RIOLA SARDO (Sardegna, Italy) 11th April 2026 – The contrast could not be higher between the low temperatures and grassy terrain of Switzerland and today’s hot, sunny, and very sandy conditions at Riola Sardo, as the MXGP elite set about the business of Qualifying for the MXGP of Sardegna at the Crossodromo Comunale “Le Dune” circuit!

For the second GP in a row, Honda HRC Petronas’ new signing Jeffrey Herlings took the Qualifying Race win after a stirring brace of passes in the opening laps, although he was pressured all the way by reigning World Champion Romain Febvre, who had to accept second place for Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP.  Both men enjoyed their best result on a Saturday at Riola Sardo, while Tim Gajser equalled his best of the year with third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP.  There were many laps of frantic action going on behind them, however!

In MX2, it was yet another Qualifying Race win for Sacha Coenen, giving him a perfect record on Saturday races for the 2026 season so far! His fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Simon Längenfelder worked solidly forward to second, extending his Championship lead with several passes through the race, while Janis Reisulis scored the best Qualifying Race result of his young career with third for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2!

With cooler, more overcast conditions forecast for tomorrow’s Grand Prix races, the riders will be looking forward to less intense heat, even though the track itself will still be as fast and demanding as ever!

Always a threat in the deep sand, it was good to see Kay de Wolf set fastest time in Free Practice for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing as he continues his recovery from a thumb injury. He was over a second faster than the two five-time World Champions, Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser. 

When it counted for gate pick, however, red plate holder Lucas Coenen fired in a red-hot opening lap to set the standard early in Time Practice for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.  With Herlings falling on a couple of occasions, the Honda man had to settle for third in the end, as Gajser swooped in with a flying final effort to snatch Pole Position by just four thousandths of a second from Coenen! It’s the first time that the Slovenian has set the best time this season, proving that his work with the Yamaha team in Belgium during the week off has paid dividends!

Romain Febvre bolted out the gate to claim the Holeshot in the Qualifying Race, with Herlings trying to blast around the outside, only just held up by his Honda HRC Petronas teammate Tom Vialle, who he then passed at the end of Pit lane with a simple inside out-braking manoeuvre!

On the floor in the first turn, however, were Coenen and De Wolf!  The red plate holder had tucked the front wheel and left the Dutchman nowhere to go, but the duo fought through the pack like a freight train, already into the top fifteen at the end of the first full lap! 

By that time, Herlings had railed around Febvre in that fast right-hander after Pit Lane to take the lead, and set about taking advantage of his Championship rival’s misfortunes with the maximum points haul!

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s class rookie, Andrea Adamo, initially held fourth behind Vialle, with Gajser making some passes to lie in fifth place ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Pauls Jonass.  Gajser managed to force his way into fourth by the end of lap three.

It only took until lap five for De Wolf and Coenen to get into the top ten, and were blazing a trail through the pack as the Belgian passed his former teammate for eighth on lap seven, and was clearly far from done with his charge.  The following lap saw him demote Jonass and the second Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP rider Maxime Renaux, putting him into sixth place and within striking distance of Adamo!

Febvre momentarily challenged Herlings for the lead, but “The Bullet” was not to be denied. As Gajser closed in on Vialle for third, Coenen eased up to the back wheel of the Italian, and took an inside line through a right-hander to move up to an astonishing fifth.  Surely fourth would be too much to ask? 

Behind them, Alberto Forato put a move on Renaux to claim eighth, with Brent Van Doninck finishing behind the Frenchman to put both Fantic Factory Racing MXGP machines into the Saturday points for the first time this year!  De Wolf’s charge halted at seventh place behind Adamo, but surely the Dutchman could be a challenger with a better start tomorrow.

Coenen, amazingly, was able to snap at the back wheel of Vialle on the final lap, but the Frenchman held him off to keep fourth place.  Herlings, meanwhile, celebrated his 72nd career Qualifying Race win, but his first at Riola, despite suffering a bout of arm-pump mid-race. 

Coenen maintains his title lead over Vialle, now down to six points, while Herlings is now only two down on his teammate.

There can be no doubt that tomorrow will prove to be a massive physical challenge for all concerned, and it promises to create an incredible day of MXGP action!

Jeffrey Herlings: “It was not easy for sure. Romain [Febvre] was riding really good behind me. I mean, he’s got so much experience in the sand, he’s been living in Belgium for a long time, so I’m sure it helps. He was world champion for a reason, so I’m very thankful with this qualifying win. Second in a row, so good to get these 10 points again. But yeah, looking forward to tomorrow’s racing. The track was really gnarly today, so the starts are going to be key tomorrow.”

Romain Febvre: “I think I was quite fast. I had some really good lines, and I could close the gap on Jeffrey [Herlings] many times, but I wasn’t able to make the pass. But I feel really good. Lately we have made some changes on the bike and it works really well in the sand, and now I start to take the holeshot so that’s really good. But yeah, we’ll see tomorrow, it’s another day, but I feel ready, so let’s go.”

