A Legendary Season Finale: Herlings Is Sensational in Japanese Motocross Too

Jeffrey Herlings is unstoppable at Sugo as well, in the final round of the Japanese Motocross championship: a sensational triple win caps a stellar season.

There could hardly have been a better end to the season for Jeffrey Herlings, the undisputed king of Motocross. The wild card entry at Sugo, Japan, bore the signature of the Honda phenomenon: first in qualifying, first in Race 1, first in Race 2, with an astonishing lead of more than a minute in both motos. And so, 2026 comes to a close as a truly stellar year for Herlings, his first with Honda after so many successes with KTM. This new challenge marked a turning point and another milestone for the talent from Geldrop, who continues to rack up staggering numbers in Motocross history. Now it’s time for a break for him too, but his sights are already set on 2027, when he’ll do everything he can to prove himself once again.

He repeated a script we’ve seen so many times in MXGP: a perfect triple in the IA1 class across qualifying and the races. The newly crowned six-time world champion, special guest at the final round of the MFJ-GP Japanese Motocross Championship, swept aside the competition with ease. As mentioned, the standings show enormous gaps over all his rivals: after taking Saturday’s pole position ahead of Australian Jay Wilson and Yuki Okura, he shifted into top gear in the two motos, winning both by more than a minute. He wrapped up his prestigious appearance with a 1-1-1 score and 76 points—a clean sweep for the Dutch HRC star. The title contenders finished further down the order, but a 6-3 was enough for Australian Wilson to secure his fourth Japanese title, his last with Yamaha Japan, ahead of Yuki Okura (Honda).

"2026 is over!" Herlings wrote on his social media channels, summing up the weekend. "I’ve raced my final event of the season, competing in the last round of the Japanese Championship at Sugo, and I won 1-1-1 for the last time this year, taking the main races by more than a minute each. 2026 has been fantastic for me. What a year! Finally, it’s time for a little break before getting back to work for 2027". In this kind of form, you can already bet he’ll be a force to reckon with again.

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