After two years of wet weather affecting this meeting, the Crossdromo Internacional de Águeda was bathed in hot sunshine today as the MXGP of Portugal burst into life in front of an eager crowd, who lapped up the return to good weather GP racing for round ten of the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championships!

Ben Rumbold Story - JP/KTM Image

Once again in MXGP, Championship leader Lucas Coenen engaged in a pitched battle with main challenger Jeffrey Herlings, and it was the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teenager who prevailed to win the Qualifying Race by just a few seconds over the Dutch veteran! Herlings had back-up from his Honda HRC Petronas teammate Ruben Fernandez, who claimed a season-best Qualifying Race finish of third in front of his near-home fans!

Another Spanish rider, Guillem Farres, was enjoying the conditions of the Iberian Peninsula that he calls home, and took his first career Qualifying Race win for the Triumph Racing Factory Team, while Championship leader Sacha Coenen only lost a single point with second place, and his fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Simon Längenfelder took a solid third place to jump back into that spot in the Championship.

The hot weather affected the circuit and the riders directly, and it looks likely to be a similar story tomorrow, but no-one’s complaining about the lack of rain this year around the orange dirt of Águeda!

It was Jeffrey Herlings who showed his pace in Free Practice with a late lap that was an impressive eight tenths of a second faster than Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP team leader Tim Gajser, while Lucas Coenen was only one thousandth of a second further back! As lines developed in Time Practice, the Belgian red plate holder astonished spectators with a big triple jump at the end of the old waves section, but reverted back to a regular line for his final fast lap that put him just six hundredths of a second ahead of Herlings to take the first gate pick. Ruben Fernandez got the crowd excited with the third fastest time, ahead of Gajser and Romain Febvre, who had also popped the big triple on his Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP machine.

Despite a challenge from fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Andrea Adamo, Lucas was able to make the best of that gate pick to take the early lead, while Fernandez ducked inside the Italian in turn two to claim second. Herlings was initially fourth, but roared gloriously around the outside of the pair in front of him to start the first full lap in second, giving chase to his title rival!

Adamo had a nightmare first lap, also passed by Gajser, Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass and Febvre, as well as the third Honda HRC Petronas of Tom Vialle. Oriol Oliver was behind the Italian, in ninth for Gabriel SS24 KTM, with the sole Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team representative Calvin Vlaanderen in tenth.

Febvre and Jonass had an entertaining battle before the Champ finally asserted his authority at the end of the waves on lap two, with Vialle also able to pass the Latvian for sixth. Febvre was as effective as ever on the hard surface, and caught Gajser to move up to fourth on lap eight, as Herlings relentlessly snapped at the heels of Coenen at the front. The Belgian was not pulling away, but nor was he going to roll over for the Dutchman!

Vialle slipped back to eighth behind Jonass and a regrouping Adamo, and the Italian pulled an aggressive block pass on a banked right-hand corner to wrestle sixth place away with two laps to go! Behind Jonass came the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP of Maxime Renaux, who passed Vialle for eighth on the final lap! Vlaanderen had passed Oliver and took the final point in tenth.

Try as he might, Herlings couldn’t make the move for the lead, and he rushed to the inside of the Belgian with three laps to go, but was way short of a pass! His speed was so compromised that he couldn’t attempt the next double jump, and that was the deal done for Coenen, who cruised to his fourth Qualifying Race win of the year, and 21st of his career, by over four seconds. Fernandez took his first top three position on a Saturday this year ahead of Febvre and Gajser. His fans will hope for more of the same tomorrow!

Despite the 57-point gap between them in the points, Coenen and Herlings are ultra-close in terms of sheer pace, and tomorrow’s main GP races should be enthralling and dramatic affairs around the ascents and descents of Águeda!

Lucas Coenen: "I felt quite good and controlled out there. I mean, the tracks are a bit tricky, but it's more fun to ride. You can get quite some flow, if you can find it that's amazing. But it was a good race, good start, and I’ll try to repeat it tomorrow."

Jeffrey Herlings: "I was struggling with the lapped riders. I mean, with three laps you always really had a lapped rider, and yeah, twice I couldn't get past them, and both times I lost a bit of time. But anyway, it was a good ride. Gate position for tomorrow is good. Definitely would have preferred to stay on the inside, but I'm next to my main competitor. So, no, hopefully we can have a good battle tomorrow, 10 more minutes of racing. So, hope to give him another challenge tomorrow. He's fast. So it would be good to chase him again."

