The noise, the atmosphere, the cliffsides, and the chaos – it can only be the MXGP of Trentino, and the fans of all nationalities rocked the slopes of “Il Ciclamino” for round five of the 2026 FIM World Motocross Championships at one of the most iconic venues of the whole series! The riders responded with maximum effort, throwing their all into the GP races which turned into suitably spectacular affairs!

Ben Rumbold Report

Although rain was expected, it came as a shock when it poured down just as the first MX2 race was lining up, but after the morning sunshine and crosswinds gave the organisers work to do in their battle against the dust, the circuit was in prime condition for great racing, which it delivered in spades!

With below average starts and countless passes in two battles through the pack, Honda HRC Petronas’ megastar Jeffrey Herlings took his 114th Grand Prix victory, his sixth at this circuit and incredibly his 19th in the nation of Italy!

“The Bullet” was unable to stop Tim Gajser in race two, however, as the Slovenian sent his many fans into raptures with the second race victory, his first for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and his first since this very round last year!With his beautiful Valentino Rossi tribute livery, he would have done “The Doctor” proud! Tom Vialle endured a tough day at the office to land the second Honda HRC Petronas machine on the podium, but Lucas Coenen continues to hold the Championship lead, despite once again being unable to land on the podium at this venue!

It was a happier day for the other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing twin, Sacha Coenen, who completed a perfect 1-1-1 weekend to claim the fifth Grand Prix victory of his career in fine style, with Triumph Racing Factory Team rider Guillem Farres taking second overall ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team MX2’s French star Mathis Valin.

It was yet another incredible GP at the Pietramurata venue, full of mixed fortunes for all the major players, sending the MXGP season into a four-weekend break with some incredible memories, and the promise of many awe-inspiring races to come!

Determined to show some pace in the morning Warm-Up, Jeffrey Herlings set the top time ahead of reigning World Champion Romain Febvre on his Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP machine. Maxime Renaux was third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, but Lucas Coenen didn’t seem too worried as he warmed up in just 22nd place.

Even though Febvre was denied a chance of a fourth straight Qualifying win at Trentino on Saturday with a mechanical issue, he managed to find a good start position, and rocketed out of the gate to claim his second Fox Holeshot Award of the season in race one!It was briefly a French 1-2 as Tom Vialle held second, with Tim Gajser getting his many fans excited as he started in third!

Mattia Guadagnini had hit the ground in the first corner and had to start from the back on his Venrooy Racing KTM, but he would do well to claim 18th at the finish.Meanwhile, Lucas Coenen worked quickly from a fourth-place start to get past Vialle in the middle of the circuit, then dived to the inside of Gajser in front of his own Slovenian fans to take second place!With title rival Herlings outside the top ten off the start, it looked good for Coenen, but suddenly that Trentino voodoo, that seems to affect him at this circuit, struck again as he crashed spectacularly on the exit of the corner after Pit Lane!He had to restart in 17th position, but a further mistake took him back to 26th at the end of the first lap!

Behind Febvre, Gajser, and Vialle, MXGP rookies Andrea Adamo for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Thibault Benistant for Team Honda Motoblouz SR Motul were running well in fourth and fifth. On lap two, as Renaux blocked off Kay de Wolf in a move that put the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing man on the floor, Herlings popped past them both to suddenly appear in sixth place, but with a mountain to climb as high as any of the surrounding Dolomites.

Oriol Oliver was also in the top ten for Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors, ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Latvian rider Pauls Jonass and the third Honda HRC Petronas rider Ruben Fernandez.Renaux was able to squeeze past his countryman Benistant for sixth place on lap six, but Herlings began to haul in the leaders as he surprised Adamo with a pass at the top of the first uphill of lap seven!

Closing in on Vialle, the two teammates then both caught Gajser, with the Frenchman taking a neat inside line to overtake the Slovenian on a downhill section for second on lap 11. By this time, De Wolf had managed to get up to seventh behind Oliver, and Coenen had worked back up to 13th, but had a gap to close in on the riders in front.

