Belgium wins the 2026 Motocross of Nations in Ernée, Germany P16

In the third and decisive race of the 2026 Motocross of Nations, the title was decided between Belgium and Spain. Top favourites France no longer had a realistic chance of overall victory following the crashes involving Mathis Valin and Tom Vialle. The Spanish team had also suffered a retirement in the second race and desperately needed two strong results in the final race.

Romain Febvre: Holeshot and crash

Local hero Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) took the holeshot ahead of Jorge Prado (KTM) and Liam Everts (Husqvarna). Prado took the lead shortly afterwards. Jeffrey Herlings started in the top five but crashed and dropped back to 10th place. After that, ‘The Bullet’ fought his way determinedly through the field and had caught the leading Prado after ten laps.

Romain Febvre stürzte im dritten Lauf

Foto: MXGP-TV

Prestigious duel between Prado and Herlings

The duel between Prado and Herlings was about more than just a good team result: Herlings had travelled to France as the newly crowned MXGP World Champion, whilst Prado had won the SMX Championship in the USA just two weeks earlier. Initially, the Spaniard held his own with clever line choice and a consistent racing style. Two laps later, however, he had to let Herlings past.

At that point, Belgium and Spain were separated by just one point in the Nations’ Championship standings.

Topic of the week

Nicolo Bulega: Toprak’s successor will not fail in MotoGP

The Italian Nicolo Bulega is the first rider to have won the world title in both the Supersport and Superbike classes; from 2027, he will be racing in MotoGP. His performances this season are second to none.

Ivo Schützbach

Read More

Herlings wins in commanding fashion

After the overtaking manoeuvre, Herlings pulled away at the front and won with a twelve-second lead over Prado. Third place went to Romain Febvre, who had crashed on the fifth lap and initially dropped from second to fifth place. In his final race for Kawasaki, the Frenchman fought his way back up to third place.

His team-mate Tom Vialle was not yet fully fit following his heavy crash in the second race and headed for the pits after five laps.

Belgium: First victory since 2013

The battle between Belgium and Spain remained undecided right up to the final stages. Liam Everts was in third place but stalled his engine, allowing Febvre to pass him with ease.

The Spanish Open rider Francisco Garcia was in 11th place at that point. Had he managed to reach 10th place, Belgium and Spain would have been level on points. But Garcia also made a mistake: he too stalled his engine and dropped back to 13th place. This sealed the victory for the Belgians.

For Belgium, it was their first victory in the Motocross of Nations since their triumph in 2013 in the Teutschenthal valley.

A historic result for Spain

Although Spain fought for the team victory right until the end, joy prevailed in the end: second place marked the best result ever achieved by a Spanish team in the 79-year history of the Motocross of Nations.

Team USA in 5th place

Given the problems they’d faced in the run-up to the event, the US team put in a remarkable performance to finish 5th behind the strong Latvian side. The Americans missed out on fourth place by just one point. The two sixth-place finishes by Cooper Webb, who had switched from Yamaha to Husqvarna just a few days earlier, formed the basis for the US team’s result.

Italy: Bad luck in the final race

After Andrea Adamo had finished second in the second race, the Sicilian crashed in the third race and was forced to retire. This dashed Italy’s hopes of a top result. Nevertheless, Italy finished sixth in the overall standings.

Team Great Britain spring a surprise

One of the surprises at Ernée came from the British team. Ben Watson, Taylor Hammal and Ben Mustoe secured seventh place overall between them.

Switzerland solid in 8th place

Thanks to a consistent team performance, Switzerland finished the day in 8th place. Jeremy Seewer (MX2), Kevin Brumann (Open) and Valentin Guillod (MXGP) all finished within the top 20 in every race they were classified in. This meant the Swiss ultimately finished ahead of defending champions Australia.

Germany only in 16th place

Part of the background to this disappointing 16th place is that the DMSB had failed to field a top German team for Ernée. Neither Supercross champion Ken Roczen nor MX2 World Champion Simon Längenfelder could be persuaded to compete for the national team. This fact speaks for itself.

The nominated German riders gave it their all, but 16th place was the best they could manage. Tom Koch achieved the best individual result for Germany, finishing fourteenth in the third race.

Noah Ludwig had finished the Open qualifying race on Saturday in a strong eighth place. However, following his crash and retirement in the second main race, he was unable to compete in the final race. MX2 rider Valentin Kees finished 27th and 28th on his MXoN debut.

A fantastic atmosphere in Ernée

Although the French fans were disappointed following their team’s setbacks, the Motocross of Nations lived up to its reputation as the ‘Olympics of Motocross’ once again in 2026. With perfect racing weather, the event delivered top-class sport, and the outcome remained in the balance right up to the final stages.

Belgium deservedly won the Chamberlain Trophy. For Lucas and Sacha Coenen in particular, who had suffered numerous setbacks during the season, the triumph was a redeeming conclusion. At the same time, Liam Everts added another chapter to his family’s extraordinary history: following in the footsteps of his grandfather Harry and father Stefan, the third generation of the Everts dynasty has now won the Motocross of Nations.