Ruben Fernandez: "I mean, when it comes to a nice track with a nice layout where you can keep the flow, I feel much more comfortable. And so I think it showed up since practice. Having a good start, it also helps a lot. The way things are right now, I think we are all pretty tight speed-wise, and especially the guys in the front, the level is high, so the start is making it a lot easier for everyone. Fortunately we could have it and got passed by Jeffrey, and then I tried to follow his wheel as much as possible during the race. It was a good feeling on this track with some kickers on the ramps and stuff, but I enjoyed it really much. And yeah, I felt like I had strong wings this weekend. I'm bringing Paulo on my helmet and the Portuguese flag. So thanks everyone for the support. I really appreciate it. And then hopefully tomorrow we can bring it into the two races."

MXGP - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 24:00.391; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:04.342; 3. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:17.010; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:25.032; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:31.158; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:42.528; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:44.649; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:51.685; 9. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:56.011; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +0:56.932;

MXGP - World Championship Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 459 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 402 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 354 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 335 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 308 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 286 p.; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 273 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 272 p.; 9. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 251 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 204 p.

Guillem Farres immediately excited fans with his speed in Free Practice, as he even out-paced the throttle-happy Sacha Coenen by nearly nine tenths of a second! Janis Reisulis was third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2.

The roles were reversed at the top for Time Practice, however, as Coenen secured the first gate pick by two thirds of a second over Farres, whose Triumph Racing Factory Team teammate Camden McLellan was close behind in third. Simon Längenfelder was fourth fastest ahead of Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Liam Everts.

From the seventh gate pick, however, came a stunning Holeshot from Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s in-form Frenchman Mathis Valin, sweeping into turn one ahead of Janis Reisulis and Coenen. Reisulis pressured the Kawasaki man as they started the second lap, and Mathis overjumped into a corner, landing in some braking bumps and suffering a massive crash! There were worried looks everywhere as he stayed on the ground and the red flag was waved to call the race to a halt. Fortunately, he was able to walk back to the Paddock under his own steam, a massive relief for all who witnessed the incident.

In the restart, it was Farres who made the biggest improvement from his first attempt, and he led from Coenen, the Honda HRC Petronas of Valerio Lata, and surprise Swede Nike Korsbeck of the Triumph Nordic Racing Team!

Everts was swiftly ahead of the privateer, and just as suddenly got around Lata for third, with Längenfelder following the Belgian past the Italian. McLellan was also able to relegate Lata to sixth at the end of the first full lap. Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki man Kay Karssemakers was seventh, ahead of Karlis Reisulis and his brother Janis, then the ASA United GASGAS of Ben Mustoe held onto tenth in the initial stages.

The top five mostly held station, but Janis, no doubt furious at not replicating his good position from the first start, passed a rider a lap to reach sixth by the end of lap four! Karlis was able to follow him eventually, putting the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 pairing in sixth and seventh at the finish. Karssemakers took eighth after holding off the Ošicka KTM MX Team rider Julius Mikula, who finished ninth ahead of Lata.

Everts and Längenfelder went back and forth in a great battle for third, and the German completed the job on lap seven, a welcome return to form after a difficult few GPs for the reigning Champ. Everts was caught by McLellan but the South African was unable to make a move, finishing in fifth, now a point behind Längenfelder in their battle for third in the series.

Coenen was unable to make an impression on Farres, although he stayed close as the Spaniard finally ticked off the first Qualifying Race win of his career, and celebrated in front of the crowd over the newly-positioned finish line jump in front of the grandstands! It makes the gap at the top of the Championship a nice, round 40-point margin heading into tomorrow’s Grand Prix races!

There are a large number of challengers who are capable of, and extremely hungry for, a tasty GP victory tomorrow, and it should help make the MXGP of Portugal an extremely entertaining one around the orange clay of Águeda.

Guillem Farres: "It was a good race. In the red flag, I got a bit of a worse start. Second start, was much better and then I could hold it and I was just managing. I mean, the team did an amazing job. Bike's awesome. I felt really comfortable, and really looking forward to tomorrow."

MX2 - Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), 24:40.965; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.508; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:04.822; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:05.734; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:12.024; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:13.188; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:39.849; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:41.555; 9. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:42.900; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:43.955

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 440 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 400 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 380 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 379 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 361 p.; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 352 p.; 7. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 315 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 248 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 242 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 184 p.