Published On: 12 april 2026
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HEveryone was looking forward to that first MXGP series in the sand of Riola Sardo on the Italian island of Sardinia. Everyone spoke of a kind of duel of the Low Countries, and that prediction became reality with a direct confrontation between Jeffrey Herlings and Lucas Coenen. The latter was the undisputed master of this heat and beat the sand master by a wide margin.  

The holeshot now went to Tom Vialle, ahead of Oriol Oliver and Jeffrey Herlings. They were followed by Febvre, Coenen, and Fernandez. Kay de Wolf had started sixth. Once again, there was a poor start for Jago Geerts, who had to make up many places from P17. Tim Gajser also completely missed his start and had to fight out many battles to get back into the top five.

Even before the end of the first lap, Herlings was already the new leader and Lucas Coenen got past Oliver. Tim Gajser made his life even more difficult in lap two by going down. He now had an even bigger mountain of work ahead of him. Lucas Coenen knew he had to get past Vialle quickly to keep Herlings in his sights, and he succeeded in doing so in lap three.

The fast KTM rider from Overijse then closed the gap on The Bullet in no time. Everyone was now on the edge of their seats to see what would happen. In a single smooth move, Coenen stormed alongside Herlings to lead the field. That was a very authoritative move by Coenen.

Just past the halfway point of the race, Gajser was already spotted in P13 and had his sights set on a top ten finish. Romain Febvre then overtook his compatriot Tom Vialle to claim third place. Lucas Coenen won this race with a lead of nearly 20 seconds over Herlings. Febvre secured third place ahead of a fine-riding Kay de Wolf. The unfortunate Tim Gajser still managed to secure ninth place in this first race.

The second series will follow later at 17:10 PM.

MXGP Race 1

1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34:57.852; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:19.634; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.495; 4. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:55.011; 5. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:02.242; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +1:10.538; 7. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +1:13.124; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Fantic), +1:16.611; 9. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +1:21.259; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +1:24.060; 11. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:26.095; 12. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +1:26.577; 13. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +1:29.105; 14. Ben Watson (GBR, Triumph), +1:36.770; 15. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:48.884; 16. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Yamaha), +1:51.272; 17. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), -1 lap(s); 18. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 19. Brent Van Doninck (BEL, Fantic), -1 laps; 20. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), -1 lap(s); 21. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 22. No Banner (SLO, KTM), -1 lap(s); 23. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Ducati), -1 lap(s); 24. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), -1 lap(s); 25. Matteo del Coco (ITA, Husqvarna), -2 lap(s); 26. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Ducati), -5 lap(s); 27. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Honda), -9 lap(s); 28. Rick Elzinga (NED, Beta), -10 lap(s);

Editorial team: Danny Hermans

Photos: JP Acevedo and Bavo Swijgers