With the fastest lap of the race on the 13th circulation, Herlings suddenly dived past Gajser for third, then pulled a fantastic move on Vialle, jumping to the outside of his teammate into the penultimate corner of lap 14 to take second!Two laps later, he used the same move to close on Febvre and lunged into the lead through the s-bend before Pit Lane!

Coenen was only able to pass the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team rider Calvin Vlaanderen to claim 12th at the flag.Benistant scored his best of the year so far with tenth behind Fernandez, while Oliver took his best MXGP race finish yet in eighth!Renaux made a move on Adamo to take fifth, with De Wolf behind them in seventh.Febvre tried to counter-attack but Herlings eased away to win by over five and a half seconds from the reigning Champ, with Vialle third and Gajser fourth.

For the second race, Febvre wasn’t able to get any further in than gate 38, just two in from the far outside. He would emerge from the first full lap in 23rd place, and could only get up to 12th at the flag. Duking it out for the Fox Holeshot Award this time were the old MX2 adversaries De Wolf and Coenen, with the Dutchman claiming the first of his MXGP career!

Gajser, Vialle, Renaux, and Jonass completed the initial top six, with Herlings on the edge of the top ten.“The Bullet” worked up to seventh at the end of the first full lap, with Fernandez, Oliver, and Tom Koch of the Sarholz KTM Racing Team rounding out the top ten.

Herlings picked off Jonass with his penultimate corner line from race one, then passed Renaux in the middle of the track to claim fifth by the end of lap four.Meanwhile, De Wolf had lost traction on a steep uphill to allow Coenen to drive past and into the lead, with Gajser also forcing past the Dutchman later that lap on a downhill double jump.

It took until lap seven for Herlings to overhaul Vialle for fourth, after which the Frenchman got the corner at the furthest end of the circuit badly wrong, dropping it over a ledge and having the bike beat him up in the process! He did well to restart in seventh behind Renaux and Jonass, but he would only be able to repass the Latvian to claim sixth at the flag.

Fernandez would also pass Jonass to take seventh, with Vlaanderen fighting forward to take ninth ahead of Oliver.This put the Spaniard into the top ten for the first time in MXGP with ninth overall ahead of Jonass, and just behind Fernandez.

Just a lap after Herlings powered past De Wolf into third over the Monster Energy triple jump, the race turned on its head as Coenen crashed out of the lead on the corner at the top of that hill! The crowd exploded as he did so, because this put Gajser in the lead for the first time on his new factory Monster Energy Yamaha! The Belgian was able to remount in third, nearly losing a place to De Wolf, as Renaux also closed in!Recomposing himself, Lucas was able to keep third place, putting him seventh in the Grand Prix behind Febvre. Renaux’s two fifth places gave him that spot overall, losing a tie-breaker for fourth with De Wolf.

Herlings closed in on Gajser, and the Slovenian seemed under genuine threat, but with two laps to go the Rossi replica was pulling away, and eventually won by just over four seconds, saluting his massed fans on their usual hillside! As well as breaking the drought for “Tiga” himself, it was also the first race win for Yamaha since Benistant’s MX2 win here last year, and their first in MXGP since Renaux in Argentina 13 months ago.

Vialle’s brave ride gave him his third podium of the season, and keeps him third in the Championship. However, his teammate Herlings took his sixth overall victory at the circuit, which equals Gajser’s record here, and puts the Dutchman just four small points away from the lead of the Championship.

The old guard did strike back on Sunday, but the young guns are far from done! The Battle of the Ages will continue in France on the penultimate weekend of May!

Jeffrey Herlings: “I think the results don’t really show the speed I had this weekend, especially after the crash yesterday and a small issue with the bike. I had to come through the field in both races, from around fifteenth to first in the first one and again pushing hard in the second. I felt like I had the pace, but once you get to the top guys it’s not easy to find a way past, especially on a tight track like this. Overall, a 1-2 on the day is good for the championship and I’m really thankful to the whole team for the work they put in.”

