Darwin
Victory for Vialle in Australian qualification as Herlings’ amazing streak comes to an end
Honda HRC PETRONAS rider Tom Vialle took an impressive victory in this season-finale at the MXGP of Australia qualification race. The Frenchman lead from start to finish, giving him his second pole position of the season, after also winning qualifying in Argentina at the very first round of 2026.
Vialle has been fighting hard to receive the chequered flag in recent rounds, having stood on the podium in each of the last four events and when he launched out to yet another holeshot, he put himself in prime position on what was is excellently prepared circuit in Darwin, Australia. Despite pressure in the second half of the race, Vialle showed composure in the hot conditions and withstood all the attacks to cross the line three seconds ahead. It is a great boost of confidence as they head into the off-season and further evidence that he will be a championship threat in 2027 on what will be his second season on-board the Honda CRF450RW.
For Jeffrey Herlings, this qualification race was the first time he has lost a session since the MXGP of Great Britain, 40 sessions ago. It was an amazing unbeaten run across practices, warmups and races, but now the Dutchman is focusing fully on winning the last two motos of the season and increasing his moto win streak to 16 and finishing off his championship-winning campaign with what would be his 13th overall out of 19 rounds.
It won’t be easy though as Vialle is highly motivated to take what would be his second overall of the season, with the pair also fighting it out for the most holeshots in 2026. This should give the vocal Australian crowd plenty to cheer about, and provide an epic spectacle for this last MXGP of the year.
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MXGP Qualifying Race
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), 24:51.018; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:03.185; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), +0:17.161; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:17.946; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:44.139; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +0:57.277; 7. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:02.326; 8. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:06.528; 9. Jago Geerts (BEL, Beta), +1:27.466; 10. Dylan Walsh (NZL, KTM), +1:49.268;
Tom Vialle 16 Honda HRC PETRONAS
Great to get the victory in the qualification race, and just to win again. I know I’ve been closer these last few races so to make it happen before the end of the season is a big boost and just gives me a lot more confidence as we head into the off-season. Now, I need to repeat it tomorrow, which will be tougher, but I’m riding well and enjoying riding this track here in Darwin.
Jeffrey Herlings 84 Honda HRC PETRONAS
Well the run is over, which is a shame as I was hoping to keep it going until the end of the season. I actually got a good jump out the gate, but I couldn’t turn in as early as I wanted and ended up in the mud around the edge of the track which caused my wheel to spin and everyone went past me. Although it isn’t a big field, it still took time to overtake all the riders and by the time I got into third, I didn’t have long enough left to catch Tom. The aim for tomorrow doesn’t change though, so we’ll try to make that happen still and keep the moto win-streak going.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas - Honda HRC PETRONAS
It is great to see Tom take the win here today, and kind of fitting because he won the first qualifying race of the season in Argentina and now won the last one here in Australia. Just shows the level he has been riding at, in what many forget is his first season on a 450cc machine. Jeffrey is a bit disappointed to have his run come to an end but it is good that Tom keeps the streak going for the team. Now we just have the two motos tomorrow where both guys will be giving it everything to take the victory here.
