Honda HRC PETRONAS’ Jeffrey Herlings put in another perfect performance across the weekend at the MXGP of Flanders (Belgium), going one-one-one at the deep sand track of Lommel, leading every lap and winning the two motos today by a combined one minute and 25 seconds. It was pure domination and it now sees the Honda CRF450RW rider lead the championship by 104 points.
Like in recent GPs, we witnessed the #84 and Tom Vialle’s #16 rocketing around the first corner almost together, with the duo splitting holeshot awards in the two races. But very quickly afterwards, it was Herlings who took the lead and controlled the rest of the motos. With a margin of victory of 45.4 and 39.6 seconds, there was never any doubt about who’d receive the chequered flag, or the GP overall – his eighth of an already incredible debut season with Honda HRC PETRONAS. With five rounds left to go, there is still 300 points at stake, but his 104-point lead in the 2026 MXGP Championship means he is firmly in command and needs to just keep this form going for just a few more rounds.
After his podium effort in Loket last time out, Vialle narrowly missed out by just two points, at what is known as the toughest track in the world. It was always going to be a tall task to match such experienced 450cc sand riders, but the Frenchman – who won here twice in the MX2 class before departing to America – showed great determination to fight for his five-three results.
Ruben Fernandez also showed a lot of grit to show seven-six results, at a track that hasn’t been kind to him in the past. While chaos was all around him, the Spaniard stayed cool, calm and collected, avoiding any major mistakes and keeping his CRF450RW upright throughout the weekend. With some more favourable tracks coming up, he is looking to move up into fifth in the championship, starting in Uddevalla, Sweden on August 15-16.
The weekend off will come at a good time for MX2 rider Valerio Lata, who struggled to find any real rhythm in the deep sand this weekend. His 9-11 results aren’t what he was hoping for, coming into this weekend so will regroup and try to improve on the rocky terrain next time out.
MXGP Race 1
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:33.732; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:45.474; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:46.826; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.311; 5. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +1:25.908; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:32.593; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:37.688; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:42.078; 9. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:51.325; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:58.772;
MXGP Race 2
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:39.461; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:39.633; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:54.242; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:54.762; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:26.840; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:28.648; 7. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:30.752; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +1:43.225; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:45.085; 10. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +1:48.011;
MXGP Overall
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 44 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 38 p.; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 36 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 29 p.; 7. Ben Watson (GBR, TRI), 26 p.; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 26 p.; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 23 p
MXGP Championship
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 675 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 571 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 534 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 450 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 446 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 425 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 409 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 345 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 273 p.;
MX2 Race 1
- Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 36:08.902; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:05.898; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:10.765; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:12.043; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:32.445; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:23.092; 7. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:33.889; 8. Alve Callemo (SWE, Husqvarna), +1:55.155; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +2:00.388; 10. Scott Smulders (NED, Husqvarna), +2:10.032;
MX2 Race 2
- Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 35:50.135; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:06.119; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:13.125; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:21.012; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:31.400; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:50.612; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:21.225; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:31.542; 9. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), +2:09.613; 10. Alve Callemo (SWE, Husqvarna), +2:16.008; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
MX2 Overall
- Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 50 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 42 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 31 p.; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Alve Callemo (SWE, HUS), 24 p.; 9. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 22 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 668 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 621 p.; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 608 p.; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 598 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 542 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 512 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 416 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 355 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 312 p.;
Rubén Fernández 70
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Sixth overall is a solid result, and although I wasn’t so close to the podium as I have been the previous weeks, the fact that I stayed off the ground throughout the entire weekend is something I can be proud of. This track hasn’t been kind to me in the past, so I think I showed that I can be fast and consistent at such a tough track. We’ve got some better tracks for me coming up and I’m excited to see what I can do on those.
Tom Vialle 16
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I ended up being just a couple of points off the podium, which I think is something I am extremely happy with, on my return here on a 450cc machine. This truly is the toughest track in the world, and having not really trained on anything like this for a few years, I think fourth overall, with a third in race two is an excellent result. We’ve been working very hard these past few weeks and I think you can see the process is working well.
Jeffrey Herlings 84
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Another perfect weekend, perhaps even better than in Loket because I was able to lead every lap of every race. That made my life a lot easier and I was able to just control the speed and pick my own lines. I really enjoy riding here and I think that showed with just how comfortable I looked, and it also showed how much work the whole team has put in, to get to a stage when I can win both of the races by 40 seconds. And now we are 104 points up, which is a good margin, but the work still isn’t done yet.
Valerio Lata 18
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I can’t say that I’m very happy with this weekend. I knew it would be a tough one, but this was really a struggle and I’m hoping that I can reset in this weekend off and do better in Sweden, on a track that suits me a lot better.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas –
Honda HRC PETRONAS
This track is always such a tough track for everyone, both the riders and the team members and these temperatures made things even tougher. However, I think you can see with the results that we all worked extremely well and that everyone put in a strong effort. Jeffrey continues to dominate and looked so comfortable doing it, Tom rode excellently for his fourth place, just narrowly missing out on another podium and then Ruben showed that he has really improved and looked a lot more controlled. Only Valerio wasn’t able to show his sand-surfing skills, but overall it was a very successful weekend and we’ll keep pushing in the weekend off before Sweden.
©HondaRacing_@shotbybavo
