The 2026 MXGP champions are Jeffrey Herlings in MXGP, Guillem Farrés in MX2 and Daniela Guillen in WMX. Two of those three titles were firsts of one kind or another. Then, at the start of October, the Motocross of Nations at Ernée produced a result that shows exactly how that event’s scoring works. Here is how the season ended.
MXGP: Herlings’ sixth title, in his first Honda year #
Jeffrey Herlings took the 2026 MXGP World Championship in his first season with Honda HRC Petronas. MXGP’s own awards report puts his season at 13 Grand Prix wins, 22 race wins and 16 podiums, and it was his sixth world title.
He didn’t need the final round. MXGP’s preview of the Darwin finale says plainly that the title had already been decided before the series reached Australia.
Honda HRC Petronas also took the winning-team award, with 14 GP wins, 23 race wins and 26 podiums across its three riders. The best private team in the class was the TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team.
MX2: Triumph’s first world title #
The bigger story was in MX2. Guillem Farrés won the title and gave Triumph its first world championship. Triumph also took the MX2 manufacturers’ title, in what MXGP describes as only its third season in the championship. Across the year the brand collected six qualifying wins, 21 race wins, 11 GP wins and 26 podiums.
Unlike MXGP, this one went to Darwin. Farrés arrived with a 48-point lead over his Triumph Racing Factory teammate Camden McLellan, so the closest threat came from inside his own garage. A brand-new manufacturer needed only three seasons to win a world title, which is fast by any measure. If you want to see what the established brands are building for next year, our 2027 motocross bikes roundup covers it.
WMX and the European classes #
The women’s title went down to the final round. Daniela Guillen won both races in Darwin to become the first WMX World Champion from Spain, finishing the season with three GP wins and five race wins. GASGAS took the WMX manufacturers’ title for the second year running.
The European championships produced a result worth noting from this side of the continent. Latvia’s Patriks Cirulis won EMX85. In EMX125, Austria’s Ricardo Bauer also added the Junior World title. Jack Waters became the first British rider to win EMX65.
Ernée: Belgium win the Nations without winning a race #
At the start of October, Belgium won the 2026 Motocross of Nations at Ernée on 23 points. Spain were second on 26 and the Netherlands third on 34. Per MCNews it was Belgium’s 16th Nations title, and DirtHub reports it as their first since 2013.
Look at how they did it. The team was Lucas Coenen in MXGP, Liam Everts in the Open class on a 450, and Sacha Coenen in MX2. Their six results, from the official classification:
| Rider | Class | Results |
|---|---|---|
| Lucas Coenen | MXGP | 3rd, 5th |
| Liam Everts | Open | 4th, 4th |
| Sacha Coenen | MX2 | 12th, 7th |
None of those is a win. MCNews put it simply: Belgium did not win any of the three races, yet took the Chamberlain Trophy. Sacha Coenen’s 12th became the dropped score, and the remaining five added up to 23.
The race winners went elsewhere. Romain Febvre won the opening race for France, and Jeffrey Herlings won the other two for the Netherlands. The table shows what that was worth. France had a race winner and still finished tenth on 90 points, because a second rider’s 40th counted against them. Spain had two second places on their card, but also a 36th, and that became their dropped score.
That is the scoring system working as designed. Each nation’s worst result is thrown away and the lowest total of five wins, so a team with no wins and no disasters beats a team with brilliant results and one bad one. We explained the format before the event in Motocross of Nations 2026: how the format and scoring work, and Belgium’s day is about the cleanest real example of it you could ask for.
The full top ten #
The official classification, lowest score first:
| Position | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 23 |
| 2 | Spain | 26 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 34 |
| 4 | Latvia | 52 |
| 5 | USA | 53 |
| 6 | Italy | 69 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 82 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 82 |
| 9 | Australia | 87 |
| 10 | France | 90 |
One line stands out. Australia won the Nations in both 2024 and 2025, according to the MXGP Results winners list, and finished ninth this time. Belgium’s last title before this one, per the same list, was 2013, which matches DirtHub’s report.
Latvia’s best-ever Nations #
The result closest to home came further down the table. Latvia finished fourth on 52 points, one ahead of the United States. MCNews records it as Latvia’s best-ever Motocross of Nations result.
For a Baltic team to finish ahead of the USA, Italy, Great Britain and Australia at the biggest team race in the sport is worth noting. It also sits nicely alongside Cirulis’ EMX85 title in the same season.
The season in one line #
An established champion did what he does in MXGP, a three-season-old manufacturer won its first world title in MX2, and the Nations went to the team that never won a race and never had a bad one. If you raced this year and lost places off the gate, our start technique guide is the place to start. Next year’s machinery is already shaping up, and our 2026 motocross bikes compared guide is the baseline for what changes.
Sources #
- MXGP — The 2026 MXGP Awards Crown a Historic Season Under the Darwin Sky
- MXGP — Darwin Is Ready for the Final Round of 2026
- MXGP Results — MXoN 2026 Overall Classification, Ernée
- MXGP Results — Motocross of Nations Champions and Results
- MCNews — 2026 Motocross of Nations Results
- Cycle News — 2026 FIM Motocross of Nations Results
- DirtHub — Belgium Win 2026 Motocross of Nations
