MXGPOfficialmotocrossJuly 26, 2026

Herlings And Farres Lead The Way From Loket After The MXGP Of Czech Republic!

LOKET (Czech Republic), 26th July 2026 – The smoking hot summer of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships continued this weekend as the sun-drenched crowds provided a crackling atmosphere around the fabled Loketske Serpentiny venue for the MXGP of Czech Republic, which saw a change in the leadership of the MXGP series and perhaps the first clear indication of where the gold medals might go in both classes at the end of the season!

Loket looked fantastic in the blazing sunshine all weekend and the traditional party atmosphere in this picture-perfect corner of Czechia was in full force, while the riders wrestled with a slick, hardpack surface that forced them all to be continually cautious with the throttle.

Taking control of the MXGP World Championship with his first perfect weekend of the 2026 season, Jeffrey Herlings took the Honda HRC Petronas machine to his 119th career GP victory, and matched the records of Joel Smets, Stefan Everts, and Antonio Cairoli with his fourth win at Loket. So yes, that is the top four GP riders of all-time, in terms of overall victories, at the top in the record books of Loket! Serious company!

Jeffrey’s Honda HRC Petronas teammate Tom Vialle made use of his brilliant starting prowess to notch up second overall, his first podium since Trentino four months ago, while Romain Febvre fought hard for third overall, his fourth straight podium for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.

The MX2 class saw a fourth straight GP victory for Triumph Racing Factory Team rider Guillem Farres, although his run of consecutive race wins was halted at seven by a race two win for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Liam Everts. The Belgian didn’t get to the podium, however, as Camden McLellan made it a 1-2 for the Triumph Racing Factory Team, and Latvian Karlis Reisulis climbed his first ever Grand Prix podium with third overall for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.

Once again, the Loket circuit produced a world class test for the MXGP elite, and among the boisterous fans from all across Europe and beyond, the racing was of a similarly high standard, making it yet another classic MXGP of Czech Republic to enjoy again and again!

Head Photo: Jeffrey Herlings
Top Photo: MXGP Start, Czech Republic 2026

Jeffrey Herlings continued to mercilessly push his name to the top of every session of the weekend with another fastest lap in the morning Warm-Up, over two seconds faster than the next best, which was Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Tim Gajser. The Slovenian had his teammate Maxime Renaux below him in the time charts as the Frenchman hoped to improve from his tenth in yesterday’s Qualifying Race.

There was a notable absence on the line today, in the shape of incoming red plate holder Lucas Coenen. Having dropped out of all of the races at Foxhills last weekend, and the Qualifying Race yesterday, the teenage Belgian finally made the decision with his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team to rest for the day and work towards being at full fitness in the future. Whether that means he will try to race at his home GP next weekend is a question yet to be answered.

Tom Vialle just out-dragged his teammate Herlings into the first corner of race one to claim his sixth Fox Holeshot Award of the season! Sole Red Bull KTM Factory Racing representative Andrea Adamo, who took his first career race victory at this circuit, ran third ahead of Fantic Factory Racing MXGP’s Belgian Brent van Doninck and the Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul of Norwegian Kevin Horgmo! Reigning Champion Romain Febvre had work to do, but hustled to the inside of Van Doninck to take fourth by the end of the first full lap as Horgmo crashed down the order to 19th.

Gajser was holding sixth in front of his fellow Slovenian Jan Pancar, who is always strong here on his TEM JP253 KTM, then Kay de Wolf was eighth on his return for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing. Ruben Fernandez did not get the best start, down in ninth for Honda HRC Petronas as the MRT Racing Team Beta of Jago Geerts started inside the top ten!

On lap two, Herlings made an outside pass at the bottom of the steepest descent on the track to take the lead from Vialle, and proceeded to power away from the field, as De Wolf and Fernandez both got past Pancar. Febvre started to make some ground after a few laps, relegating Adamo to fourth with a sharp pass on an uphill jump on lap five, and it took him another five laps to haul in and pass Vialle for second with a drag race from a slow corner up a long hill! Meanwhile, Van Doninck held onto fifth until half distance, when Fernandez overtook him into the corner before Pit Lane.

