Jeffrey Herlings tightened his grip on the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship with a commanding double race victory at the iconic Lommel circuit, while Britain’s Ben Watson produced his best Grand Prix result in more than three years with an impressive seventh overall.
Images & Quotes courtesy of Infront Moto Racing
In MX2, Triumph Racing’s Camden McLellan was equally dominant, completing a flawless 1-1-1 weekend to claim his second career Grand Prix victory and close the gap in the championship battle.
MXGP – Herlings Simply Untouchable
From the moment he topped warm-up on Sunday morning, Jeffrey Herlings looked a class apart. Two Fox Holeshots, two race wins and another maximum score saw “The Bullet” claim his 120th career Grand Prix victory and a record fifth overall win at Lommel, extending his championship lead to 104 points with just five rounds remaining.
Behind him, Kay de Wolf proved once again why he’s regarded as one of the world’s finest sand riders. Fresh from announcing his contract extension with Nestaan Husqvarna, the Dutchman followed Herlings home in both motos to secure second overall and continue building momentum following his return from injury.
Tim Gajser completed the overall podium after another consistent day aboard the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine. While he admitted afterwards he is still adapting to the bike, the Slovenian once again left Belgium with valuable championship points.
Vialle Misses the Podium, Watson Stars
Just missing the podium was Tom Vialle, whose consistent 5-3 finishes earned fourth overall after another composed ride in the brutal Belgian sand.
Andrea Adamo recovered well from a race two crash to finish fifth overall, narrowly ahead of Ruben Fernandez, whose sixth overall helped Honda HRC Petronas continue its impressive day.
For British fans, however, one of the biggest stories of the weekend belonged to Ben Watson.
The Dirt Store Triumph Racing rider looked increasingly comfortable as the races unfolded, backing up ninth in race one with an outstanding seventh in race two to secure seventh overall, his best Grand Prix finish since Maggiora in May 2022. On one of the most physically demanding circuits in the world, Watson once again showed why he has always been regarded as one of Britain’s strongest sand specialists.
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Isak Gifting matched Watson on points but lost out on countback to finish eighth overall, although it still marked his strongest Grand Prix finish since Lommel twelve months ago.
Ninth overall went to Romain Febvre, although the Kawasaki rider endured one of the biggest disappointments of the day. Running inside the podium positions during race two, the Frenchman suffered a spectacular crash before later grinding to a halt with mechanical damage just a handful of corners from the finish. Fortunately for the championship hopeful, Lucas Coenen’s absence meant he still climbed into second in the standings.
Rounding out the top ten was Kevin Horgmo, whose steady 10-9 moto scores continued another quietly impressive season for Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul.
Adam Sterry also got in the points with a 19th place in the second moto.
Jeffrey Herlings: “It was a great weekend, just like last week we were topping every session. Two good starts today, I led every lap, Race 1 especially was really enjoyable. I had a small issue in Race 2 so I had to manage my pace, but we kept the gap to around 15 seconds and I’m just happy to bring it home. I had a bit of a crash near the end so Kay got second, but I don’t really know by how much I won in the end, I just did what I had to do to win. That’s 60 points, massive for the championship. Now it’s about staying sharp, we’ve got five more races to go and we need to work on the sand before Arnhem, but the team works extremely hard day in, day out.”
Kay de Wolf: “I learned a lot this weekend. I followed Jeffrey for the first 12 to 15 minutes in Race 1, then let him go because I knew I needed the energy for Race 2. I went the wrong way this morning in the first race, it’s something you learn from, and I’m happy it happened now rather than at Arnhem. That’s the plan since I came back, to learn, and I did that again today. I’m on the box, which is what we hoped for. Coming back from the injury I still felt like I wasn’t quite there physically. With another three weeks under my belt I think I can show some good things at Arnhem.”
