Honda HRC PETRONAS’ Jeffrey Herlings put in a pair of superb passing performances to come through the field and win the MXGP of Trentino.
The Honda CRF450RW rider came from around 15 seconds back in race one to pass his title rivals and win the moto, before almost repeating the process in race two, narrowly coming in second, but still taking the GP overall and closing to within four points of the championship lead. Tom Vialle also stepped onto the box in third place after an excellent weekend from the Frenchman.
After a ninth place in qualification yesterday the Dutchman didn’t have the best gate-pick and that meant he struggled to get round the tight first corner with the leading pack. Instead, the #84 did things the hard way, using creative lines and keeping his momentum on the twisty Pietramurata circuit. At one point, as he chased the leading trio, he was four seconds faster than them, before passing them with similar ease to get back to winning ways. The second race looked like being a carbon-copy but he just ran out of time as he hunted down the leader, settling for second place but first overall and taking a considerable chunk out of the championship deficit.
Joining him up on the podium was teammate Vialle who also put in a battling performance on this tricky circuit. The #18 had an excellent third in race one, keeping the leader in sight for the majority of the race, but had to really fight hard in race two after a nasty crash midway through the race. When he remounted, he was off the box, but two passes near the end of the race catapulted him up onto the third step, giving the Honda HRC PETRONAS team even more to cheer.
Unfortunately Ruben Fernandez was never really able to challenge near the front, after struggling out of the gate, but he fought his was through to inside the top 10 in both races and knows after his timed practice lap, that speed wasn’t the issue. Like Valerio Lata in the MX2 class, who just couldn’t get things going in his favour today, the pair will be utilising this four weekend break to try and come back swinging for the sixth round of the championship in Lacapelle-Marival, France on May 23-24.
MX2 Race 1
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:25.210; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.364; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:11.713; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:13.112; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:50.262; 6. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:54.674; 7. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:55.678; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:56.046; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:11.117; 10. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +1:15.315; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:20.692;
MX2 Race 2
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:01.180; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:06.047; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:09.299; 4. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:10.923; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:12.939; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:18.121; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.875; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:28.441; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:31.715; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:41.796;
MX2 GP Overall
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 42 p.; 3. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 30 p.; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 25 p.; 9. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 23 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 21 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 244 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 241 p.; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 204 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 202 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 185 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 170 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 159 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 150 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 133 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 114 p.;
Rubén Fernández 70
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Tough race day today, and I felt like I was always involved with another rider in some sort of battle. My life would have been a lot easier if I could have got the starts, but instead I was around the top 10 and it just wasn’t easy to find a good rhythm in either moto. Now we have a few weeks off so I’ll keep working hard and just trying to work my way towards to front guys, which I really don’t think I am too far behind.
Tom Vialle 16
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I had a bad crash right after the wave mid-moto and lost a lot of time and lost some positions and that made things tough. I had to really work hard for this podium in that second moto and I didn’t know that I had managed it when I crossed the line. Overall, I had a lot of fun overall this weekend, it was a slow track but technical and that’s something I enjoy. Now we have a bit of a break from the GPs and I hope to keep this season going well for when we return.
Jeffrey Herlings 84
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I need to work on my starts but otherwise my speed was really good all weekend. I came from 15th to first in the first moto and 10th to second in the second moto so it was good. I found a good flow and had some good lines in both races and even though it is a small track, I had to be creative. It was really good to pay back all the hard work from all of Honda HRC PETRONAS, they’ve all worked really hard to put me in the position to win and it was important to get these points for the championship standings, even though we have a lot of racing to go.
Valerio Lata 18
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Definitely not the event that I hoped for coming into the weekend. Things really didn’t go well and just seemed to have a lot of bad luck. Now we have four weeks off to try and improve and get the season back on track and just ride to the potential that I know I have. We will all be working hard and I’m already focusing on the French GP and making sure I’m ready for that circuit.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas –
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Trentino has given us a lot of good memories over the years and this 2026 edition will certainly be remembered. Jeffrey’s two motos – especially race one – were incredible and just showed his speed and determination on a track that he doesn’t particularly like. He is now just four points behind in the championship, heading into this GP break, but he is already scheduled to keep racing because that’s what works for him and after performances like that, it is easy to see that it works. Also a big congratulations to Tom who fought hard for his podium. He had a nasty crash in the second moto, but did what he needed to do to step up and we are just really excited for what he’s done and the potential he has for the rest of the season. Unfortunately Ruben couldn’t quite get the starts as dialled as he’d have hoped and instead did well to battle for eighth overall and Valerio had some issues which stopped him from performing at his best, but we will work hard with him to make sure him and the whole team will be ready for France on May 23-24.
