Herlings and Coenen top the podium at MXGP of Sweden
By Team TMX on 17th Aug 26
Jeffrey Herlings made it another perfect weekend in Sweden as the Honda HRC Petronas rider swept every session and both MXGP races at Uddevalla to claim his 121st career Grand Prix victory – while Sacha Coenen reignited the MX2 title fight.
A sea of 28,000-plus fans provided the backdrop to a scorching MXGP of Sweden at Uddevalla, where the Glimminge Motorstadion’s already notorious hardpack became even slicker as the sun baked the circuit.
Traction was at a premium and mistakes came easily, but at the front of MXGP there was no stopping Jeffrey Herlings.
The Dutchman was fastest in every session, won both races and extended his remarkable run to 11 consecutive race victories – including qualifying races. More importantly, the 1-1 result extended his championship advantage over reigning World Champion Romain Febvre to 116 points with just four rounds remaining.
Febvre took second overall with 2-2 scores, while Tom Vialle joined his Honda HRC Petronas teammate on the podium with third overall.
In MX2, Sacha Coenen returned to the top step for the first time since Latvia in June, taking his eighth career Grand Prix victory and closing the gap to championship leader Guillem Farres to just 24 points. Liam Everts enjoyed his best GP result of the season in second, while Camden McLellan made it four consecutive podiums with third.
Andrea Adamo grabbed the Fox Holeshot in MXGP race one, but Herlings and Vialle immediately attacked the inside, with Pauls Jonass also muscling his way past the Italian. The returning Latvian – back after missing two GPs following his heavy Foxhills crash – was clearly in no mood to ease himself back into the championship, cutting across Vialle to grab second.
Behind them, Febvre was battling Adamo for fourth when an attempted inside line opened the door for Gajser to sweep around the outside. The Yamaha rider nearly collected Adamo on the landing as the opening lap began to sort itself out.
Herlings, meanwhile, was already making himself scarce.
Jonass settled into second with Vialle behind him, while Febvre remained locked onto the back of Adamo. Further down the order, Swedish fans had plenty to cheer about as Isak Gifting battled Jan Pancar for ninth.
Gajser's race unravelled on lap three. The Slovenian attacked Adamo, made a series of mistakes and finally hit the deck hard, recovering in ninth behind Gifting.
Kay de Wolf, nursing a small thumb injury picked up during training, moved past Jeremy Seewer for tenth before the Swiss rider suffered a heavy crash on lap nine. Seewer was out of race one and, although he took the start for race two, was forced to retire early – a miserable weekend for the three-time Uddevalla winner.
At the front, Herlings was long gone.
Jonass kept Vialle at bay while Febvre repeatedly looked for a way past Adamo. The Frenchman eventually got the job done with two laps remaining, using the same corner where Gifting famously passed him last year.
Herlings then rubbed salt into the wound by setting a sensational 1:49.587 on the final lap – around two seconds quicker than anyone else had managed all race – to win by more than 21 seconds.
Jonass' second place was his best race finish since winning the 2024 MXGP of Portugal, while Vialle's third moved him to within three points of Maxime Renaux in the championship.
Race two began in spectacularly messy fashion.
Gifting tangled with Calvin Vlaanderen on the run into turn one, with the Ducati rider going down hard and taking Brent van Doninck with him. Gifting ended up in the barriers but was able to continue, eventually recovering to 14th. Vlaanderen was shaken but escaped serious injury, while Van Doninck was left with rib injuries requiring further assessment.
At the sharp end, Vialle took the Fox Holeshot to move to eight for the season, one ahead of the absent Lucas Coenen, but ran wide in turn two and dropped to sixth.
Febvre emerged with the lead, ahead of Gajser, Herlings and Jonass.It didn't last long.
Herlings picked off Gajser on the third corner before diving inside Febvre and taking the lead before the end of the opening lap. Ruben Fernandez also moved past Jonass, while Vialle began his recovery from sixth.
The Frenchman picked off Jonass on lap two before passing Fernandez to move into fourth and put himself firmly into podium contention.
Herlings was content to control proceedings this time, setting the fastest lap on lap six before settling into his familiar rhythm. Gajser briefly attacked Febvre for second, but couldn't make it stick.
