This weekend’s MXGP of Sweden won’t be the first time Jeffrey Herlings has arrived at the Uddevalla circuit with a handy points lead. Holding down 104 points over defending champion, Romain Febvre, a sixth championship is getting close and closer, but as “The Bullet” knows, a championship isn’t won until the final points are tallied and you hold the gold plate in your hands.

Bavo Swijgers image

In 2013, Herlings had a 139-point lead over Jordi Tixier heading into Sweden and left with a GP victory and extended his lead going 1-1 and Tixier scoring 4-2 results. Six rounds remained in that season and of course, the Dutchman scored his second World MX2 championship.

A year later and in the middle of his MX2 domination, Herlings had won 11 rounds of the 12 run (he missed Brazil due to injury), and his points lead, again over Tixier before Sweden was 115 points. He left Sweden with another 1-1 results, and the lead grew to 135 points. Soon after though, injury got in the way when he crashed at an international event in Belgium (racing a minibike) and he lost the championship due to injury.

Third year in a row in Sweden, he led going into the Uddevalla round and the points lead was 100 points over Tim Gajser, with Herlings suffering a second moto DNF and injury to his hand (he already had an injured collarbone from the previous GP in Germany). Gajser went 2-1 for the GP win, the lead dropped to 423 for Herlings and 345 for Gajser. Herlings would miss the following GP at Latvia, but crash out of the Czech GP and injury his hip, also ending his season.

Sweden wasn't on the calendar in his other three championship winning seasons in 2016, 2018 and 2021, but you can be sure, this GP at Uddevalla will see a very different rider than you saw in those seasons way back in time.

So, those three dominant points leads might not be in the mind of Herlings as he entered this round of the 2026 MXGP championship, but we all know, Jeffrey Herlings knows better than anyone, at this stage of the championship, that a clear mind and consistent results are far more important than going out and blasting his competition out of the water, which maybe was his problem, all those years ago.

Sometimes being 31 is way better than being 21 and you can be sure, experience and a smart head will make all the difference in Uddevalla this coming weekend. I cannot think of many people who don't want to see Herlings capture that sixth world title and be placed higher in the list of Grand Prix legends.