The D.I.D All Japan Motocross Championship Series 2026 Round 9, the 64th MFJ-GP Motocross Tournament, will be held over two days from October 31 to November 1 at Sportsland SUGO in Murata Town, Miyagi Prefecture. The nine-race season is finally at its final stage. The most notable championship battles are for the IA2 class, with Taiga Yanase clinching the title in the IB OPEN class and Takumi Hokama clinching the title in the 8th round, so the remaining IA1 and ladies' classes will be decided in the final round.

Entries here: D.I.D JMX 2026 R9 Entry List

Additionally, the IA1 class will feature Jeffrey Herlings, the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) champion. Furthermore, Soya Nakajima, the 2024 and 2025 IA2 champion who competed full-time this season in the Australian Motocross Championship MX2 class, will make a spot appearance and make his IA1 debut.

The classes held include four official classes: IA1, IA2, IBOPEN, and LMX (Ladies'), as well as approved classes JX (Junior Cross), CX (Childcross), Enjoy Class, and the Yamaha YZ125 BLU CRU Cup, making a total of eight classes over two days.

The venue, Sportsland SUGO, is located about a 5-minute drive from the Sugo Smart IC on the Tohoku Expressway. The course layout features uneven terrain, and with a 30-degree slope, approximately 70m in length, and a maximum elevation difference of about 35m, the "Osaka" is a SUGO specialty. You can also watch exciting battles such as big jumps over 20 meters and technical battles in the European section.

The final is held in a two-heat format of 25 minutes + one lap, five minutes shorter than usual, taking into account sunset times, while the IB OPEN class competes in a two-heat format of 15 minutes + one lap. Additionally, in the final race, GP points are added to all rankings with 3 points, so the winner earns 38 points, and in two-heat classes, the maximum is 76 points.

Looking back at the IA1 class in Round 8, #30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC Progressive/Honda CRF450R), who entered the spot race, won all three heats, while just behind him was #2 Jay Wilson (YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM/Yamaha YZ450FM), who finished second in all three races. At the end of Round 8, #1 Yoshiki Okura (Honda Dream Racing Bells/Honda CRF450R), who was the points leader, was only 7th, 5th, and 7th. By the end of Round 8, Wilson had 638 points and Okura 621 points. The top spot in the rankings switched, and Wilson entered the final match with a 17-point lead over Okura.

For Okura to come back, he would need to surpass Wilson by at least 18 points in total over the two heats. Last year, Wilson entered the final game as the leader, but he crashed and retired in Heat 1 and also missed Heat 2. Okura, who finished 8th and 5th, came from behind to claim the title. Whether Wilson will hold on this year or Okura will win the championship for the second consecutive year remains a hot topic until the very end.

This event will feature Herlings (Honda HRC PETRONAS/Honda CRF450RW), the champion of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship MXGP class. This season, he moved to Honda HRC PETRONAS and clinched the MXGP title with two races remaining at the 17th round Turkish GP in September. Including his MX2 days, this was his sixth world title, and he achieved 13 overall GP wins and 22 race victories throughout the season. Furthermore, in October, he represented the Netherlands in the Motocross of Nations (MXoN), an international motocross competition, winning two MXGP class races. This was his first time competing in the All Japan Motocross Championship, making it a valuable opportunity to see the world champion perform in Japan.

Also, #215 Soya Nakajima (Yamaha BLUCRU Racing/Yamaha YZ450F), who won the IA2 championship in 2024 and 2025, will make his IA1 debut at this event. This season, he competed in the Australian Motocross Championship MX2 class with Monster Energy Yamalube Yamaha, achieving a best result of 4th place, and will surely showcase the experience and skills he gained overseas on the All Japan stage.

Furthermore, #386 Haruki Yokoyama (Kawasaki Plaza Tosu & Green Shadow/Kawasaki KX450), who placed third in all three heats in Round 8, entered again as in the previous race. In his comments after the eighth game, he expressed his enthusiasm for the final game, saying, "There's still time until the next game, so I'll rest well first and get in the car to challenge myself."