Jeffrey Herlings becomes world champion for the sixth time: A title that is different

With his sixth world championship title, has Jeffrey Herlings finally arrived in the ranks of the all-time greats?

The numbers have long spoken in his favor. Nevertheless, this title feels different from his five previous ones. Herlings didn't simply win another world championship. After 16 years with KTM, he left his completely familiar environment, switched to Honda, and secured the title in his very first season on the CRF450R.

It didn't even take the full Grand Prix in Afyon. Herlings won the first race in Turkey and, with seven motos remaining in the MXGP season, is mathematically uncatchable.

Jeffrey Herlings is world champion for the sixth time.

Three titles in MX2, now three in MXGP. And for the first time, the motorcycle under him doesn't bear the KTM logo, but a Honda.

16 years with KTM – and then immediately world champion with Honda

Perhaps that's the most remarkable number behind this title. From his entry into the World Championship in 2010 until the end of the 2025 season, Herlings was continuously associated with KTM. He won all five of his World Championship titles and his first 112 Grand Prix victories on motorcycles from Mattighofen.

Then came the switch to Honda.

Anyone who has followed Herlings over the years knows that for him, a different motorcycle isn't simply a matter of bolting on different plastic parts. His requirements for the front end, balance, and suspension are quite specific. On top of that, he was riding a Honda that had itself been modified in some areas for 2026.

It quickly became clear that this combination could work. However, the fact that it would be enough for the World Championship title in their first year together was by no means a given. Especially since Herlings is now 31 years old and has an injury history that would be enough for two racing careers.

How much this past preoccupied him before the potential title decision became clear immediately after the first run. Herlings certainly hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

“To be honest, I probably only slept three hours last night. I had every possible scenario in my head because things have gone wrong for me so many times before,” said the newly crowned world champion.

After all the injuries, there was initially a sense of relief. Herlings thanked God that he had made it through the season healthy, and then his new team.

“I prayed for it for a long time, and he protected me. A huge thank you also goes to the entire HRC Petronas team. They did a fantastic job all year. To win a world championship in the first year with a new brand, with everything completely new, is simply incredible.”

The first part of his statement is particularly apt for this World Championship. Immediately after the decision, Herlings didn't speak about his lead or any records. He was clearly thinking about all those situations where a season had suddenly ended despite his speed.

2026 went well.

For a long time, this World Cup didn't look like it would be a walk in the park.

However, anyone who only looks at the lead with which Herlings became world champion gets a somewhat false picture of this season.

Lucas Coenen wasn't just any pursuer for much of the season. The Belgian led the championship and even held the red plate after Riola. Before his difficult weekend at Foxhill, his lead over Herlings was 68 points.

Then the season took a turn for the worse.

Coenen was injured in England, while Herlings did exactly what he himself had so often failed to do in his career: he stayed in the race. That sounds almost trivial, but for Herlings it was a pretty crucial part of this World Championship. Speed ​​was rarely his problem. Injuries, on the other hand, certainly were.

In 2014, he looked like a sure MX2 world champion for a long time before a broken femur sidelined him. In 2019, he was practically unable to defend his MXGP title after serious foot injuries. His entire 2022 season was also a washout.

Therefore, it would be too simplistic to relegate Coenen's injury to a mere footnote in this story. Herlings himself has often enough been on the other side of this narrative.

This time he was the one who continued to collect points.

The gap between 2018 and 2026 is enormous.

His six world championships tell quite different stories anyway. In 2012 and 2013, Herlings was the young Dutchman who increasingly dominated the MX2 class. Title number three followed in 2016, after injuries had stopped his two previous attempts.

Then came 2018.

Even after his sixth title, this season remains the benchmark for Jeffrey Herlings' dominance. He won 17 of the 19 Grands Prix he entered, finishing second in the other two. He ended the season with 933 points, a full 151 points ahead of Antonio Cairoli.

2021 was almost the opposite.

Herlings and Romain Febvre went into the season finale in Mantova tied on 708 points each. Tim Gajser was also still within striking distance. Herlings had to work hard until the last moto before his fifth title was secured.

By 2026 he won't even need the last seven motos anymore.

This doesn't automatically make this season better than 2018 or more dramatic than 2021. But it does show a different side of Herlings. Less the story of the young prodigy, but rather that of a driver who, after all these years, leaves his familiar surroundings once again and still performs immediately.

61 wins on the 250cc – and the 450cc is catching up.

Herlings' GP victories also clearly demonstrate how long he's been competing at this level. In MX2 alone, he won 61 Grands Prix. That's a number most riders would consider a fairly satisfying end to their entire career.

Herlings simply continued in MXGP after that.

What's interesting here isn't so much Stefan Everts' long-broken record, but rather the distribution of his victories. More than 60 Grand Prix wins on the 250cc bike and now almost as many in the premier class – such a career can hardly be reduced to a single phase.

And then there's that one season that shows how early it all started: in 2013, Herlings already won 15 Grands Prix. At that time, he was 18 or 19 years old.

Thirteen years later, he is still becoming world champion.

Of all places, Afyon

Securing his sixth title in Afyon fits perfectly into his statistics. The Turkish track was already one of his most successful venues; Herlings has won there more often than any other MXGP rider. Now, in addition to his GP successes, he also has a World Championship title.

And he wins it the way you'd expect from Herlings. Calculating, managing, and somehow getting enough points would have been sufficient. Instead, he wins the first heat.

This isn't exactly a profound character study. But anyone who knows Herlings will hardly be surprised. Securing a world championship title with a seventh-place finish would have been efficient. Winning a moto when the opportunity arises simply suits him better.

Three MX2 titles, three MXGP titles

With his sixth title, a small symmetry is also perfected. Herlings became MX2 World Champion in 2012, 2013, and 2016. The same triple follows in MXGP in 2018, 2021, and now 2026.

Therefore, his career can no longer be primarily told through the years in which he dominated the smaller class almost at will. He has now won just as many world championships in the 450cc class.

And the competition could hardly be more different.

Antonio Cairoli was one of his biggest rivals in the early MXGP years. In 2021, it was Febvre and Gajser. Now, with Lucas Coenen, a generation stands alongside him, born much closer to Herlings' MX2 days than to his current age.

Herlings is still in the lead.

Perhaps in the end, the most interesting statistic of his sixth title is not the number 6, not his now well over 100 GP victories, and not even the huge margin by which this world championship was decided.

There are 14 years between his first World Championship title in 2012 and his sixth in 2026.

Back then, Jeffrey Herlings was 18 years old and rode a KTM 250 SX-F. Today he is 31, is riding a Honda for the first time – and is world champion again.