The western Asian sunshine beat down on the Afyon Motor Sport Centre today, as the MXGP of Türkiye saw round 17 of the 2026 FIM World Motocross Championships take place in hot conditions, that baked the clay of the hardpack circuit into a fast but testing surface for the MXGP elite.
History was made at the end of the first MXGP race, as Jeffrey Herlings became only the fourth rider in Motocross history to clinch his sixth World Championship, his third in the premier class and his first for Honda HRC Petronas. He did so with a perfect 1-1 performance to complete his fifth perfect weekend in a row, extending his winning streak to 17 individual races in succession!
After clinching the Championship at the earliest opportunity, at the end of race one, he was then chased hard to the line in race two by his Honda HRC Petronas teammate Tom Vialle, who took second overall for his third straight podium finish, while the outgoing World Champion Romain Febvre claimed third overall for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP, his ninth podium of the season.
In MX2, the Championship battle took a massive swing to the Triumph Racing Factory Team, as Guillem Farres got back to winning ways with his sixth GP win, and the team are now 1-2 in the Championship after a disastrous day for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s leading challenger Sacha Coenen.
Reigning Champion Simon Längenfelder took his first Sunday race win since April for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, helping him to second overall ahead of Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Liam Everts, who scored his third podium result in a row.
It was an emotional day for all concerned at the Afyon Motor Sports Center, and there is still a lot of great racing to come in the final two rounds of this year’s pulsating World Championship series!
