Motocross legend Herlings finds change is good

The 2026 FIM Motocross World Championship marks the 70th year of its existence this season. Jeffrey Herlings is a legend in the sport as the all-time leader in career wins with an astonishing total of 114 grand prix victories, putting ahead of such acclaimed riders as Stefan Everts (101), Tony Cairoli (94), Joel Smets (57), Roger DeCoster (36) and Heikki Mikkola (33).

Herlings, the 2012, '13 and '16 MX2 world champion and the 2018 and '21 MXGP world champion, ranks among the sport’s legends but the Dutchman has no plans of slowing down anytime soon, having signed on with the Honda HRC Petronas team to ride its Honda CRF450R in 2026, an entirely new racing identity for the long-time Red Bull KTM rider, and it’s all going extremely well. Five rounds in, Herlings is second in the point standings with victories in Argentina and Trentino, Italy.

“I think we’re looking good,” said Herlings. "Obviously, I had a massive change. After 17 years on the orange KTM, I swapped it for the red Honda HRC Petronas. I changed clothing brands. I went from Alpinestars to Fox. I went from Red Bull to Monster Energy. You know, it was a big old change.

"I think it was needed. I felt like the relationship between myself and KTM just didn’t get any better at the end. I felt like they didn’t really want to do their best to keep me. They had the financial crisis. At the same point, I was a bit frustrated because I felt like they didn’t want to really keep me anymore. I got loads of proposals from other brands and I felt like Honda HRC was the thing for me. In fact, in 2010, I spoke with them about the 250s and then in 2016 we were really, really, really close to making a deal for the future. Now we finally made it happen. Right now we’re four months in with our partnership and right now I have zero regrets and I feel like I’m in a good spot.”

After a career underlined by the support of KTM and longtime sponsors Alpinestars and Red Bull, it might seem a big leap for the 31 year-old veteran, but he feels like it was one he hand to make.

“Everything changed,” pointed out Herlings. “People thought, 'He’s not going to leave and go anywhere else over the last two years of his career. Then there are guys like Eli Tomac. He’s been on Yamaha Star for almost five years. Before that he had five years on Kawasaki green. Before that he had five years on Honda red. Me, I literally did 17 years with KTM and maybe KTM thought, 'He’s probably going to search around, but at the end of the day, he’ll probably sign with us and not going to leave anyway.' Now I did leave and I feel like it was a good step because after all those years, everything gets normal.

"Right now, everything is new, you know? It’s like saying, ‘I just got myself a new girlfriend!’ You’re super hyped up, right? And it’s the same for me in jumping into that new team and just seeing fresh faces and seeing everybody super motivated. They want to see me winning because obviously I broke the most records. I’ve got the most moto wins, the most grand prix wins and I’m close to breaking the all-time record on points in MXGP, as well. They really all want to see me succeed and that also brings a lot of motivation from them and from my side, so yeah, I think that’s really cool and really good.”

Intriguingly, Herlings had never even tested the Honda CRF450R before setting out to first join up with the Honda HRC Petronas outfit.

“The thing was with my previous contract with KTM, I was not allowed to test any other bikes,” explained Herlings. “People might say, ‘Oh, people won’t figure out that you tested a new bike.’ But I think that lately in the world of iPhones and stuff like that, if one mechanic or one technician or whoever just grabs one photo and it gets to KTM, I don’t want to take that risk.

"I signed up with a big brand, Honda HRC. I didn’t expect a bad bike, but still, you saw how Jorge Prado and Kawasaki just didn’t work out. And Kawasaki is a proven brand, as well. Yeah, it is a gamble because you never know how it’s going to be. Even though it’s a proven team, maybe the bike was not going to suit me and I would be screwed. Luckily, it’s not that way and I’m actually super happy on the bike and with the bike.

“For example, at the last race at Arco, we had over 80 people from Honda there. Our team picture was insane! With all of the technicians flying over from Japan, I do personally think Honda has the biggest budget in MXGP. They come out there with five trucks and all these vans and all these people. Quite simply, when a team has the maybe the most budget, they’ll be able to give you a good bike and good people around you. That’s what they do over here in Europe. It’s quite special.

"Honda HRC from back in the day was quite special from Mr. Honda to Dave Thorpe and Ricky Johnson and Jeff Stanton and Jean-Michel Bayle and after that, Ricky Carmichael. All these big, big names were Honda HRC. For me, I always worked with Austrians and to work with Japanese people, they are so much different. The Japanese are very close and very serious. If they promise you one, they’ll probably give you two, you know what I mean? Where with the Austrians, things are way different. They are way more outspoken and more strict and a little bit less respectful. Obviously, all of what I say is my personal opinion, right? That’s how I see it.”