Tim Gajser: “I’m super happy with this weekend, especially coming in with some broken ribs from last week and riding in a lot of pain. I didn’t expect much, so to come away with a race win and a podium means a lot. In the second race I just gave everything I had, even though I was really feeling it physically. A big thank you to the team and the fans, because they really helped me keep pushing all the way to the end.”

Tom Vialle: “I had a pretty big crash in the second race that cost me a lot of time and a few positions, so I really had to work hard to come back. I felt good on the bike all weekend and the starts were strong, which helped a lot. The track was very technical and quite slow, so you had to be creative and adapt all the time so I really enjoyed it. In the end, I’m happy to be on the podium after that crash.”

Lucas Coenen (Red Plate): “Honestly, I didn’t expect too much coming into this weekend because the track doesn’t really suit my style. I had a couple of crashes in the first race and another small mistake in the second, so it wasn’t the easiest weekend. Still, I’m happy to be here, healthy and taking some points, because that’s on your bad days thatyou win championship. Now we have a break, and I’ll go back to work and come back stronger.”

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 35:03.552; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.685; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:07.859; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:15.090; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.581; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:31.942; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:33.611; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:43.087; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:45.214; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Honda), +0:46.366

MXGP - Grand Prix Race 2 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), 34:26.948; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:04.278; 3. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:19.270; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:21.010; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:22.608; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:57.033; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:58.796; 8. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:03.198; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:05.968; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:09.010

MXGP Overall - Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 47 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 43 p.; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 35 p.; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 32 p.; 5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 31 p.; 7. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 26 p.; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 23 p.

MXGP - World Championship - Top 10 Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 231 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 227 p.; 3. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 206 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 198 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 191 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 178 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 146 p.; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 144 p.; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 138 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 110 p.

MXGP - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 278 points; 2. KTM, 247 p.; 3. Yamaha, 224 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 207 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 144 p.; 6. Ducati, 113 p.; 7. Fantic, 108 p.; 8. Triumph, 35 p.; 9. Beta, 28 p.

The MX2 Warm-Up session saw Qualifying Race runner-up Guillem Farres at the top of the timings, with Mathis Valin looking fast in second ahead of home hero Valerio Lata, who took third for Honda HRC Petronas.

The heavens opened over the Il Ciclamino circuit for the start of MX2 race one, but Qualifying Race winner Sacha Coenen barely felt it as he fired to his third Fox Holeshot Award of the year, and made a mockery of the conditions as he powered away at the front. Valin gave chase initially, and Venrooy KTM Racing’s sole MX2 rider Noel Zanocz was a great third to start with, before being passed quickly by Farres and Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Liam Everts.

Championship leader Simon Längenfelder was way down the order, ending the first full lap in just 12th position for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, and his challengers were looking to capitalise while he struggled with the slippery circuit.Sadly for Triumph Racing Factory Team rider Camden McLellan, he was even further back in 14th and took until half-distance to pass the German.

Maddi Racing Honda ABF Italia rider Maxime Grau was looking fantastic in fifth place, ahead of the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 machine of Karlis Reisulis. The DRT Kawasaki of Kay Karssemakers held seventh in front of Lata, with Zanocz dropping to ninth at the end of the first full lap.

In the early laps, the only rider moving forward was Ošicka KTM MX Team’s Czech flyer Julius Mikula, who climbed from tenth to seventh by lap six, just after which the reigning Champ lifted himself into the top ten. Both he and McLellan were able to get past Lata, but the German stayed in tenth until the flag, while the South African made one more pass to get to eighth ahead of Karssemakers with a nice move through the “Gajser” corner.

Mikula advanced still further by passing Grau for sixth, but seventh was still the Frenchman’s best ever GP race finish. Apart from that, the front five of Coenen, Valin, Farres, Everts, and Karlis Reisulis stayed in place through most of the race, although Everts got within a second and a half of the Spaniard at the close.

