Published On: 5 april 2026
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VFrom the flanks, you can perfectly survey the entire Preston Docks circuit. It was therefore on that ridge, the separation from The Ribble estuary, that the fairly large crowd could admire Jeffrey Herlings' smooth victory. The track lies about 40 miles north of Beatles-town Liverpool.

MX1 series 1: Practice gallop for Jeffrey Helings or not?

The difference between MXGP and non-MXGP riders is almost always reflected in the result. For instance, Jeffrey Herlings won the first MX1 race ahead of Conrad Mewse, Oriol Oliver, and Ben Watson. Did Herlings have to dig deep for this? Who knows; tomorrow is another working day for him in Heerde. In any case, he held back a bit for a long time. Until it came down to it, and in no time at all he caught up to leader Oliver's wheel. A quick study, then on and past. Oliver had apparently emptied himself and had to let Mewse go in the final meters. He remained third ahead of Watson, with Taylor Hammal closing out the top five. Herlings was the only rider from our region to start.

Result series 1:

1 Jeffrey Herlings (NED) 29:39.054, 2 Conrad Mewse (GBR) 29:40.506, 3 Oriol Oliver (ESP) 29:59.415, 4 Ben Watson (GBR) 30:38.913, 5 Taylor Hammal (GBR) 30:40.494, 6 Adam Sterry (GBR) 31:04.875, 7 Carlton Husband (GBR) 31:36.783, 8 Jamie Carpenter (GBR) 31:38.405, 9 Bobby Bruce (GBR) 31:39.866, 10 Ben Edwards (GBR) 31:40.921, 11 Lennox Dickinson (GBR) 29:51.722, 12 Tom Grimshaw (GBR) 29:58.704, 13 Jason Meara (IRL) 30:19.092, 14 Bayliss Utting (GBR) 30:22.413, 15 Thomas Murphy (GBR) 30:24.746, 16 Martin Barr (GBR) 30:25.232, 17 Freddie Bartlett (GBR) 30:28.096, 18 Tanner Ward (CAN) 30:37.422, 19 Charlie Cole (GBR) 30:48.515, 20 Eddie Wade (ESP) 30:58.308, 21 Max Broadbelt (GBR) 30:59.761, 22 Charlie Putnam (USA) 31:09.086, 23 Travis Steels (GBR) 31:09.414, 24 Tristan Purdon (RSA) 31:21.407, 25 Raife Broadley (GBR) 31:44.330.

MX1 Series 2: Job done in the first 100 meters

“The Bullet” could begin the return journey with peace of mind after the second series. He will likely catch a big owl along the way. In a few hours, Herlings will be back on the bike in Heerde. The Dutch Masters start there tomorrow.

The scenario of the final race: unlike race one, Jeffrey immediately took the bull by the horns. This allowed him to set his own lines and pace right from the start. He would not be troubled. Jason Meara and Adam Sterry tried to keep up for a brief moment. They were trampled by Conrad Mewse, who first overtook Ben Watson and then towed him along. Oriol Oliver came to claim fourth place. And so, after five rounds, the top five was set. Oliver just missed the podium, although he had the same number of points as Watson.

Result series 2:

1 Jeffrey Herlings (NED) 30:02.245, 2 Conrad Mewse (GBR) 30:16.393, 3 Ben Watson (GBR) 30:24.688, 4 Oriol Oliver (ESP) 30:25.446, 5 Adam Sterry (GBR) 31:33.067, 6 Taylor Hammal (GBR) 31:41.642, 7 Tristan Purdon (RSA) 32:07.692, 8 Jamie Carpenter (GBR) 30:11.590, 9 Tom Grimshaw (GBR) 30:12.719, 10 Bobby Bruce (GBR) 30:29.295, 11 Tanner Ward (CAN) 30:33.148, 12 Eddie Wade (ESP) 30:46.674, 13 Ben Edwards (GBR) 30:47.544, 14 Jason Meara (IRL) 31:13.564, 15 Carlton Husband (GBR) 31:28.464, 16 Martin Barr (GBR) 31:43.109, 17 Freddie Bartlett (GBR) 31:47.892, 18 Thomas Murphy (GBR) 31:54.092, 19 Raife Broadley (GBR) 31:55.616, 20 Mckenzie Marshall (GBR) 32:25.486, 21 Max Broadbelt (GBR) 32:38.289, 22 Travis Steels (GBR) 30:23.957, 23 Jack Beniston (GBR) 30:28.325, 24 Nathan Green (GBR) 30:42.462, 25 Josh Greedy (GBR) 31:09.360, 26 Ezra Blackwell (GBR) 31:52.555.

Final score:

1 Jeffrey Herlings (NED) 50, 2 Conrad Mewse (GBR) 44, 3 Ben Watson (GBR) 38, 4 Oriol Oliver (ESP) 38, 5 Adam Sterry (GBR) 31, 6 Taylor Hammal (GBR) 31, 7 Jamie Carpenter (GBR) 26, 8 Bobby Bruce (GBR) 23, 9 Tom Grimshaw (GBR) 21, 10 Carlton Husband (GBR) 20, 11 Ben Edwards (GBR) 19, 12 Jason Meara (IRL) 15, 13 Tristan Purdon (RSA) 14, 14 Tanner Ward (CAN) 13, 15 Eddie Wade (ESP) 10, 16 Martin Barr (GBR) 10, 17 Lennox Dickinson (GBR) 10, 18 Thomas Murphy (GBR) 9, 19 Freddie Bartlett (GBR) 8, 20 Bayliss Utting (GBR) 7, 21 Raife Broadley (GBR) 2, 22 Charlie Cole (GBR) 2, 23 Mckenzie Marshall (GBR) 1.