The good feelings have been backed up by the early results, with two GP wins and two runner-up finishes putting him second in MXGP points, but Herlings knows there's a long way to go still.

“We’re five rounds in and only four points out. We’ve still got 14 rounds to go," he said. "It’s a very long series in Europe. This start of the season was really good, going 1-1 and at the next race I went 2-2 for second overall. I think it’s a good start. Four out of five races we were on the podium. One race, Switzerland, I had a mechanical DNF when the chain came off. I’m very consistent and very good and just hope to keep going like this.”

Herlings says the MXGP competition is as tough as ever.

“It’s strong, man,” said Herlings. “You’ve got all these world champions and all these winners and all these brands. And right now among the top, top guys, no one is hurt. It’s quite insane, you know? There are a lot of GP wins and GP championships on the line. It’s just nice racing a stacked field and then when you win, it makes you feel good at least.”

Herlings recently was asked at a media conference, “Why are you still doing this? You are 17 years doing it.” He replied, “But I still love it. I still have so much passion for it. If I get a win, I just get so hyped up for it. I train even harder the next week.” Is this how he truly feels?

“Yeah, it is,” he insisted. “At some point you made enough money to just have a comfortable life, right? Sure I love the money, don’t get me wrong. It’s not my motivation. It’s not my passion. My passion is just because I love doing this. Yeah, the days when you make a massive crash and you break a bone, those are the days you regret and hate it. At the same time, when you win, like I did in Argentina, it just gives you so much satisfaction and so much joy and happiness. It makes me even want to work harder on Monday.

"I enjoy that winning feeling so much. You know, you put in all these hours day after day after day and it’s pure passion. A guy like Eli Tomac is probably the same way in America. He probably has enough money in the bank. He still wants to show that he’s able to win. At some point, it’s not about money. For me at least, it’s just about doing what you love and doing it as good as you can and doing what you love and doing it as good as you can.”

So how different did feel to win his first grand prix for Honda?

“The first one was quite special,” Herlings admitted. “I've won 114 MXGP races now, but the last time I did a 1-1 at the opening round was in 2016. It took me 10 more years to go 1-1. To go 1-1 with a brand-new team and a brand-new manufacturer, [when] nobody knew what to expect from me, that was really nice.”

Herlings feels like he has a genuine shot at winning the MXGP title.

“At least I’m going to die trying to win it!” he said. “I feel like I just need to be consistent at this point. This thing is not a sprint. It’s like marathon, you know? You need to be there all the way. It’s just my goal to try to be on the box every single weekend. Up to now, I have done that except for the time my chain came off. Every weekend I just try to be consistent and to try and be around the 50-point mark. That’s the goal and if I can win the championship, it will be the main keys to win a championship.

“I think I can. I’m not saying I will, but I think I’ve got the potential to do so."

After 17 years of racing, five world championship titles and achieving the most career GP victories in MXGP history, Herlings is comfortable with his legacy, even as he remains eager to build on it.

“I’ve always been chasing records,” said Herlings. “Obviously, I’ve lost world championships by injuries two or three times. Once I was leading by over 140 points and once I was leading with over 150 points. I hit my head and broke my femur. And that’s quite frustrating because I should have, would have, could have had close to 10 championships. Me knowing that I’ve got the most GP wins and the most moto wins and I’m very close to having the all-time record on most podium finishes, as well, is very important to me. At least my name will go in the record books by breaking two or three out of the four biggest records.

"Yeah, for me it means a lot. Like I said, it’s been frustrating not to win more world championships, but I’m still racing and hopefully I can still get another one. It will not get any easier because I’m getting older. I’m 32 at the end of the year. I’m going towards the end of my career. Yeah, seeing my name up there with the greats of our sport, at least in the world championships, is quite nice.”

Would Herlings ever want to compete in U.S. motocross or supercross? He admits he's tempted, especially by the money.

“Once I was very, very close," he relates. "It was in 2022. I was going to go race there, but I didn’t make it. Besides that, I love the way they do U.S. motocross and supercross and even SMX. I think they take care of the riders better than Europe, especially financially. When you win in SMX, you get $1 million. If I win a world championship, I get paid absolutely zero by the organizer. That’s frustrating. Just from the organizer to get paid $14,000 or $15,000 from the main event is quite nice. When I went to the Ironman race in 2017, I got paid $5,000 from Davey Coombs. The next weekend I won a GP and I got paid absolutely zero.

"Besides the financial part, the way they prepare the tracks, especially the outdoor tracks with how big they are, I think in the world championship we could learn a lot from that. I think they do it better in the U.S. than they do in Europe. Especially outdoors, I think they do an absolute great job. I follow every single round and I’m a big fan of supercross.”