For the wheelchair-bound Belgian team manager Joël Roelants, too, the success was a special triumph.

MXoN Ernée 2026

1. Belgium, 23 (Lucas Coenen 3–5; Liam Everts 4–4; Sacha Coenen 1̶2̶–7)

2. Spain, 26 (Jorge Prado 2-2; Guillem Farres 4-5; Francisco Garcia 3̶6̶-13)

3. Netherlands, 34 (Jeffrey Herlings 1-1; Glenn Coldenhoff 14-9; Roan van de Moosdijk 9-1̶8̶)

4. Latvia, 52 (Pauls Jonass 3-8; Janis Martins Reisulis 2̶0̶-12; Karlis Alberts Reisulis 13-16)

5. USA, 53 (Cooper Webb 6-6; Julien Beaumer 10-17; Levi Kitchen 2̶5̶-14)

6. Italy, 69 (Andrea Adamo 2-3̶6̶; Alberto Forato 6-12; Ferruccio Zanchi 32-17)

7. Great Britain, 82 (Ben Watson 10-9; Taylor Hammal 16-3̶0̶; Ben Mustoe 23-24)

8. Switzerland, 82 (Jeremy Seewer 15-13; Kevin Brumann 15-19; Valentin Guillod 2̶2̶-20)

9. Australia, 87 (Jed Beaton 11-10; Alex Larwood 21-21; Aaron Tanti 3̶7̶-24)

10. France, 90 (Romain Febvre 1–3; Mathis Valin 4̶0̶–11; Tom Vialle 38–37)

11. Sweden, 95 (Isak Gifting 3̶8̶-11; Alvin Östlund 19-21; Alve Callemo 24-20)

12. Estonia, 109 (Jorgen-Matthias Talviku 8-23; Sebastian Leok 3̶6̶-23; Kaarel Tilk 26-29)

13. Slovenia, 110 (Jan Pancar 5–7; Jaka Peklaj 3̶7̶–31; Lukas Osek 33–34)

14. Canada, 110 (Dylan Wright 16-15; Tanner Ward 30-27; Dylan Rempel 3̶9̶-22)

15. South Africa, 112 (Camden Mc Lellan 7–8; Slade Smith 3̶4̶–32; Trey Cox 32–33)

16. Germany, 127 (Tom Koch 19-14; Valentin Kees 28-27; Noah Ludwig 39-D̶N̶S̶)

17. Brazil, 133 (Enzo Lopes 18-3̶8̶; Fabio Santos 26-35; Guilherme Bresolin 29-25)

18. Slovakia, 142 (Tomas Kohut 27–28; Jaroslav Katrinak 3̶5̶–30; Pavol Repčák 35–22)

19. Austria, 145 (Michael Sandner 28-26; Ricardo Bauer 31-29; Michael Kratzer 3̶3̶-31)

20. Denmark, 94 (Mads Fredsøe 17-25; Nicolai Skovbjerg 18-34; third rider D̶N̶S̶-DNS)

MXoN Ernée 2026 Round 3

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NL), Honda, 35:15.127

2. Jorge Prado (E), KTM, -12.035

3. Romain Febvre (F), Kawasaki, -18.557

4. Liam Everts (B), Husqvarna, -24.337

5. Lucas Coenen (B), KTM, -31.256

6. Cooper Webb (USA), Husqvarna, -35.428

7. Jan Pancar (SLO), KTM, -47.080

8. Pauls Jonass (LAT), Kawasaki, -54.800

9. Ben Watson (GB), Triumph, -1:05.836

10. Jed Beaton (AUS), Yamaha, -1:11.065

11. Isak Gifting (S), Yamaha, -1:16.976

12. Alberto Forato (I), Fantic, -1:18.540

13. Francisco Garcia (E), Kawasaki, -1:18.866

14. Tom Koch (GER), KTM, -1:32.565

15. Dylan Wright (CDN), Honda, -1:43.627

16. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT), Yamaha, -1:48.323

17. Julien Beaumer (USA), KTM, -1:50.098

18. Roan van de Moosdijk (NL), KTM, -1:51.863

19. Kevin Brumann (CH), Husqvarna, -1:52.657

20. Valentin Guillod (CH), Yamaha, -1:55.251

21. Alvin Östlund (S), Triumph, 1 lap

22. Pavol Repčák (SK), KTM, 1 lap

23. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST), Fantic, 1 lap

24. Aaron Tanti (AUS), Yamaha, 1 lap

25. Mads Fredsøe (DK), KTM, 1 lap

26. Michael Sandner (A), Husqvarna, 1 lap

27. Tanner Ward (CDN), Husqvarna, 1 lap

28. Tomas Kohut (SK), KTM, 1 lap

29. Kaarel Tilk (EST), Husqvarna, 1 lap

30. Taylor Hammal (GB), Kawasaki, 1 lap