Herlings crowned as Farres takes control and Cannon claims bronze in Türkiye

2026 MXGP World Championship
Round 17 – MXGP of Turkiye
Afyonkarahisar – Afyon Motor Sports Center

Round 17 of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship brought a decisive weekend at the Afyon Motor Sports Center, where hot conditions baked the fast, 1725-metre hard-pack circuit.

Jeffrey Herlings arrived in Türkiye with the MXGP crown within reach and left as a six-time world champion. The Dutchman won Saturday’s qualifying race before sweeping both Sunday motos, completing a fifth consecutive perfect weekend and extending his extraordinary winning streak to 17 successive gate drops.

Guillem Farres strengthened his grip on the MX2 championship with a qualifying victory and 2-1 finishes, while Francisco Garcia and Ricardo Bauer signed off their title-winning European campaigns with unbeaten weekends in EMX250 and EMX125 respectively.

There was also a strong Australian result in EMX250, with Jake Cannon finishing second in both races to secure third in the championship. Fellow Australian Byron Dennis went 4-6 for fifth overall at the final round.

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MXGP

Herlings makes it 15 straight in qualifying

Jeffrey Herlings had to work for Saturday’s qualifying victory after Honda HRC PETRONAS team-mate Tom Vialle led almost the entire race. Herlings moved past Tim Gajser on the opening lap but remained bottled up behind Vialle until making the decisive pass on the penultimate lap.

Herlings won by 1.046 seconds for his fifth consecutive qualifying-race victory and 15th successive win across qualifying and Grand Prix motos. Gajser remained close in third, with Romain Febvre fourth and only 5.181 seconds from the winner.

Race One – Herlings seals title number six

Herlings needed only to finish ahead of Febvre in Race One to secure the championship, but the Dutchman removed any need for calculations by taking the holeshot and leading all 17 laps.

Gajser swept around Vialle for second at turn two and kept Herlings within sight, eventually finishing 3.637 seconds behind despite still riding in considerable pain following his heavy crash at Arnhem. Febvre displaced Vialle for third but could not prevent Herlings clinching the crown at the first opportunity.

The victory made Herlings only the fourth rider in motocross history to claim six world championships. It was his third premier-class title, his first with Honda and came during his debut season aboard the CRF450RW.

Jeffrey Herlings

“Wow. What a ride it’s been to win this sixth world title. Since my last one in 2021, to finally get number six is just an incredible feeling. Joining Honda HRC PETRONAS on January 1 and everything being new – new bike, new team, new gear – it hasn’t always been easy, but I think you can see all the work that we’ve done and the results on the track.”

Race Two – Vialle takes it to the champion

Any suggestion that Herlings might relax after securing the championship disappeared when he took another holeshot in Race Two. This time Vialle latched onto his team-mate and pressured him for the entire moto.

Vialle closed repeatedly during the final laps but Herlings refused to crack, taking his 17th consecutive race victory by just 0.499 seconds. The Honda pair crossed the line more than 28 seconds ahead of Febvre in third.

Febvre had emerged from the opening corners in seventh but charged to fifth by the end of lap one, passed KRT team-mate Pauls Jonass for third on lap four and held Gajser at bay thereafter. Gajser recovered from an early off-track excursion but another small fall ended his podium challenge.

Vialle, Febvre and Gajser all completed the Grand Prix on 40 points, with their Race Two finishes determining second, third and fourth overall respectively. It was Vialle’s third consecutive podium and Febvre’s ninth of the season.

Jonass backed up sixth in Race One with fifth in Race Two to secure fifth overall, ahead of Andrea Adamo on the second-moto tie-break. Calvin Vlaanderen went 9-10 for ninth overall, while an unwell Andrea Bonacorsi sat out Race Two after finishing 15th in the opener.

Romain Febvre

“I feel that if I could start at the front I could battle for the win, but with the starts I got again here I’m happy to be third. The other fastest guys are starting one-two every week and I am in the pack, so I have no chance to catch them. By the time I get to third they are gone.”

Herlings leaves Türkiye with 855 points and an unbeatable 156-point advantage over Febvre. The outgoing champion now holds a 40-point buffer over Gajser in the battle for the championship silver medal.

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MX2

Farres takes control in qualifying

Guillem Farres made an aggressive opening lap count in Saturday’s MX2 qualifying race. Sacha Coenen took the holeshot, but Farres swept past Liam Everts and then displaced Coenen before the first lap was complete.

Farres controlled the remainder of the race to win by 1.837 seconds from Coenen, with Everts third, Simon Längenfelder fourth and Camden McLellan fifth. The result extended Farres’ championship advantage to 26 points ahead of Sunday’s motos.

Längenfelder strikes in Race One

Race One immediately changed the complexion of the championship. Coenen hit the starting gate and was forced to charge through the field, while Längenfelder took the holeshot and Farres sliced between his rivals to grab the early lead.

Coenen had already recovered to sixth when he suffered a heavy crash over one of the circuit’s fastest jumps on lap two. Although fortunate to avoid a more serious injury, the KTM rider was unable to continue.

At the front, reigning champion Längenfelder regrouped and reclaimed the lead from Farres on lap seven. The German pulled clear to win by 6.022 seconds, taking his first Sunday moto victory since Sardinia in April.

