Ok, its three days after what was a sensational opening round of the 2026 MXGP championship and there are points we would like to look at. Obviously, the win by “The Bullet” was the hottest point and for many, including myself, the most exciting.

I wrote after his Lierop win that he is my favourite to win in Argentina, and I am pretty happy my tip was correct. I said he would maybe win easily, and while his 1-1 wasn’t easy, it was perfect. There is thing you can learn in the sport, watching it now for 50 years, but one thing you should never do, is write off the Dutchman.

At 31 years of age, its incredible that he is STILL the fastest man in Europe and while he might not be the fastest man on the planet anymore (I think that goes to the Lawrence brothers), he has shown enough already, that we can put him in the picture to battle those guys at Ernee in October.

But enough about Herlings, we covered that a couple of days ago. How about Tom Vialle??? While I can boast that I tipped Herlings to win, I thought Vialle would be around fifth to seventh and I was even stupid enough to say he is for me, a 250 rider on a 450. Well, I always like to show just how dumb I am, and that quote is right up there.

Vialle didn’t look like a 250 rider on a 450, he looked like a 450 rider and his speed was impressive. With a few more races to his name, maybe he will have a better endurance level and can hold his team-mate out next time around.

The Frenchman also beat his countryman, Romain Febvre and that in itself is something special. If I had to be honest, I assume Vialle might have some good races, as he has a lot to prove, but he might actually end up being a three to five placed guy in the coming rounds.

Romain Febvre, like Herlings, you can never count him out. He mentioned that he wasn’t comfortable on the Bariloche circuit and to be honest, I don’t think too many riders felt comfortable there. What you get from the world champion though, is consistent, polished riding and once again, he got as many points as he could, wasn’t the star of the show and heads to Spain with a lot of confidence and knowledge, he isn’t far off the pace of the guy with the red plate.

Amazingly, Lucas Coenen finished fourth overall and is just eight points off the red plate, which is a sign he will be tough to beat once he gets warmed up, because he did look average on the Sunday in Argentina. He did complain of an eye problem, which didn’t allow him to give 100%, and maybe, just maybe, Argentina will be his “throw-away” race, so to speak. I expect him to be battling Herlings and Febvre in Spain, and that one is worth waiting for.

The Yamaha boys, Tim Gajser and Maxime Renaux were not sensational but didn’t lose too many points. Fifth and sixth in the championship points, they both should be better in the coming rounds, and that second moto ride by Gajser showed he is getting used to the Yamaha quickly. He still looks at odds with the bike, but he is too good to remain in that situation for long.

Andrea Adamo was impressive but maybe needs to get used to the conditioning needed to stay strong for a full moto. He faded badly at times in Argentina, and hopefully, he will sort that out quickly, because he looked very good on the 450 and his Saturday third place in the qualifier was nice to see. Again, a shorter race and his condition maybe wasn’t such an issue in that qualy race.

Of course, a nice circuit, a large spectator turnout, and good weather allowed for a nice start to the 2026 season and while the MX2 class is looking very poor, when it comes to depth, the MXGP class is as stacked as its been in a while, and lets be honest, that is the class we all care about.

What I am looking forward to is the sand of Spain in around 10 days’ time. Yes, sand in Spain!!! As I have said above, I think it will be a Herlings vs Febvre vs Coenen battle and I think those three might even be head and shoulders above everyone else.

Bavo Swijgers image