Gajser had crashed while catching the Fantic man on lap five, and caught him again by lap 13, but with three laps to go he crashed through a choppy corner, allowing De Wolf and Van Doninck back through into sixth and seventh. It was a season-best finish for the Belgian, as was eighth place for his countryman Geerts! Isak Gifting also got past Gajser after his crash to claim ninth for JK Racing Yamaha, putting the ex-Champ into tenth at the flag.

Up front, however, Herlings claimed his ninth race win of the year to take the Championship lead, with Febvre and Vialle over 18 seconds behind, and Adamo taking a fine fourth ahead of Fernandez.

It looked like Vialle had taken yet another Fox Holeshot Award to equal Lucas Coenen’s total for the year in race two, but closer inspection revealed that Jeremy Seewer, who had retired early in race one, claimed that prize for Venrooy KTM Racing, his first one since Sardegna in April 2025! Vialle soon restored normal order as he passed the Swiss rider on the first uphill, with Gajser and Herlings also moving ahead on the following few sections. Fernandez and Pancar were also inside the top six, ahead of Maxime Renaux, who had suffered a heavy crash that put him out of race one. Tom Koch was eighth initially for KTM Sarholz Racing Team, with local rider Jakub Teresak within the top ten for HT Racing Group KTM, and Roan van de Moosdijk also in there for Kosak KTM Racing.

Herlings was in emphatic mood, and put together a solid pass through a right-left sequence of corners to get past Gajser for second on lap two, then pulled almost exactly the same move on Vialle to lead just a lap later! Meanwhile, his teammate Fernandez was working on Seewer, moving up to fourth on lap five. From there, the top four were set for the race!

Romain Febvre had been caught in a pile-up with De Wolf and Gifting in the first corner, and then Van Doninck and Horgmo hit the floor together in turn two! Adamo had also suffered a first lap crash, and although De Wolf retired from the race almost immediately, Febvre put in a stunning charge to reach the top ten by lap five!

Quickly dispatching Koch and Van de Moosdijk two laps later, he then leaned on his countryman Renaux to take seventh by lap nine, and out-powered Pancar to take sixth on lap ten! Former teammate Seewer was the next to fall to the reigning Champ’s charge, and he had done enough to prevent a Honda HRC Petronas podium sweep by putting himself into third overall, behind Herlings and Vialle, and ahead of Fernandez in the GP.

A tiring Seewer would lose positions to finish an eventual twelfth, as Renaux and Pancar took sixth and seventh. Van de Moosdijk’s eighth was his best race of the campaign so far, and it put him ninth overall ahead of Gifting! Geerts made several passes from 15th on lap one to finish ninth, giving him a season best of seventh overall ahead of Pancar. Adamo recovered to tenth in the race to claim sixth overall, and Gajser’s third made up for his troubled first race enough to put him in fifth for the day.

Herlings was again invincible, claiming his first perfect 1-1-1 of the year for his 119th career victory, including his 225th GP race win! It moves him into a 49-point lead in the series over Coenen, with Febvre another 25 points behind the Belgian.

Will the teenager be able to return to action on quite possibly the most brutal circuit of the entire calendar? That seems unlikely, but the rest will be back to take on the deep sand next weekend. You most definitely want to be watching that one!

Jeffrey Herlings: "Three starts in a row helped a lot, and racing Tom was clean, we’ve known each other long enough not to touch. The bike is incredible on this kind of track, it just sticks to the ground and lets me do what I want with it. But for me there’s only one thing that matters, and that’s the gold plate. White, black or red, it doesn’t change anything at the moment, so we keep fighting for that."

Tom Vialle: "The last couple of GPs have been tough, a few crashes put me out of good results, so this feels really good. I had three great starts this weekend and that helped a lot. Riding behind Jeffrey, I was trying to learn as much as I could rather than just wanting to get past. Nice to be back, and the bike keeps improving, so we’re heading in a good direction."

Romain Febvre: "I’m happy and disappointed at the same time. I crashed on the first turn, got stuck under another bike, and thought the podium was gone. Somehow I came back to finish fifth, I still can’t believe it. My starts were not great all weekend, so with a better start I think I could have fought for the win."

