Races are coming thick and fast now for the Honda HRC PETRONAS team, with the MXGP of Latvia next up. The sandy circuit in Kegums has been a fixture on the calendar for a number of years now and Jeffrey Herlings has won there nine times, so it would another great boost for his title aspirations if he could make it number 10.
Of course, it won’t be easy for ‘The Bullet’, who wasn’t able to keep his win-streak alive in Germany, after a technical issue forced him off the track in race one. He did recover with an excellent second place in race two, but he knows that every point is critical, even with over half of the season left to race.
Ruben Fernandez is also looking forward to racing Kegums, as he is fresh off his first podium of the season. The Spaniard fought extremely hard to make in on the box, including recovering from a collision with another rider which dropped him a couple of places. However, he now knows he has what it takes and the aim now is for him to challenge up front more regularly.
Unfortunately, Tom Vialle won’t be amongst those riders as the Frenchman is sitting out the MXGP of Latvia. The #16 tried his best in Germany to fight through the pain, but after missing those races, he has now taken the hard decision to miss Kegums as well. It had been an excellent start to the season for Vialle, so he definitely didn’t want to have to make this call, but his health is paramount and now the goal is to make sure he’s back and fully fit for Montevarchi on June 20-21.
While Italian Valerio Lata will also have his eye on that race, for his ‘home GP’, his focus is fully on putting in another strong performance for the weekend. He had the speed to run in the top three for a large duration of the first moto and could have easily ended up with a top five overall with a bit more luck. Now though, he has another chance to put it all together and fight with the best motocross riders in the world, at what should be another weather-affected round of the 2026 MXGP World Championships.
Rubén Fernández 70
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Great to get up on the box for the first time this year. Big thanks to all the team for helping me and believing in me and it’s great to be able to repay all that faith. Now that I’ve done it once, I want to try and keep on doing it, and that starts in Kegums this weekend. It’s kind of sandy but it’s a fun track and I feel good about my riding and my starts were better in Germany so let’s keep these good times rolling.
Tom Vialle 16
Honda HRC PETRONAS
It is sad news to say that I won’t be lining up in Latvia this weekend. I was in too much pain in Germany to be able to race, and I don’t think things have got sufficiently better for me to be riding at Kegums. It is a big shame because I really feel like I had done well in the opening rounds of the season and had adapted well to the bike and to riding in the MXGP class. The plan now is to try and make sure I am as close to 100% for Montevarchi as possible, and challenge up front like I had at every GP previously.
Jeffrey Herlings 84
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Obviously not a great weekend in Germany. Glad it’s done and we can move onto this weekend in Latvia which is a much better track for me. I know what it takes to win here but with the way these guys are riding, I know that this year will be especially tough to stand on top of the box. I need to make sure my starts are on point in Kegums, and I’m curious to see if they’ve done anything different to the track. Fair play to Teutschenthal because they tried new things, so we’ll see what it’s like there this weekend.
Valerio Lata 18
Honda HRC PETRONAS
My riding was better in Germany, especially in the first moto so that’s what I want to replicate in Latvia this weekend. It is a different type of track, but I feel like I can do well there and I really want to try and get this season going in the right direction, as we approach the half-way mark.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas –
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Teutschenthal was definitely a mixed bag for Honda HRC PETRONAS. It was great to see Ruben on the podium after all his work this year, because it hasn’t been easy, but he has kept trying and now we have had all three CRF450RW riders on the box. Unfortunately Jeffrey had an issue in race one that meant he couldn’t finish, but bounced back with second place in race two to keep himself in the championship hunt. Valerio also showed more speed and good riding in the tough conditions and we want him to try and keep that going this weekend. Tom tried his best to line-up but he couldn’t make it and will now miss Latvia as well in order to be ready for the rest of the season. It is a shame because he’d been riding well, much better than we could have hoped, but we’re sure he’ll be back to form in Montevarchi, Italy.
📸 @shotbybavo