McLellan eventually found a way past Everts for third, while Julius Mikula held off Janis Reisulis for fifth. Reisulis had crashed on the opening lap before charging back through the field.

Farres wins as Coenen’s challenge unravels

Coenen returned for Race Two despite feeling the effects of his opening-moto crash and took his 15th holeshot of the season. Farres quickly moved into the lead, however, and Coenen withdrew at the end of the second lap.

Farres was never seriously threatened thereafter, winning by 6.082 seconds from Everts. Längenfelder completed the moto podium and his 1-3 scorecard secured second overall, two points behind Farres. Everts’ 4-2 results delivered his third consecutive Grand Prix podium.

Guillem Farres

“It was a good weekend here in Türkiye. I got good starts in both races and in moto two I had a much better pace than in moto one, so I was able to manage the gap for the win. I’m really happy. The whole Triumph Factory Racing team did an amazing job.”

McLellan finished fourth overall and moved into second in the championship, producing the first Triumph Factory Racing one-two at the head of the MX2 standings. Farres now leads McLellan by 50 points, with Coenen another 10 points behind and Längenfelder 80 points from the lead.

Kay Karssemakers produced a career-best Grand Prix result for DRT Kawasaki. The Dutchman recovered from a fall and damaged side panel to finish eighth in Race One, then charged to fifth in Race Two for fifth overall. The result also elevated him to 11th in the championship.

Kay Karssemakers

“Finally two good motos on one day! It’s not easy to stay focused after a few setbacks, but I’m not one to give up. I’m fit and I knew I could be up there if I got the starts. Two solid motos today, and now I’m looking forward to China.”

Karlis Reisulis went 9-7 for eighth overall. His brother Janis recovered from last to sixth in Race One, but a Race Two crash broke his clutch lever. Assistance received while restarting the Yamaha resulted in disqualification and left him 14th overall.

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EMX250

Francisco Garcia had already secured the 2026 EMX250 crown, but the Spaniard finished his campaign in emphatic fashion with victory in both races at Afyonkarahisar.

Garcia took control during the opening lap of Race One and was never headed. Australian Jake Cannon moved back into second with two laps remaining, finishing 5.160 seconds behind his Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki team-mate. Fellow Australian Byron Dennis was fourth, less than two seconds behind Cannon.

Garcia swept from third to first through the second corner in Race Two and Cannon followed him into second. The Kawasaki pair quickly broke clear and maintained their formation to the chequered flag, with Garcia completing a perfect weekend around three seconds ahead.

Dennis was running fourth when a lap-three fall dropped him to ninth. He recovered to sixth, giving him 4-6 finishes and fifth overall on 33 points.

Garcia ended the season with seven round victories and 17 moto wins from 22 starts. His 10 career EMX250 overall victories are also a class record. Cannon’s 2-2 scorecard delivered second overall and confirmed third in the championship behind Garcia and Nicolai Skovbjerg.

Kawasaki also secured the EMX250 Manufacturers’ title after its riders won nine of the 12 rounds – seven through Garcia and two through Cannon.

Only after sealing the championship did Garcia reveal that he had broken a vertebra in his neck one week before Lommel. Despite the injury and a lack of training, he returned to win again in Sweden and carried the campaign through to its dominant conclusion.

Jake Cannon

“This was my second year in the class and I can be happy with my progress. I was really strong during the first half of the season before my sand skills let me down a little, but I came back strongly this weekend. I gave it my all and can now look forward to going for the title next year.”

The final championship standings place Garcia first on 496 points, Skovbjerg second on 403 and Cannon third on 358.

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EMX125

Ricardo Bauer completed his title-winning EMX125 season with a dominant 1-1 performance, taking his sixth overall victory and 10th moto win of the campaign.

Bauer controlled Race One from the outset and won by 4.663 seconds from Ryan Oppliger. Sleny Goyer worked forward from fifth to finish third, keeping alive his chance of displacing Moritz Ernecker from second in the championship.

Goyer swept into the lead at the second corner of Race Two and remained there for the opening three laps before Bauer found a way past. A later fall cost Goyer second place to Ernecker, although third was sufficient to give the Yamaha rider second overall and secure the championship bronze medal.

Bauer’s third consecutive double completed a clean sweep of the season for Norman KTM Factory Rookies. Bauer and Ernecker won all 10 rounds between them and claimed 16 of the 20 motos.

Bauer finished the championship on 419 points, with Ernecker second on 344 and Goyer third on 336.

Continue below for full moto-by-moto results and updated championship standings.

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Next round

The championship now travels directly to Shanghai for the Oriental Beauty Valley MXGP of China on September 12-13. The penultimate round will give Guillem Farres his first opportunity to clinch the MX2 championship, while Jeffrey Herlings will attempt to extend his unbeaten run despite already securing the MXGP crown.

The season will then conclude at the MXGP of Australia presented by Sitzler at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway from September 18-20.

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 MXGP Qualifying Race Results

MXGP Race One Results

MXGP Race Two Results

MXGP Round Points

MXGP Championship Standings

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MX2

MX2 Qualifying Race Results

MX2 Race One Results

MX2 Race Two Results

MX2 Round

MX2 Championship Standings