Tim Gajser: “It was a decent weekend, I won’t hide it, I was struggling a bit with the setup. The track wasn’t the easiest either. In the first race I had a nice flow and could follow Kay, the second one I actually felt worse after we made some changes. Overall we’re still learning and getting better with the Yamaha, it’s a different bike to what I’m used to, a bit heavier, so the settings have to adapt too. But it’s always nice to finish on the podium here in Lommel, the toughest GP of the year.”
MXGP Overall – Classification:
MXGP – World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 675 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), 571 p.; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), 534 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 450 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), 446 p.; 7. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), 425 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), 409 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 345 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), 273 p.
MX2 – McLellan Masters the Sand
If Jeffrey Herlings owned MXGP, then Camden McLellan ruled MX2.
The Triumph Racing rider produced arguably the ride of his career, overcoming poor starts in both motos with blistering pace to claim a perfect 1-1-1 weekend, giving Triumph another memorable victory in the deep Lommel sand.
Championship leader Guillem Farrés made it a memorable one-two for Triumph after leading large portions of both races before settling for second overall, extending his championship advantage in the process.
Defending World Champion Simon Längenfelder completed the podium after another measured performance, while Karlis Reisulis enjoyed one of the strongest weekends of his career to finish fourth overall for Yamaha.
Championship Battle Tightens
Fifth overall went to Janis Reisulis, whose consistency kept him firmly inside the championship top six.
Home favourite Sacha Coenen endured a frustrating Belgian Grand Prix. After crashing on the opening lap of race one, the Red Bull KTM rider recovered admirably throughout the weekend to salvage sixth overall and, importantly, limit the damage in the title race.
Julius Mikula continued his impressive run of form with seventh overall, while Swedish youngster Alve Callemo recorded a career-best eighth overall after an eye-catching weekend that firmly announced him as one to watch.
Noel Zanocz claimed ninth overall ahead of Valerio Lata, whose consistency once again earned valuable championship points for Honda HRC Petronas.
McLellan’s perfect weekend sees him close to within 13 points of second-placed Coenen, while Farrés now heads to Sweden with a 47-point championship advantage.
Lone Brit Ollie Colmer had a superb race one, finishing in 12th, before an 18th in race 2 saw him claim 16th overall.
Camden McLellan: “I don’t know if I cracked the code, but I was really just doing my thing like every weekend, it just worked out better this time. My starts were still way off, so there’s still work to do there, but I felt very good on the bike and fitness-wise too. Lommel is a really difficult place to find a flow, and it was hot today on top of that. With ten minutes to go I was so jammed up with roost and dirt I had to basically throw up in my helmet and keep going, it wasn’t easy. But I like that, it’s a bit of character building.”
Guillem Farrés: “It was a great weekend for me, I finally put together two solid starts after a tough one yesterday. I led a lot of laps and did my own race. Camden was really fast today, so in the second race I tried to learn from him and made a push at the end to hold second. I go race by race, I want to win every time I go out, but I also know Camden is strong, I train with him, so when I saw him going in the second race I settled for second, I think that was the right call. Good points for the championship again, and I’m happy to keep the podium streak going.”
Simon Langenfelder: “The qualifying race, Race 1, was still quite nice to ride, I had a good flow and didn’t use too much energy. The second race got hard toward the end, but I enjoyed it, you can really play with the track here. I got a bit lucky passing for the podium spot too, the guys ahead made mistakes on the inside and I rolled around the outside. It’s a long race here, you can’t be too tactical because you can gain a second or two a lap easily if you push.”
MX2 Overall – Classification:
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 668 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 621 p.; 3. Camden McLellan (RSA, Triumph), 608 p.; 4. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 598 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), 542 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 512 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 416 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), 355 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), 352 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 312 p.
Next Stop Sweden
Following a weekend off, the FIM Motocross World Championship heads to Uddevalla for the MXGP of Sweden, where Herlings will look to continue his march towards another world title, while the fascinating MX2 championship battle shows no signs of slowing down.
