake from Adamo, by which time Vialle had built a three second lead over his countryman.

Further back, both the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team bike of Slovenian Jan Pancar and the MRT Racing Team Beta of Jago Geerts had moved quickly past both Rogers and Walsh, while Vlaanderen pressurised Seewer for sixth, but was unable to make a pass.  The lower half of the top ten would finish that way, with Seewer sixth from Vlaanderen, Pancar, Geerts, and Walsh.

Herlings had a gap to close in to Adamo, who raced him hard in the first sector of the lap as “The Bullet” caught him on lap 11.  By that time, the gap to the leaders was over ten seconds, and Jeffrey knew that there was not enough time to catch the two flying Frenchmen!

Febvre got to within striking distance on a few occasions, but Vialle held his nerve to collect his eighth Qualifying Race win of his career, and his second this year in MXGP!

It puts Vialle four points clear of Adamo for fourth, in the only major battle in the top ten of the Championship, although Jonass needs 23 points on the board tomorrow to overhaul the absent Kay de Wolf for ninth.

For Herlings, though, the streak stops at 40 sessions and races, but you can bet he’ll be firing on all cylinders in tomorrow’s races! Will the French flyers be able to match him in the full GP programme?  It certainly will be worth watching!

Tom Vialle: "Yeah, nice to win again. Like you said, it's been a while. Pretty happy about the race. I took a great start and I felt good, trying to stay steady. We all know Jeffrey [Herlings] is pretty strong, but I checked him, he was a little bit farther back and I said okay, I stay steady, I'm going to beat him. So that was the goal for the race and I was happy to do it. Tomorrow is another day, long races, but I felt really good today, so looking forward to tomorrow to do it again."

Romain Febvre: "Yeah, good, but I came up short again. I didn't have the best start, but I found my way in the first few laps. I was quite a long time behind Tom, I was catching him in some places, but I made a couple of mistakes and lost some time. But okay, P2, so looking forward to tomorrow."

Jeffrey Herlings: "Once I got into third, I saw there were two minutes left and I was about 10 seconds down. I was like, I can't make that in four laps, damn, the streak is gone. I had a really good start, I went in second, but Jeremy [Seewer] went really wide and then I went into the mud and the rear just slid out. I was dead last. Even though there are just around 15 riders here, I still had to pass them all, and by the time I got into third, 15 minutes of the race was done and they had over a 10 second gap. So I still managed to get third, and for tomorrow's gate pick it's fine. I think the start position was really good, I just went quite far wide. There was a bike in front and I couldn't start turning in because he was there. We'll have to see tomorrow, but I think I'll roughly go somewhere where I was today. So we'll try again tomorrow and at least try to keep winning."

     
1. Romain Febvre; 2. Jeffrey Herlings

MXGP - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), 24:51.018; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.185; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:17.161; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:17.946; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:44.139; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:57.277; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:02.326; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:06.528; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:27.466; 10. Dylan Walsh (NZL, KTM), +1:49.268

MXGP - World Championship Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 923 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 761 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 659 p.; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 603 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 599 p.; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 523 p.; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 449 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 428 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 406 p.

Camden Mc Lellan

While much attention was being paid to the Championship contenders, Liam Everts showed his intent to be a factor in this GP with the top time in both Free and Time Practice sessions! He took the top gate pick by just 0.026 of a second – a good number for Everts – from Guillem Farres. Camden Mc Lellan was third to the gate, ahead of Janis Reisulis and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flyer Sacha Coenen, although the Belgian looked sore from yet another big crash as he tried to move up from fifth in Time Practice.

Coenen was outdone at the gate as he reacted to a flinch from his neighbour on the line, Dixon Racing Kawasaki’s Kay Karssemakers, and the Belgian had to pull back as the gate was held up on his front wheel!

Up front, Janis Reisulis took control with a flying start, and unusually for the Triumph team, it was Mc Lellan who had the better getaway, up in second in front of Everts, while KTM Australia man Byron Dennis got the home fans cheering as he came around in fourth! Karlis Reisulis also started in the top five for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2, and would soon get past the Aussie hero. 

Farres, meanwhile, was down in eighth initially, but railed around Karssemakers on a fast uphill right-hander to take sixth on the opening lap, before pouncing on Dennis at the start of the first full lap.  The Australian also yielded to Karssemakers soon after, but he was still seventh ahead of Maddi Racing Honda ABF Italia rider Maxime Grau, Coenen in ninth, and the KMP Honda Racing Team local boy Deacon Paice rounding out the top ten!

While Janis was setting a healthy pace at the front, his brother Karlis held Farres back until lap four, when the Spaniard leapt over an inside jump to block the Latvian’s ascent to the biggest uphill triple jump.  At the same time, Coenen forced past Grau to claim eighth, then made a decent charge at a position a lap to get to sixth, which is where he would finish, ahead of Dennis, Karlis Reisulis, Grau, and Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team rider Ferruccio Zanchi. The Italian had passed Paice at half distance as he races himself back to full fitness, claiming the final Championship point on offer.

Karssemakers scored his career best Qualifying Race result in a solid fifth place. Farres would get no higher than fourth position, while Everts was stalking the leading pair of Mc Lellan and Janis Reisulis. The South African launched an attack at half distance, and succeeded in taking the lead with a well-though-out pass in the same spot as Farres had passed Janis’ brother!

Keeping the Championship barely alive with the win, Mc Lellan certainly looked strong in the heat, just as he had done in China, while Everts made a run on Janis to finish just over a second back in third at the finish.  The result for the Yamaha man matched his best of the year, and he could be a force tomorrow, as indeed could Everts.

The battle for the bronze medal is decided, however, as Sacha Coenen is assured of at least third in the Championship, due to the withdrawal of his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Simon Längenfelder.  The outgoing World Champion has run a high fever since China and took he decision to sit out the final round. 

As for the gold medal, Farres needs just five points tomorrow even if Mc Lellan wins both races, which is looking highly likely.  Mc Lellan is 41 ahead of Sacha Coenen, so nearly home and dry for silver.  It all leaves a relatively pressure-free environment for the MX2 boys to race hard and free tomorrow, which should make for some fantastic racing as ever!

Make sure you catch all the action from the sweet Hidden Valley circuit in tomorrow’s final full Grand Prix Sunday of the 2026 season!

Camden McLellan: "Very, very fun qualifying race. Still a sufferfest out there, it's nice and warm, I think my neck's getting a nice tan! But a good start, really good start, I was super pleased with that. Then I had some fun out there, took my time, made a nice pass on Janis [Reisulis], also very happy with that, and then brought it home. This track is very fun, but it can bite you very, very quickly and it's high speed, so you don't want to go down. Looking forward to tomorrow, two long races, the final one of the season. It's been an awesome year, so I'm really looking forward to wrapping it up well."

     
1. Janis Reisulis 2. Liam Everts

MX2 - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 23:43.715; 2. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:01.288; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.173; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:30.495; 5. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:32.213; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:40.142; 7. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:47.299; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:50.990; 9. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:56.494; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +1:23.529

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 866 points; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 821 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 780 p.; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 768 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 750 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 653 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 531 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 414 p.; 9. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 401 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 359 p.

All the photos from the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY:
09:45 WMX Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.

LINKS

Infront Moto Racing

FIM

MXGP Australia