Jonass, having spent much of race one fighting at the sharp end, began to fade and eventually slipped behind de Wolf, Adamo and Andrea Bonacorsi.
Vialle held fourth to the flag, Fernandez fifth and de Wolf sixth, while Jonass' ninth was still enough for fourth overall – his best GP result since that Portuguese victory in 2024.
Kevin Horgmo won a cracking scrap with Renaux for tenth, earning tenth overall in front of the enthusiastic Scandinavian crowd.
Then came a late interruption.
With two laps remaining, Kevin Brumann and Jago Geerts came together on a downhill jump, leaving the Swiss rider on the track for several worrying moments. Brumann eventually got back to his feet, albeit unsteadily, while Geerts suffered a leg injury and was later reported to have been placed in plaster pending further medical assessment.
The race was red-flagged, but the result remained unchanged.
Herlings took the win by 6.2 seconds from Febvre, with Gajser third and Vialle fourth.
It was Herlings' 121st career GP victory, another perfect weekend and another sizeable chunk taken out of the championship.
Febvre's second overall was the 200th top-three race finish of his career, while Vialle's first MXGP podium at Uddevalla lifted him above Renaux and into seventh in the championship.
Gajser's third overall moved him back ahead of Lucas Coenen into third.
But none of that could overshadow the man at the front.
Herlings now heads to his home Grand Prix at Arnhem with a 116-point championship advantage – and with the kind of form that makes stopping him look increasingly like somebody else's problem.
If Herlings was untouchable in MXGP, Sacha Coenen was equally determined to make his mark in MX2.
Janis Reisulis topped Warm-Up from Liam Everts and Simon Laengenfelder, but it was Coenen who got the jump when the gate dropped for race one.
The diminutive Belgian rocketed away to the Fox Holeshot and quickly established himself at the head of the field, with Everts and Reisulis giving chase. Camden McLellan settled into fourth, while championship leader Guillem Farres had plenty of work to do after starting outside the top ten following his heavy qualifying crash.
Kay Karssemakers produced one of the opening laps' surprises, passing Laengenfelder for fifth and holding the defending champion at bay.
Farres gradually worked his way forward, reaching ninth at the end of lap one before continuing his charge despite the obvious discomfort from his facial injuries.
Laengenfelder eventually reclaimed fifth from Karssemakers, while Farres moved past the Kawasaki rider for sixth on lap nine.
At the front, Coenen and Everts were locked together, with McLellan and Reisulis never far away.
Everts pushed hard and set the fastest lap on the penultimate circulation, but Coenen refused to crack.
The Belgian took his first race win since Latvia, punching the air as he crossed the line.
Coenen grabbed another Fox Holeshot in race two – his 13th of the season – with Laengenfelder immediately on his rear wheel. Everts slotted into third before making a sweeping outside move through turn five to take second from the German.
Farres, meanwhile, was producing one of the rides of the day.
Starting down in 12th, the injured championship leader carved his way through to sixth by the end of the opening lap. He then passed Janis Reisulis for fifth and, on lap three, produced a spectacular outside move around Laengenfelder to take fourth.
Farres then set the Acerbis Fastest Lap of the race on the following lap.
Coenen, however, had already done the damage.
Everts stayed within striking distance but once again couldn't find a way past his fellow Belgian. Coenen took the chequered flag just under two and a half seconds clear to secure his first Swedish podium and eighth career GP victory.
Farres finished fourth in race two, taking third overall, while McLellan's 3-3 result gave him his fourth consecutive podium and tenth of his career.
The result also moved McLellan 16 points clear of Laengenfelder in the championship. More significantly, Farres' championship lead has been slashed from 47 points to 24.
Laengenfelder's fifth overall ended his perfect podium record at Uddevalla, while Janis Reisulis finished fifth overall after a solid weekend.
With the championship now tightening up, the MX2 title fight is suddenly looking very different.
Farres deserves enormous credit for riding through the pain of his qualifying injuries, but Coenen looks to be back to full strength – just in time for a return to the Netherlands and the deep sand of Arnhem.
McLellan, meanwhile, has already shown what he can do in the sand.
So, if Uddevalla was anything to go by, the MX2 championship is about to get very interesting indeed.