1. Tom Vialle; 2. Romain Febvre

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 35:20.291; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.310; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:23.914; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:24.771; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:40.610; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:52.820; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +0:54.449; 8. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +0:56.891; 9. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), +0:59.627; 10. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +1:02.290

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 35:34.003; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:10.910; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:12.298; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:36.219; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:49.879; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:58.757; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:02.775; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +1:05.588; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:07.805; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:12.673

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 50 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), 42; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 38; 4. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), 34; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), 31; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 29; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), 25; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 23; 9. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), 23; 10. Isak Gifting (SWE, Yamaha), 19

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 615 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 541; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), 489; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), 414; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 411; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 408; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), 367; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 292; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), 273

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 703 points; 2. KTM, 660; 3. Yamaha, 573; 4. Kawasaki, 566; 5. Husqvarna, 325; 6. Ducati, 261; 7. Fantic, 260; 8. Beta, 133; 9. Triumph, 102; 10. GASGAS, 4

MXGP Podium, Czech Republic 2026

Guillem Farres

The new red plate on the Triumph Racing Factory Team machine of Guillem Farres shone brightly at the top of the time charts in MX2 morning Warm-Up, while Karlis Reisulis showed good pace in second, ahead of Qualifying Race runner-up Liam Everts in third.

Giving himself every opportunity to score well despite still recovering from a collarbone injury, Sacha Coenen took his 11th Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one, just ahead of his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Simon Längenfelder, but the Czech fans were roaring for their teenage sensation Julius Mikula, who fired into turn two in third place for the equally-local Osička KTM MX Team!

What was truly unexpected, however, was a sudden burst of pace from Janis Reisulis, who powered past Mikula up the first hill into third, then pulled a brilliant two-for-one pass on both factory KTMs, through a cambered corner, to take the lead past Pit Lane for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2!

Farres was also on the move, however, and made an inside pass on Coenen for third after also squeezing past Karlis Reisulis towards the finish line jump. Längenfelder was also swiftly dealt with, and the in-form Spaniard set after the younger Reisulis brother out in front.

Mikula held onto fourth until lap three, when Karlis came past him, as Coenen held sixth in front of Camden McLellan, who yet again started poorly, then the Maddi Racing Honda ABF Italia of Maxime Grau was eighth ahead of Valerio Lata for Honda HRC Petronas. Fast-starting Swede Alve Callemo was in the top ten for the Young Motion powered by Resa team, until Gyan Doensen passed him for Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors.

Farres finally tracked down Reisulis to pass him cleanly for the lead on lap nine, but McLellan was on an amazing charge! Still in fifth, having dealt with Mikula, as his teammate took the lead, he still had so much work to do, knifing inside Karlis Reisulis for fourth on lap 12. Then he took on Längenfelder, who got kept back by Janis Reisulis, but the South African passed them both within two laps to take second!

Positions sixth to tenth stayed as they were with Mikula keeping Coenen back in seventh, Grau holding eighth ahead of Lata, while Doensen recorded the best GP race finish of his short career in tenth!

Längenfelder went around Janis Reisulis for third with four laps to go, but suddenly slipped behind the two brothers to end up in fifth! Janis was just over a second ahead of Karlis by the flag, but all eyes were on the Triumph duo as McLellan reeled in Farres, going for an inside move in the penultimate corner!

The South Africa just made contact with his teammates front wheel, and it was enough to pitch his own Triumph onto the ground! Somehow Farres stayed upright, and was able to cruise the remaining few metres to the finish line for his seventh straight Sunday race win! McLellan was sporting enough to shake the Spaniard’s hand after the race, despite his inevitable frustration. Farres’ streak of seven wins was the longest in the class since Jorge Prado won nine in a row in 2019, having beaten Lucas Coenen’s six straight successes at the end of 2024. It also extended his points lead to 27, ensuring the red plate would stay on his machine for Lommel!

The contest for the Fox Holeshot Award in race two was extremely close, but it went to Mikula by a tyre’s depth for the first time in his career! The crowd couldn’t enjoy his lead, however, as he was passed by Längenfelder and Liam Everts into turn two. The Belgian had crashed in the first corner of race one and could only recover to 12th in the near-full line-up of riders.

