Honda HRC Petronas’ Jeffrey Herlings continued building momentum in France, piecing together a 2-1 scorecard at Lacapelle-Marival to secure his third overall victory of the 2026 MXGP season and close to within two points of the championship lead. In this Debrief feature, Herlings reflects on round six of the world championship.

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Demanding day at Lacapelle-Marival

Yeah, definitely the heat got to me a little bit because I cramped in the last couple of laps. Physically, the track was not too demanding – it wasn’t like a deep sand track – but in Holland we haven’t had more than 20 degrees so far, and then coming here to around 35 and pushing that hard, I started to get cramps. Also in China last year I struggled with the heat. I’m from Holland, so I’m not the best in these kinds of conditions, but each time I’m getting a little bit better. Going back to the racing part, it was really good. I won yesterday and it was quite a comfortable race. In the first moto I lost a bit of time overtaking a couple of riders with Tom [Vialle] and Andrea [Adamo], and by the time I got into second there was about a five-second gap to Lucas. I wasn’t able to close him down, I wasn’t really far off, but it was a long race for my energy because I knew it was going to be difficult. Catching somebody is one thing, but passing him is another thing, especially on this track. Coming into the second moto, I knew the start was going to be key. Before the restart I was second, and then there was a bit of chaos on the line with riders being removed and how we were lining up. It took a bit of time, and then once we got racing I went straight into the lead and had pressure for, I don’t know, 18 or 20 laps. I managed not to make any mistakes, butI could hear him all the time. He was right on the rear wheel. Then with three or four laps to go I started to cramp and I thought, ‘It’s not the right time.’ But we managed to keep charging and managed to win. It’s going to be a heck of a season if we continue racing like this. Lucas is really good and I’m looking forward to seeing him race in America to see where our MXGP level is. But for now, at least for this weekend, I want to give it up to Team Gariboldi and also HRC for the amazing job they’ve been doing during the break, not only with the races but also with testing. I feel like we made another step forward, so it’s great to see all the people in Japan doing such a great job.

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Racing through the MXGP break

You know, I enjoy racing. Sometimes in Holland the tracks are very crowded and I actually feel that’s more dangerous. I like to just go racing because when I race, I feel more focused and it’s good training as well. The team supported me in that because I needed it. I’ve got a 12-year age gap on these guys, so I need to stay sharp and keep that intensity. When you’re practicing, sometimes you don’t feel the same intensity as when you’re racing. Also in Holland racing Kay [de Wolf], he’s super-fast in the sand. I feel like he has the speed for me and Lucas as well in those conditions, so I try to stay sharp, cause I need to – to stay with this young fella [laughs].