Another beautiful day of sunshine greeted the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships at one of the most picturesque venues on the whole calendar, the Loketske Serpentiny circuit in the hillsides above the gothic town of Loket in the Czech Republic, and the hillsides were already awash with fans to enjoy the action, the atmosphere, and all the other attractions of the MXGP of Czech Republic!
Honda HRC Petronas new rider Jeffrey Herlings was in typically ruthless mood, and took his fourth Qualifying Race win of the year to close the gap at the top of the Championship to just a single point behind Lucas Coenen, who was again unable to finish the race for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.
Romain Febvre fought through to second place for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, and his fellow Frenchman Tom Vialle took third place for the second straight Saturday for Honda HRC Petronas!
Reigning MX2 World Champion Simon Längenfelder was impressive in clinching a third consecutive Qualifying Race win for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with Liam Everts equalling his best Saturday result of the year in second for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing. After a less than perfect start, new red plate holder Guillem Farres fought through patiently to take third for the Triumph Racing Factory Team.
With a full day of racing ahead before the GP races hit the track tomorrow, the riders know that the longer Sunday races will be a tough test around the Loket circuit for round 13 of the FIM Motocross World Championships!
Fresh from his big points-gaining weekend in the UK, Jeffrey Herlings hit the top of the time sheets in Free Practice, over a second faster than Romain Febvre in second, while Kay de Wolf returned to the series with a nice third for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
In Time Practice, it was Herlings again who showed his enjoyment of the circuit, although the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP machine of Tim Gajser pushed himself into second ahead of Febvre, with two-thirds of a second covering the top three. Many eyes were on series leader Lucas Coenen after his troubles at Foxhills, and he looked a little off-colour with a crash on his way to 12th in the session.
Tom Vialle just out-dragged Coenen and Herlings into turn one of the Qualifying Race itself, while two first-corner entanglements caught out many riders, including TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team’s Slovenian Jan Pancar and the Dirt Store Triumph of Ben Watson.
In the second corner, Herlings pulled a hard pass on Coenen to claim second place, while Febvre was duelling with Gajser and the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Andrea Adamo. Adamo came out on top to run fourth, but was soon able to pass the red plate holder for third place, leaping up the inside on the jump behind Pit Lane. Isak Gifting had also started well for JK Racing Yamaha, in seventh initially ahead of De Wolf, the third Honda HRC Petronas of Ruben Fernandez, and new Venrooy KTM Racing recruit Jeremy Seewer.
Gifting, still racing his way back into fitness in his second GP back from injury, was to drop down the order to an eventual 14th but Herlings put in a typical darting pass to take the lead from Vialle with an inside line, and no-one was able to follow him from there. However, Coenen was clearly not able to hold his usual pace, and slipped down the order to eventually retire on lap six. It is unclear if he will be able to take the start tomorrow.
Febvre was able to march gradually forward, passing Adamo for third and then Vialle for second in successive laps, but “The Bullet” had already made a good gap up front. Adamo began a race-long pursuit of Vialle, although De Wolf was looking good behind, attacking for fifth at half-distance! He was suddenly caught unawares as the Italian made a mistake, leaving the Dutchman with nowhere to go, and the collision put the Husqvarna on the ground. Gajser and Seewer slipped past, the Swiss rider missing the stricken bike’s rear fender by millimetres on the way through!
Further back, after a crash at the bottom of the biggest downhill on the track, Fernandez was able to fight back past the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP bike of Maxime Renaux to take ninth with two laps to go. Jago Geerts put in his first Qualifying points-scoring ride for MRT Racing Team Beta in eighth position, while De Wolf recovered to take seventh.
Seewer also held fast to score his first Saturday points of the season in sixth place behind Gajser. Adamo chased Vialle across the line, finishing less than a second behind the Frenchman but unable to make the pass!
Herlings was unchallenged to take the 74th Qualifying Race win of his career, leaving him just one point behind Lucas Coenen in the Championship standings! Will the Belgian even be able to defend his red plate tomorrow? That remains a massive question mark, but even without him, tomorrow will not be a simple walk in the park for anybody!
Jeffrey Herlings: “It’s coming close, but there’s still so much racing to do. If you’d gone back few rounds, nobody would have believed this scenario, so it could also go the other way around. And once again, it hurts me seeing Lucas [Coenen] pull out again. I feel for him, but we’ve closed back from 68 points to one point. There’s still six and a half rounds to go, so we keep doing our best. I want to give it up to Honda HRC Petronas for the great job they’ve been doing, working every single day for me, and to Team Gariboldi and all my private sponsors, thank you so much. We keep charging, and hopefully we can put it on the box.”
