Jeffrey Herlings claimed his 117th Grand Prix victory in Portugal. While he didn’t gain any points on Lucas Coenen in the championship—in fact, he actually lost one point across the entire weekend—the Honda HRC rider won an important first battle in the title fight. Beaten in the opening moto, the Dutchman responded in the second by hunting down Lucas Coenen before pulling away. The overall victory at Águeda marked his fifth GP win of the season.
“I felt that Lucas and I had pretty much the same speed throughout the weekend,” admitted Herlings. “We were separated by just 0.060 seconds in qualifying, and we battled throughout the qualifying race. In the first moto, I lost a lot of time behind my teammate, Ruben Fernandez. I spent almost 15 minutes trying to pass him, and Lucas had already pulled away. He made a mistake and crashed, so we closed the gap, but then I lost another 10 seconds before finally getting past Ruben. Once I moved into second, I managed to get within three seconds of Lucas, but it wasn’t as if I had a huge speed advantage over him.”
After being behind Ruben Fernandez for several laps early in the opening moto, Herlings never gave up and kept pushing until the finish. However, the Dutch rider never truly managed to threaten Lucas Coenen, who took the win by three seconds over his championship rival.
“In the second moto, I got into second place straight away, so I was able to follow him. In some sections I felt I was a little faster, but it was really difficult to find a line to make a pass because I wasn’t that much quicker than him either. Then I found one place where I could try something, and I had to make sure I passed him there. I made sure he couldn’t cut back underneath me or come back around. I blocked him a little, and from there I attacked for a few laps. I managed to open up a gap and win my 117th GP victory, 221st race win—the statistics are crazy. More than 65 Grand Prix podiums, I think, or something like that. I don’t even know anymore because I’ve lost count. It’s impressive. It’s just a shame that the championships have so often been out of reach.”
Right behind Lucas Coenen from the start of the second moto, Herlings had to work hard in the opening laps just to stay on the leader’s rear wheel and apply constant pressure—a strategy that ultimately paid off.
“We know that if you give Lucas a five-second lead, it becomes very difficult,” explained Herlings. “I also know that when I have a five-second lead, I can start controlling the race and managing the gap to the other riders. When someone is right behind you, you hear them everywhere and, even though I don’t make many mistakes in those situations, I’m definitely more stressed than when I have a cushion and can afford a small mistake. It was a good race, a good battle. There will probably be plenty more. We’ve started the second half of the season now. We just have to keep aiming for wins, podiums, and keep giving it everything.”
For the first time this season, Jeffrey Herlings was genuinely able to match Lucas Coenen’s pace, follow him, and, most importantly, pass him. Until now, the two championship leaders had mostly fought from a distance, aside from one encounter at Riola Sardo where the Belgian got the better of Herlings in the Sardinian sand before pulling away.
This weekend in Portugal, however, the Honda HRC rider felt he had the tools to challenge Coenen and eventually got the better of the championship leader in the second moto. Beyond the result itself, Herlings sent a strong message at the start of the second half of the season. The title fight is well and truly on.
“On Saturday, I already had a chance to pass Lucas because I was able to stay with him. There have been some Grands Prix, like Frauenfeld in Switzerland, where I started with him—just like in the second moto—and he simply disappeared. It was impossible to stay with him. But already on Saturday I knew I had a chance. The same on Sunday. Our speed was very similar in the first moto. I could see that I was able to come back, but you never really know how hard he was pushing. In the second moto, I was following Lucas quite comfortably. I hate having to ride aggressively because I’ve had so many injuries in the past. If someone made that kind of pass on me, I wouldn’t be happy either. I try to treat others the way I’d like to be treated. I made sure I got past him. I knew it was going to be tight, but we were almost at a standstill so it wasn’t dangerous. I don’t want to put anyone at risk. Basically, I knew from the very first lap that I had a chance to beat him, but I just had to find the right place to make the pass. He has good lines—he almost always has good lines—and that’s what makes him so difficult to overtake.”
Asked several times about the reasons behind his departure from KTM during the 2025/2026 off-season, Jeffrey Herlings went into more detail after the Portuguese Grand Prix, citing the departure of several key members of the factory team, as well as the fact he could not join the De Carli KTM structure.
“At KTM, I had the feeling that more and more important and talented people were leaving, and I felt that if I wasn’t in the De Carli team, I wouldn’t be able to win,” concluded the Dutch rider. “I think the De Carli bike is the best in the KTM group. You can see that everyone who has ridden that bike—from Cairoli to Prado and now Lucas—has produced incredible starts. We also saw Simon win the MX2 title last year on their bike. I think if you’re at KTM, you have to be in that team if you want to win. In my opinion, it’s the best structure. I wasn’t in that team, and I also wanted a change. I liked the people I was working with, but a lot of very good people had left the team. I simply felt that a change was necessary. And if you’re going to make a change, this was the right time because I’ll be turning 32 in a few months. I’m not 18 anymore. I’m happy I made those changes. Is the Honda better? I’d say they’re both good. The KTM is an excellent bike, and the Honda is too. But above all, it’s a breath of fresh air, a new group of people to work with, and overall, a new adventure.”
Before heading to South Africa for round eleven of the 2026 MXGP World Championship, Jeffrey Herlings trails the championship leader by 57 points.
