After a four-week break, the sixth round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship took place at the Circuit Georges Filhol at LaCapelle-Marival, May 23-24, for the first time in five years. Warm conditions baked the hardpack circuit, and Jeffrey Herlings and Guillem Farres came away victorious in their respective classes and further tightened both championship fights.
MXGP
Herlings returned to the top step of the podium with a 2-1 result for Honda HRC Petronas. The Dutch veteran set the tone for the weekend by winning Saturday’s qualifying race. On Sunday, Herlings quickly moved up after Lucas Coenen grabbed the holeshot and opened an early gap. After Herlings cleared Coenen’s KTM teammate Andrea Adamo on lap four, he began reeling in the leader. Coenen matched the pace and held on for the moto victory.
After the red-flag restart in race two, fans witnessed one of the season’s most exciting duels as Herlings and Coenen pulled away from the field and traded blistering lap times throughout the moto. Despite constant pressure from the teenage championship leader, Herlings held firm through the closing laps to secure his 115th career Grand Prix win and cut the championship gap back to just two points.
“It was a tough weekend, with the weather and the track conditions, but to go 1-2-1 across the weekend is exactly what we wanted,” Herlings said.
“Today, Jeffrey was strong,” Coenen said. “I was strong, so 1-2 is a good weekend. In the second race, I tried everywhere, left and right, and I couldn’t find a way through. He needed to make a mistake, honestly. I’m a little disappointed with the second race. But the weekend went great overall, and I kept the red plate, which is important.”
Defending champion Romain Febvre salvaged third overall in front of his home fans. The Kawasaki rider struggled early in race one after being pushed wide in the opening turn. A later fall only deepened his deficit before he fought back to seventh. In race two, Febvre delivered a much stronger ride and spent most of the moto battling MXGP rookie Kay de Wolf. After five laps of back-and-forth passing, the Frenchman got around the Husqvarna rider and held on for his second podium of the season. This result also moved him to third in the championship standings.
Kay de Wolf narrowly missed the overall podium in fourth with 4-5 results, while French native Maxime Renaux rounded out the top five.
Tom Vialle’s day unraveled after a frightening first-turn crash at the start of race two. The Honda HRC Petronas rider was unable to restart due to bike damage, dropping valuable points in the championship chase.
MX2
Guillem Farres scored his first career overall victory with a flawless 1-1 sweep for the Triumph Racing Factory Team. The Spaniard showed veteran patience all weekend, capitalizing on other riders’ mistakes. Farres inherited the lead in race one after Sacha Coenen crashed early and never looked threatened, cruising to his third win of the year.
In the second moto, Farres started near the front and, with only a few laps to go, passed Janis Reisulis for the lead. He battled his Triumph teammate Camden McLellan down to the wire and took the win, with less than a second separating the two. A perfect 1-1 weekend puts Farres third in points, 20 back from the leader, Laengenfelder.
McLellan added to a memorable 1-2 finish for Triumph Racing as he took home second overall. The South African rider steadily worked forward in both motos and showed excellent pace late in the moto. The second race saw both Triumph riders trade spots, with McLellan going for a final-lap pass attempt on Farres for the race win. A 3-2 result marked one of his best rides of the season and put him fifth in the championship standings.
French native Mathis Valin earned his second consecutive podium with third overall. Valin won the qualifying race on Saturday and ran near the front throughout both motos on Sunday.
Liam Everts finished fourth overall with 5-4 finishes, with championship leader Simon Laengenfelder rounding out the top five overall.CN
VIDEO | 2026 MXGP of France Highlights
2026 FIM MXGP Round 6 Results
MXGP (Top 5)
- Jeffrey Herlings (Hon) 2-1
- Lucas Coenen (KTM) 1-2
- Romain Febvre (Kaw) 7-3
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 4-5
- Maxime Renaux (Yam) 6-4
MX2 (Top 5)
- Guillem Farres (Tri) 1-1
- Camden McLellan (Tri) 3-2
- Mathin Valin (Kaw) 2-3
- Liam Everts (Hus) 5-4
- Simon Laengenfelder (KTM) 4-7
