After returning from the far-flung trip to South America, and possibly taking in some local races to keep up to speed, the MXGP World Championship Paddock prepares to race in Europe for the first time in 2026 as the MXGP of Andalucia takes place this weekend!

The brand new Circuito de Motocross de Almonte venue, which will be the 19th circuit to host GP Motocross in Spain, is located in the south-western corner of the country, just off the shores of the Gulf of Cadiz that leads to the Atlantic Ocean. Only around 100km from the previous Motocross of Nations venue of Jerez de la Frontera, it should be one of the warmest areas of Europe at this time of year.

The two Championships are tightly poised as the red plate holders in both classes, Honda HRC Petronas new boy Jeffrey Herlings, and defending MX2 World Champion for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Simon Längenfelder, both took victory in Argentina after scoring zero points in the previous day’s Qualifying Races.

“The Bullet” sits level on points with his teammate Tom Vialle, and only two markers ahead of reigning Champ Romain Febvre, with the Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider taking victory the last time the series visited Spain. 

Längenfelder hold a three-point advantage over Triumph Factory Racing Team rider Guillem Farres, who will line up on home soil for the fifth time in his career with high hopes of delighting the local fans!

Almonte also sees the opening round of the EMX250 European Championship, with 50 riders looking to put themselves to the top in the absence of the top two from last year’s series. The favourite, on home ground, is probably Francisco Garcia, after winning seven of the last ten races of 2025 for Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki. His teammate Jake Cannon, and fellow Australian Liam Owens for the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM squad, are also amongst the leading contenders, as is Hungarian Áron Katona, moving up from EMX125 for Venrooy KTM Racing. Adrien Petit won last year’s Spanish opener, so he could also be a threat on his Yamaha. Last year’s EMX125 Champion Nicolò Alvisi will be another to look for, on debut for Maddii Racing Team Honda. Simone Mancini made his debut for Beddini Racing Ducati Corse in the MX2 class in Argentina, but returns to start his intended EMX250 title run for the new manufacturer in EMX250.

The EMX125 European Championship Presented by FMF series will also get underway in Andalucia, and as always this is a tough one to forecast at the start of the season with so many changes in teams and classes for the youngest regular racers in the MXGP Paddock! 58 riders are entered, and the top hopefuls include reigning 85cc Junior World Champion Rafael Mennillo from France on the 737 Performance KTM D’Stock 41 machine, with countryman Enzo Herzogenrath also likely to feature for TMX Competition KTM. Pau Caudet will have high hopes in his home country for the RFME Spain National Team, and British rider Drew Stock could be fast for JK Racing Yamaha after exceptional races in the bLU cRU Yamaha races last season, and a win in the British 125cc Championship last weekend.

The first World Championship action of the year in Europe has the makings of a fantastic weekend, with Spanish fans eager to see the riders in their new colours for round two of the ground-breaking 2026 season!

A new circuit always makes it tough to predict the top order in MXGP, as perennial contenders Febvre and new Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP signing Tim Gajser were the winners in the two Spanish rounds last season, albeit in deep mud at Cozar and the fine forest soil of Lugo. The track at Almonte is likely to be a little more on the traditional hardpack Spanish soil, with the possibility of some interference from the weather!

Jeffrey Herlings has spent most of 2026 in Spain already, getting accustomed to his new Honda machinery, and is the most successful current MXGP rider in this country with two victories apiece in MXGP and MX2. His earlier successes were at the Talavera de la Reina circuit, while two wins at intu-Xanadu Arroyomolinos included his record-breaking 102nd GP victory in 2023.

His Honda HRC Petronas teammate Vialle is one of five riders with two GP wins to his name in this country, with Tom winning back in 2020 and 2022. Gajser won ten years ago at Talavera, and again in last year’s mudfest at Cozar. The Slovenian is fifth in the 2026 series behind Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen, who won two Spanish GPs in his 2024 MX2 campaign. Febvre’s win at Lugo last year was his first in Spain on his 12th attempt!

Maxime Renaux is sixth in the series for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP, and he has also won twice on Spanish soil, including his first ever MXGP success in 2022. The other rider with two GP wins here is Kay de Wolf, who is fighting to be fit in time to compete for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing after just missing out on the opening round in Argentina.

Behind the second Red Bull KTM Factory Racing pilot Andrea Adamo sits the rider that most of the crowd will be rooting for in MXGP, Ruben Fernandez! The Honda HRC Petronas pilot has two podium finishes on home ground to his name, including third in Lugo last year, and will be desperate to put it on the top step in front of his adoring public!

Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP rider Pauls Jonass also has past success in Spain, winning MX2 at Redsand in 2018, and he sits ninth in the Championship after Argentina, ahead of the leading Red Bull Ducati Factory MX Team pilot Calvin Vlaanderen.

Gabriel SS24 KTM rider Oriol Oliver will make his first European Appearance on home turf in the MXGP class after taking 15th overall in Argentina, with confidence high from a good weekend in the British Championship, but the big question marks are at the top of this stacked MXGP field. Who will come out on top for the first 2026 GP in Europe? Tune in to find out!

MXGP - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 50 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 48 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 42 p.; 5. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 36 p.; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 34 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 32 p.; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 28 p.; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 24 p.;

Despite a difficult start to his weekend at Bariloche, reigning MX2 World Champion Simon Längenfelder managed to reclaim the red plate on his Red Bull KTM for the MXGP of Andalucia, but he is being chased by the pack as the series hits Europe for the first time!

The German #1 plate holder comes to Spain for his sixth GP in the country, and has surprisingly not had a massive amount of success here, taking a solitary GP win with a 1-1 in 2023, but missing the podium in his last four attempts, including an equal-worst season result of 6th overall at Lugo last year.

Local fans will be urging Guillem Farres to push his Triumph to victory, but his best home GP result is only tenth overall from Cozar last season. The Spaniard is just three points behind Längenfelder and it will raise the roof if he can get on top of the box for the first time! His Triumph Factory Racing teammate Camden McLellan is only four points further back, and will be looking for much more than his best Spanish result of seventh this weekend!

Liam Everts had issues with the local food in Argentina, but still sits fourth in the series for Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing, and for sure he will be a factor if the weather takes a turn, having dominated the GP at Cozar in the mud last year!

Mathis Valin holds fifth in the Championship for Kawasaki Racing Team MX2, as he heads to the country where he clinched his 2024 EMX250 Championship, while his successor in that series, Janis Reisulis, looks to build on his strong debut for Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2. He and his brother Karlis, also his teammate, took all three race holeshots in Argentina, and the blue team could be a stronger factor than expected in 2026.

Sacha Coenen sits between the two brothers in the standings, dropping to seventh with an unfortunate second race crash that was no fault of his own. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing flyer won the Qualifying Race last time out, and is likely to again be winding the throttle up to 11 as he tries to recover those lost points!

Cas Valk is ninth in the Championship as he campaigns the factory TM Moto CRD Motosport machine, with SB Racing KTM’s Jens Walvoort in tenth spot. Honda HRC Petronas rider Valerio Lata was another rider tangled in that big Argentina incident, and will be after a strong showing on his favourite hardpack!

Besides Farres, there are a handful of Spanish wildcards, including the DB22 Triumph rider David Braceras, hoping for a better Sunday than his mechanical disaster in Argentina. Beddini Racing Ducati Corse are also hoping to welcome back their new rider Ferruccio Zanchi to action in Spain after he missed the opening round.

The avid Spanish fans should have plenty to cheer about in Andalucia, and the Motocross world is eager to see the latest encounter in this enthralling World Championship as we start the first European leg of the tour! Be sure not to miss a single wheel turn this weekend!

MX2 - World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 47 p.; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 43 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 41 p.; 5. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 38 p.; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 38 p.; 7. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 29 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, TM), 22 p.; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 21 p.

All the photos from the MXGP of Andalucia will be available HERE.

You can find the complete results HERE.

TIMETABLE

SATURDAY:
08:00 EMX125 Group 1 Free Practice, 08:25 EMX125 Group 2 Free Practice, 08:50 EMX250 Group 1 Free Practice, 09:15 EMX250 Group 2 Free Practice, 09:50 EMX125 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 11:50 EMX125 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 12:25 EMX250 Group 1 Qualifying Practice, 13:00 EMX250 Group 2 Qualifying Practice, 10:30 MX2 Free Practice, 11:00 MXGP Free Practice, 13:40 MX2 Time Practice, 14:15 MXGP Time Practice, 15:00 EMX125 Race 1, 15:45 EMX250 Race 1, 16:35 MX2 Qualifying Race, 17:25 MXGP Qualifying Race.

SUNDAY:
08:40 EMX125 Race 2, 09:25 MX2 Warm-up, 09:45 MXGP Warm-up, 10:30 EMX250 Race 2, 12:15 MX2 Race 1, 13:15 MXGP Race 1, 15:10 MX2 Race 2, 16:10 MXGP Race 2.