We are a month out from the 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship (MXGP) opener in Argentina, and preseason races have begun. This weekend, several top MXGP riders headed to the home of the 2021 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Mantova, Italy, for the second of two International Italian Championship rounds. Red Bull KTM's Lucas Coenen dominated the first-round last weekend in Sardinia. Coenen was followed by Tim Gajser, who was making his highly anticipated debut on a Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP. Coenen was not in attendance in Mantova. Instead, Gajser was joined by five-time World Champion Jeffrey Herlings in his highly anticipated debut race with the HRC Honda Team.
Gajser dominated the wet, sandy Mantova circuit, qualifying first and comfortably going 1-1 on the day to secure the Italian Championship. It was a noticeable improvement from just one week ago, and after a decade on Honda, the transition to Yamaha seems to be going smoothly five or six weeks in.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Herlings had a frustrating HRC Honda debut. Herlings qualified P2, but while running fourth in race one, he got a rock caught between the chain and sprocket, bringing his new HRC Honda to a halt. It took quite a while for Herlings to diagnose the problem and get the rock out, but he eventually rejoined the race outside of the top 20. He finished a frustrating 11th. He rebounded for third in race two. His 11-3 scores put him sixth overall on the day.
Herlings posted a recap on his Instagram saying, "Need to get back some race intensity, and I still look a bit rusty, so it is good to get some races in. The team did a great job; it was a brutal day for the bike. Poor performance from my side after all the work we have put in. But looking forward to the next gate drop in seven days."
Behind Gajser, two-time 250SX East Division Champion Tom Vialle had a nice ride in his first motocross race on his new Honda and since returning to Europe finishing second in race one. Mattia Guadagnini rounded out the race one podium on his Van Venrooy KTM. Former MX2 Champion Red Bull KTM's Andrea Adamo had second on lock until his bike let go late in the race. Adamo had a similar DNF in the second moto in Sardinia last weekend.
In race two, privateer Jorgen Talviku led early, ahead of Jago Geerts and his new MRT Beta Racing ride. Adamo nearly had the holeshot but tagged the back of Talviku in turn two and went down. He would charge back to eighth, but the results on paper are not representative of how great Adamo has been in his 450 debut the past two weekends.
Gajser took the lead a couple of laps in and went on to win comfortably despite a tip-over late in the race. HRC Honda's longest-tenured rider, Rueben Fernandez, followed Gajser through into second. Herlings got into third around the ten-minute mark but could not close the gap to his teammate.
Tom Vialle ended up second overall, with 2-5 scores. Alberto Forato had a sneaky good day aboard his new Factory Fantic Racing ride. He passed Vialle late in race two, and his 5-4 results gave him the final spot on the podium and second overall in the Italian Championship.
The MX2 class was dominated by the defending MX2 World Champion, Red Bull KTM's Simon Langenfelder. Langenfelder did not get great starts in either moto but was able to methodically work his way through the field and win both motos comfortably. Cas Valk ended the day second overall on his TM ahead of Jekabs Kubulins, who grabbed both holeshots and led several laps aboard his privateer YZ250. HRC Honda's lone MX2 rider, Valerio Lata, qualified fastest and led the majority of the second moto. A crash off the start of race one kept him off the podium.
The 2026 MXGP season is set up to be one of the most anticipated seasons in history. With so many of the major players switching teams, Kay de Wolf's move to the MXGP class, and the return of two-time MX2 champion Tom Vialle, there are countless storylines to follow coming into Argentina. Next weekend, several of the top players head to the UK to continue their preparations at Hawkstone International.
Main image Courtesy of Yamaha