Mikula had company with Farres as they crossed the Finish line to start the first full lap, and he tangled wheels with the Spaniard and hit the floor, to the dismay of the local fans! He picked it up quickly in 15th, as Everts flew past Längenfelder down the following hill! Janis Reisulis was fourth behind Farres, with Coenen, Karlis Reisulis, the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team stand-in rider Simone Mancini, Grau, KTM Sarholz Racing wildcard Noah Ludwig, and McLellan rounding out the early top ten.

Farres attacked Längenfelder for second, and won a blazingly fast duel through the long left-handed curve towards the finish line! Shortly after, in a sharp right-handed corner, the German went for an aggressive move that backfired badly, leaving the reigning Champion down in a painful crash, the series leader yet again surviving some contact, and the KTM was soon rolling into Pit Lane clutching his right arm. We hope he is OK for next weekend, even though he has now lost third in the series to McLellan.

The South African was up to sixth by lap four, then both he and Karlis Reisulis shot past Coenen into the top five by lap seven. Try as he might, Farres could not close on Everts, who was revelling in the slick and technical conditions.

The Reisulis brothers had their biggest battle yet in MX2, and it was Karlis who made the decisive move to claim third on lap 11, a move which put them into provisional second and third overall! Sadly for them, McLellan was set to break up the family podium party by passing Janis on lap 13, and that was the top five set for the duration.

Grau passed a struggling Coenen to take sixth, the best race finish of the Frenchman’s career to date! Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki’s sole MX2 rider Kay Karssemakers, down in race one early with Everts, battled to a credible eighth in race two ahead of the recovering Mikula, who slumped onto the finish line afterwards to pay thanks to his adoring home fans!

Doensen was equally elated with another tenth position, which put the teenage Dutchman in ninth overall ahead of his countryman Karssemakers. Mikula took eighth behind Coenen, with Grau enjoying a career-best sixth overall in the GP!

Liam’s first race win of the season, and sixth in total, put him fifth overall and wondering what might have been. Janis Reisulis missed the podium, but must have shared in his brother’s joy at a first career GP podium after two full years of trying!

Farres’ race win streak was broken, but his GP winning streak moved on to a fourth straight victory, with McLellan making it a Triumph 1-2 for the second time since the team was formed! Now with a 33-point margin over Sacha Coenen, it’s looking good for the confident Spaniard, although the two big sand races may prove to be his biggest test yet.

Join us next weekend for the MXGP of Flanders from Lommel in Belgium, as the deep sand awaits to test all of the riders in both classes to their limits! See you out there!

Guillem Farres: "The bike has been working really well the last three races, so I’m happy about that. This isn’t one of my favourite tracks, but after some not-so-good starts I made it happen anyway. The red plate doesn’t really change anything for me, if anything it just makes me hungrier to win."

Camden Mc Lellan: "With all due respect to everyone else, I think I was the best rider all weekend, in control, fast, smooth, no mistakes. This weekend I took a big step, I got the elbows out and was aggressive with everyone. I know I have the speed to be up there, I just need to sort out the starts and the rest will come together."

Karlis Reisulis: "The podium is one thing, but I was just happy I could ride two good races today. Battling with my brother isn’t easy, he was really trying not to let me past, but it’s nice to race against him. I’ve been waiting a long time for this, and I’m just looking forward to the next rounds."

1. Camden Mc Lellan; 2. Karlis Reisulis

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 34:03.298; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:10.705; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:12.517; 4. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:13.808; 5. Simon Langenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:15.555; 6. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:29.162; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:36.237; 8. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:42.614; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:49.533; 10. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:51.950

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 33:57.774; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:06.000; 3. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:08.232; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:10.540; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:24.233; 6. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:47.842; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:54.803; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:59.452; 9. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +1:08.814; 10. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +1:15.477

MX2 Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 47 points; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 40; 3. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 38; 4. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 36; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 34; 6. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), 28; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 28; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 27; 9. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 22; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), 21

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 618 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 585; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), 548; 4. Simon Langenfelder (GER, KTM), 547; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 520; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 476; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 376; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), 352; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), 332; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 283

MX2 - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Triumph, 699 points; 2. KTM, 687; 3. Husqvarna, 520; 4. Yamaha, 511; 5. Kawasaki, 451; 6. Honda, 386; 7. Ducati, 153; 8. TM, 87; 9. GASGAS, 65; 10. Fantic, 8

MX2 Podium, Czech Republic 2026