Spectacular Jeffrey Herlings, Honda dreams: the magic of a true MXGP legend

Number 84 shines in Argentina, Jeffrey Herlings majestic in the first round of MXGP 2026. A dream debut with Honda.

Would you ever have expected such a result in the first race of the championship? Jeffrey Herlings, who wrote legendary Motocross numbers with KTM, has already embellished his rich résumé with a sensational debut alongside Honda. What we saw on the Argentine track in Bariloche is an example of how an overwhelming talent can still keep surprising. A talent, however, let’s remember, that is physically very fragile, hampered by a long list of injuries. It’s really easy to believe that otherwise the 5 world titles he has in his pocket would likely be more than doubled... The MXGP 2026 season has just begun but, if Herlings manages to avoid physical problems, he will be comfortably among the favorites, a true lion ready to roar again and again.

That is precisely the number reached yesterday; the record long held by Stefan Everts was surpassed some time ago and is being constantly raised. The only hiccup in a stellar weekend was the crash Herlings suffered in Saturday’s Qualifying Race, which left him with 0 points. That’s exactly where he started on race Sunday, a blank that perhaps fired him up even more. In Race 1, after the holeshot, he calmly watched his charging teammate Tom Vialle, another undeniably one to watch after what we’ve seen these days... But the ace from Geldrop had more, and in the second half of the race he reeled him in, then flew away and began to stamp his official seal. That wasn’t enough; there was still Race 2 to run. He wasn’t the best on the restart after the red flag due to gate issues, but in the Argentine heat you also need to manage your energy to reach the end. He steadily climbed back after a less-than-memorable start, but in the final laps we saw a rider who seemed to have a turbo on his CRF450RW. The reigning champion Febvre, solidly in the lead, saw his triumph go up in smoke when the new Honda streak caught him and then decisively passed him, showing without a doubt that he still had something extra up his sleeve.

"Being first in my debut with Honda HRC PETRONAS is fantastic. A big thank you to all the guys on the team who worked so hard over these two months to help us make this dream come true". Honda is struggling in other championships (MotoGP and Superbike are glaring examples), but here they’re really flying. Gajser has penned memorable pages in MX, and now the Herlings-Vialle duo promises even more fireworks. But not everything went perfectly smoothly. "In Race 1 I had a bit of arm pump after the holeshot," Herlings admitted. "But I studied Tom’s lines and then passed him towards the end. In Race 2 the restart was a bit chaotic, but I felt I’d managed my energy levels well and was able to close the gap [to Febvre], then pass again towards the end. Being first in the standings and taking the red plate is the best I could do today". If this is the start...