The final European round of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship delivered what Dutch fans came to see, as more than 30,000 spectators packed the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden near Arnhem on August 22-23. Home-country heroes Jeffrey Herlings and Kay de Wolf waged an intense battle at the front of the MXGP division, while Camden McLellan emerged victorious for the third time this season in MX2.
MXGP
Herlings arrived at Arnhem with the championship within reach as he delivered another superb 1-1 performance. After winning the qualifying race, the Dutch native looked poised for another strong weekend as his rival Lucas Coenen once again crashed out of the weekend’s festivities. Herlings immediately found himself challenged by Kay de Wolf when the gates dropped for race one as the two sand specialists duked it out for the top spot. The Honda HRC rider managed to retake the lead from de Wolf on lap 14 and seemed to be making an easy run toward the race victory until a rock lodged itself in his rear brake with only four corners to go. This temporarily stalled the bike and allowed de Wolf to close in, finishing just 3.7 seconds back at the line. Herlings controlled all of race two despite another late-race attack from de Wolf. This marked his 122nd career Grand Prix victory, winning the last 14 races in a row and taking 17 of the 19 Grand Prix events held in his home country. More importantly, Herlings has a mathematical chance to wrap up the championship during the first moto in Turkey.
“It was a really good GP,” Herlings said. “It was nice to battle with Kay [de Wolf] again. We have known each other for a long time, and when you race each other, you have to race hard but respect each other at the same time, so we came close a few times but never anything crazy. He wanted to win, I wanted to win, and I know Kay is very good in the sand, so it was super fun.”
Kay de Wolf remained the only rider with enough pace to seriously threaten Herlings throughout the weekend. He led the opening stages of race one and closed in rapidly with Herlings’ final lap issue. Race two saw another late-race charge, but a mistake through the rollers ended his charge. 2-2 scores put de Wolf second overall and made it a Dutch 1-2 atop the podium.
Tom Vialle finished third overall, making it two Honda HRC Petronas bikes on the podium. Good starts in both races put Vialle up front from the get-go as he continued to improve in every session. A scorecard of 4-3 slotted Vialle into third overall for his third podium in the last four rounds.
Tim Gajser scored a podium in race one but took fourth overall after crashing and finishing eighth in race two. Another Dutchman, Glenn Coldenhoff, rounded out the top five in his final GP on home soil.
MX2
The MX2 Championship provided considerably more drama, with Camden McLellan emerging as the big winner of the weekend.
The Triumph Factory rider entered Arnhem looking to close the gap to the points leaders and showed that he had the speed to run up front. He trailed the early leader, Sacha Coenen, in race one and steadily applied pressure before Coenen made a mistake in the same section where he crashed during Saturday’s Qualifying race. McLellan needed no second invitation, taking the lead and going on to claim the opening race victory. The South African had his work cut out for him in race two, charging through the field for a chance at the weekend’s overall victory. By lap 14, he slotted into second and sealed the deal for his third win of the season with 1-2 scores. McLellan’s victory also gave the British manufacturer their eighth Grand Prix win of the season, putting him just 12 points away from making it a Triumph 1-2 in the championship standings.
“1-1 was the goal, so it was not quite that, but it was still a successful weekend,” McLellan said. “The track was difficult for racing and difficult to pass on, but it was enjoyable anyway. The first start was good, I was very surprised, I did not know where everyone else was. The second start was not as good, but I was on the inside, so I did not come out too far back. I ate a lot of roost in that second race and then had to dig deep to catch Liam [Everts] and ride behind him. It was a good weekend with a lot of positives, still a lot to work on and maybe some points left on the track.”
Liam Everts logged one of his best results of the year in second overall. The Belgian rider started the weekend by claiming his first qualifying-race victory of the season before a tough opening moto on Sunday. After circulating as far back as ninth during the early laps, Everts worked his way forward to finish fourth. Race two produced a much different story as Everts charged into the lead during the opening sector and immediately stretched his advantage to six seconds. As the laps wore on, McLellan closed rapidly but Everts held his ground and took the checkers by a mere 0.766 of a second for his second moto victory of the season. His 4-1 results earned second overall and a second consecutive Grand Prix podium following his runner-up finish in Sweden.
Points leader Guillem Farres rounded out the podium in third overall. The Spanish rider is still recovering from injuries sustained last weekend, but consistent 3-3 finishes put him on the final step of the podium. He battled with championship rival Sacha Coenen in both motos as the two traded positions and points along the way. Farres got the upper hand and left Arnhem still holding the MX2 red plate by 25 points with three rounds remaining.
Sacha Coenen finished fourth overall despite tying in points with Farres. A fall in race one disrupted his shot at a race win and dropped him off the overall podium.
“I’m disappointed,” Coenen said. “I was first in the first moto until the tip off and then had a bad start in the second. I was around P5, P6 and made some good passes. I feel some riders were a bit dirty…so I think I will show them how to ride in Turkey because it was a bit dangerous. I just need to keep my head up.”CN
VIDEO | 2026 MXGP & MX2 of The Netherlands Highlights
2026 FIM MXGP Round 16 Results
MXGP (Top 5)
- Jeffrey Herlings (Hon) 1-1
- Kay de Wolf (Hus) 2-2
- Tom Vialle (Hon) 4-3
- Tim Gajser (Yam) 3-8
- Glenn Coldenhoff (Yam) 7-4
MX2 (Top 5)
- Camden McLellan (Tri) 1-2
- Liam Everts (Hus) 4-1
- Guillem Farres (Tri) 3-3
- Sacha Coenen (KTM) 2-4
- Karlis Reisulis (Yam) 8-5
