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 McLellan 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 McLellan 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 McLellan 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 McLellan 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, McLellan 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 McLellan wins both races, which is looking highly likely. McLellan 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