Coenen followed up his six-second-plus victory with yet another Fox Holeshot in race two, and amazingly Grau and Mikula were right with him in the top three, while Längenfelder was fourth ahead of Everts, until the Husqvarna man got the waves after the triple jump wrong, crashing down the order and holding up the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team rider Ferruccio Zanchi, Karssemakers, and Valin!

Mikula was soon second after a move on Grau, with the Champ followed by Farres and the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rookie Janis Reisulis, although for once the Latvian didn’t have the pace of his elder brother, who passed him for sixth on lap three after a little back-and-forth action!

Grau started to slip down the order, sadly crashing out of the race on lap ten.It took Farres and Längenfelder until lap 11 to truly dispose of Mikula, and the Czech rider held on to further improve his best ever result to fourth position, both in this race and the GP!

Sacha was in supreme control, until a small crash on lap 15, at the furthest corner of the circuit, reduced his advantage by around five seconds.Valin recovered well with several passes to finish seventh in the race, behind the Reisulis brothers and ahead of Karssemakers, another recovery from Everts to ninth, and a disappointed Lata taking tenth.

McLellan fell in a tight right hander to leave him 11th in the race and tenth overall, with Janis Reisulis ninth in the GP behind another solid showing from Karssemakers.

Längenfelder’s first non-podium result of the year became sixth overall with the second race third position, and Everts was equally underwhelmed with seventh on the day.However, Karlis Reisulis enjoyed his best result of the year with fifth overall behind Mikula, and Valin’s great comeback took him to the overall podium, his first of the season and only the second of his career after the Czech Republic last year!Farres rose back up to third in the standings, two points ahead of Everts as he took second overall again, but Coenen’s fifth career GP victory puts him just three points behind the defending Champion!

For sure this Championship has many twists and turns ahead of it when we return in five weekend’s time, and riders in both classes will rest, recuperate, and build for the restart in France!We will miss the action, but it will then come thick and fast for the rest of the year!

Set the date in your diaries, as the season returns on the 23rd and 24th of May at Lacapelle Marival in the south-western heartland of France, with what is sure to be another boisterous crowd ready to bring the noise!We will see you all there… missing you already!

Sacha Coenen: “I’m really happy to win all three races this weekend, it’s the first time I’ve done that. In the first race I got the FOX Holeshot and managed the gap, and in the second one I felt even better with my flow. I made a mistake near the end and crashed, but I could still control it and take the win. This kind of consistency gives me a lot of confidence.”

Guillem Farres: “It was a solid weekend overall and I’m happy with the points we scored in every race. The track was really difficult, especially for passing, and in the first race I got stuck behind Mathis [Valin] and couldn’t find a way through. In the second one I had a bad start and had to work really hard to come back to second. By the time I got there, the gap was already too big, but we salvaged good points.”

Mathis Valin: “Yesterday was quite difficult with the track being tough for everyone. Today was better with the rain and I felt more comfortable, especially in the first race where I had a good flow and could stay near the front. In the second race I got blocked after the start and had to fight back to seventh. I’m not fully happy with that one, but it’s still a podium and we keep building step by step.”

Simon Längenfelder (Red Plate): “In the second race I started to feel better again after struggling a bit with the setup and traction earlier in the weekend. We made some changes and I could finally push and get back to my normal speed. The first race was really strange because I didn’t feel comfortable at all and couldn’t ride the way I wanted. Still, I had to push hard in the second one to get those important points for the championship.”

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 1 - Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:25.210; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.364; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:11.713; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:13.112; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:50.262; 6. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:54.674; 7. Maxime Grau (FRA, Honda), +0:55.678; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:56.046; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:11.117; 10. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +1:15.315

MX2 - Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:01.180; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:06.047; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:09.299; 4. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:10.923; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:12.939; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:18.121; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.875; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:28.441; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:31.715; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:41.796

MX2 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 42 p.; 3. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 32 p.; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 30 p.; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 25 p.; 9. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 23 p.

MX2 - World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 244 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 241 p.; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 204 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 202 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 185 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 170 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 159 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 150 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 133 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 114 p.