Romain Febvre: “This track suits me well, but definitely I didn’t feel comfortable straight away in the morning. Like you said, I can ride that track easily, let’s say, but the feeling with the bike just isn’t there. So I’m quite happy with P2. I started quite far back and came through, so hopefully with a better start tomorrow I can fight at the front.”
Tom Vialle: “It was another okay race. Great start, then a small mistake in the opening laps, so I lost a little bit of ground. But Saturday is always tough, especially this track, it’s really slippery. Hopefully tomorrow I can have a little bit better feeling to keep up with those two guys in front.”
MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 24:10.142; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.080; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:21.392; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:22.195; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:26.195; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:32.014; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:33.664; 8. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +0:41.606; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:45.220; 10. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.432
MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 565 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 503 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 458 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 393 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 382 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 380 p.; 8. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 325 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 277 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 273 p.
Triumph Factory Racing Team rider Camden McLellan set the top time in Free Practice, with Liam Everts revelling in the slick conditions in second, ahead of the second factory Triumph of Guillem Farres in third.
With Farres admitting that the Triumph riders were working together, the Spaniard took the top spot in Time Practice ahead of his teammate McLellan, with Everts third this time, half a second back. Defending World Champion Simon Längenfelder took fourth ahead of Janis Reisulis for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.
Former red plate holder Sacha Coenen, still nursing a recently repaired collarbone, gave himself the best chance of a good result with a trademark Holeshot for Red Bull KTM Factory, but the crowd roared as home hero Julius Mikula led momentarily for Osička Racing KTM! A slight bobble in the second corner handed the lead back to the Belgian, who proceeded to pull away while Mikula fended off the attentions of Janis Reisulis! Meanwhile the Triumph riders did not get away well, with McLellan eighth and Farres back in 13th through the first timing beam. Maxime Grau came to grief with a crash that put him out of the race for Maddi Racing Honda ABF Italia.
Honda HRC Petronas rider Valerio Lata was fifth at the end of the first full lap, behind Längenfelder, while McLellan was able to fight into sixth ahead of the Venrooy KTM of Noel Zanocz, Everts, the Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki of Kay Karssemakers, and the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider of Karlis Reisulis, with Farres in 11th!
Mikula was unable to hold back the pressure from Janis Reisulis, who took second on lap two, and Längenfelder swiftly followed him through. The German put in several fast laps to move around the outside of Reisulis, then close in the four-second gap to Coenen out front! With a pass on the run through the waves, the Champ was in control from lap seven onwards!
Sacha then made a mistake at the end of Pit Lane, allowing both Reisulis and McLellan past him, and the South African was able to work out a move past the Latvian for second a lap later. Coenen made another mistake on the following lap, on the same piece of track, and both Everts and Farres quickly took advantage to put the teenage Belgian back to sixth place.
On lap ten, McLellan dropped the bike on braking from a downhill stretch, allowing Everts and Farres, who had put a hard move on Janis Reisulis, to move into second and third. Further back, Karlis Reisulis put a pass on Zanocz for ninth with two laps to go, but it was still a nice comeback for the Hungarian. Mikula survived a late crash as he avoided a sliding Coenen, and would finish in eighth place behind Lata.
Coenen was able to salvage sixth as the pain took its toll, while Janis Reisulis was disappointed with fifth. McLellan’s fourth saw him drop back a little further in the Championship from the victorious Längenfelder, while Everts matched his season best with second.
Farres’ comeback from a bad start, with some seriously authoritative passes, brought him to third place and raised his points advantage to 14 ahead of Sacha Coenen. With a good start, he could be the one to beat tomorrow, but the reigning Champion might have something to say about that!
Join us tomorrow for what promises to be an exhilarating MXGP of Czech Republic! Do not be missing this one!
Simon Längenfelder: “What a tricky track. It’s so slippery and there are quite a few kickers out there, so you really have to stay focused on every lap. I didn’t get the best start, but I found some good lines and fought my way to the front. I’m really happy with this one”
MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 24:38.587; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:02.278; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:07.360; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:08.881; 5. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:15.698; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:18.871; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:20.126; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:22.560; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:23.465; 10. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), +0:25.292
MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 571 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 557 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 531 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 508 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 486 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 440 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 338 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 311 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 256 p.
TIMETABLE
SUNDAY:
08:40 EMX2T Race 2, 09:55 EMX65 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX85 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.
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.jpg "Herlings &Amp; Längenfelder Load The Loket Qualifying Wins At The Mxgp Of Czech Republic 23")
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