Tim Gajser: “Definitely more rough than in time practice, so it was a bit more demanding. I didn’t have the best start, I was again buried in the back in the first couple of corners, it was a big mess. But then when I found my rhythm, I could pick it up and slowly go towards the front, catching the guys ahead. So yeah, really happy with the speed, nothing is missing. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good start and then good riding as well.”

MXGP – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 25:23.299; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.323; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:08.742; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:12.629; 5. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:13.475; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:30.965; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:35.222; 8. Alberto Forato (ITA, Fantic), +0:38.553; 9. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:45.847; 10. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Fantic), +0:47.807

MXGP – World Championship Classification: 1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 142 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 136 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 134 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 124 p.; 5. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 122 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 119 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 89 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 83 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 73 p.; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 67 p

In Free Practice, the pace was initially set by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 rider Karlis Reisulis, but then Sacha Coenen blazed across the sand to top the timings by over two seconds! Only one rider, even in the MXGP class, went faster all day! Simon Längenfelder lifted himself into second spot, ahead of Karlis and his brother and teammate Janis Reisulis.

In Time Practice though, it was “The Killer” who set a stunning lap on his first real attempt, and that wasn’t beaten through the entire session, as Triumph Racing Factory Team rider Guillem Farres got closest to Janis to take second gate pick behind the Latvian! Coenen had a late run that was looking good, but made a mistake in sector three, leaving the young Belgian in third.

Janis looked to have claimed the Holeshot in the Qualifying Race, but ran slightly wide, allowing Coenen to slip through, as well as the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Liam Everts, Karlis Reisulis, and Längenfelder!  The Triumph Racing Factory Team pairing of Farres and Camden McLellan held sixth and seventh, the South African struggling with a sore shoulder after his crash in Switzerland. 

It was the Reisulis brothers who made the first big moves. Karlis was on a charge, passing Everts for second over a tabletop jump, while Janis went around the outside of a stumbling Längenfelder at the end of Pit Lane!

The leaders then held station for the first three full laps, but then it all exploded as Janis made moves on both Everts and his brother to take second by the end of lap five, with Längenfelder also able to pass both riders on the next lap to hit third!  Everts also passed Karlis, who then came under pressure from Farres, while Mathis Valin joined the party for Kawasaki Racing Team MX2 with a pass on the visibly below-par McLellan for seventh.

Lap eight saw changes of a different kind, as Farres passed Karlis Reisulis, who fell over the Spaniard’s back wheel, over the handlebars, and out of the race! The Triumph man then had his own crash, bouncing against the bank and dropping to tenth, which is where he finished to claim the final Championship point on offer today.

There was a welcome return to action for the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team rider Ferruccio Zanchi, with a successful debut on the Desmo250 MX in ninth place, behind his former teammate Valerio Lata, eighth for Honda HRC Petronas. Dutchman Kay Karssemakers scored his best ever Qualifying Race finish of seventh on the Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki!

Valin claimed sixth after being re-passed by McLellan, and Janis Reisulis scored his first top three Qualifying result after holding off Everts.

However, it was a 1-2 for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, with Sacha Coenen going four-for-four in Qualifying Races this season, moving up to second in the Championship behind Längenfelder, as the German enjoys a slightly larger points lead of 24, now over the Belgian instead of Farres.

Will Sacha be able to convert that Saturday speed to a great Sunday for the first time this year, or will his rivals catch him out on the shifting sands of Sardegna?

Both classes promise some incredible racing on the tortuously tough sandy surface, which makes this yet another Grand Prix Sunday that any Motocross fan would not want to miss!

Sacha Coenen: “It’s a really sketchy track. You cannot push really hard because then you make a mistake. At first I was not enjoying it at all, I was doing a bit left and right, but then when I found my rhythm… it looked like I was riding like a sighting lap. Under my helmet I was like, just jumping all the whoops. But yeah, I had some fun, I had a bit of arm bump at the end, but it’s good to have another qualifying race win.”

MX2 – Qualifying Race Classification: 1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 23:58.610; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:13.234; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:19.178; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:20.069; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:22.353; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:24.900; 7. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:43.176; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:44.081; 9. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +0:44.676; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:53.312

MX2 – World Championship Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 158 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 134 p.; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 128 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 128 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 127 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 113 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 103 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 93 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 88 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 60 p.

TIMETABLE

SUNDAY:
09:40 EMX125 Race 2, 10:25 MX2 Warm-up, 10:45 MXGP Warm-up, 11:30 EMX250 Race 2, 13:15 MX2 Race 1, 14:15 MXGP Race 1, 16:10 MX2 Race 2, 17:10 MXGP Race 2.