Darwin, Australia is hosting the season-finale for what has been a record-breaking year for the Honda HRC PETRONAS team. Jeffrey Herlings was already crowned world champion a couple of rounds ago in Turkiye, and has now won 12 of the 18 rounds, while teammate Tom Vialle has won one, and swept into fourth place in the championship standings after his run of four consecutive podiums.

Herlings put in another one-one-one performance in Shanghai, China, increasing his winning sessions streak to 38, and his goal is to try and round out 2026 by winning the six remaining, and really stamping his authority on the championship.

He already has secured the ‘Best Laps’ prize as well over the course of the year, and the only thing left up for grabs is the Holeshot Award, with Herlings one behind his teammate Vialle with two left to play for. Either way, the Honda CRF450RW has shown its explosive power throughout the campaign, and with both riders in their debut season on the team, it shows how well the pair have done to adapt to the machinery.

Vialle hasn’t won a moto since Switzerland, but came really close in Turkiye and is still in the midst of an impressive podium streak, despite suffering a little bit in China last time out. He knows there are only two motos left, and will be trying everything he can to receive the chequered flag and finish this season the way he started it, when he won the qualifying race at round one in Argentina.

It seems like a long time ago now, but both riders can be extremely pleased with their efforts in 2026 and while conditions will be hot in Darwin, both of them are raring to go and excited to head home with more accolades under their belts.

Tom Vialle: I wasn’t feeling great in China, but I’ve had a better week since and I’m excited for Australia this weekend. I didn’t race it last year but it seemed like a cool track before the rain, so I’m excited to see how it is and just try to get a win before the season is over. Jeffrey is obviously riding really well but I think I can do it and that is the aim for this last round.

Jeffrey Herlings: Just one round left and it’d be great to keep this thing going. Haven’t lost anything since Foxhills and I think it’d be cool to see if I can keep that until the end of the season. There is also the holeshot award up for grabs between myself and Tom, so that is like a side-goal this weekend, but I need to get both which will be tough. Australia didn’t really get a fair shot last time with the weather, but I think they did a good job and I think there should be a good amount of fans for this season finale.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas: Great to see both guys performing at a really high level these last few rounds, and although China wasn’t an easy one, both fought hard to get on the podium. It was also great to see so many of our sponsors in Shanghai, and for them to see Jeffrey and Tom fighting at the front of the field. Now we just have one last race for them to try and do the same again, although we know that both of them want to win so everyone in the team is trying to help both riders do that.