The MXGP Argentina YPF 2026 came to a spectacular close on Sunday in the city of San Carlos de Bariloche. More than 43,325 fans from across the region enjoyed the opening of the 2026 Motocross World Championship season as the category returned to Patagonia. Jeffrey Herlings (Honda) in MXGP and Simón Längenfelder (KTM) in MX2 were the first winners at the Bariloche MX Race Track.
After two years without visiting Patagonia, the Motocross World Championship returned to southern Argentina and did so with the same success as in previous editions. This time, San Carlos de Bariloche, the pioneering city of motocross in our country, was the epicentre of a race that also opened the 2026 season of the most important competition in the motocross category.
The MXGP Argentina YPF 2026 had a spectacular turnout and two days of sunshine that allowed fans to thrill to all the action of the MXGP, especially this Sunday with four spectacular races.
A graduation trip for Herlings and Längenfelder
The top division had one dominant rider on Sunday: Jeffrey Herlings (Honda HRC Petronas). The rider with the most victories in the history of the world championship had not won in Argentina since 2018, but this time – and in his debut with Honda after 17 years defending the colours of KTM – he was convincing and took a solid victory. In the first race, he managed to win comfortably over his teammate Tom Vialle (Honda HRC Petronas), who had been the best in Saturday’s qualifying.
Things looked complicated for the Dutchman in the second race as he had a poor start that left him far behind, but fortunately for him, a failure in the starting procedure forced the race to be stopped with a red flag and led to a restart. On the second attempt, the Honda “rookie” did not fail; he managed to get into the leading group and quickly moved into second place, but a few minutes before the start he took the leading position, a result that allowed him to score the points needed to win the first Grand Prix of the year.
‘I thought I was going to finish second, but I managed to get to P1. I’m very happy with my team, even though I’ve only been with them for a short time. But it was a big change for me. I have to keep working with the bike, but this was just the beginning of the championship,’ said Jeffrey Herlings (Honda HRC Petronas).
In MX2, champion Simon Längenfelder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) got off to the best possible start in his defence of the title, winning the season opener in commanding fashion. The German was not the best rider in either of the two Final starts, but he was patient in the first race, overtaking rookie Janis Martins Reisulis (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Team) on the sixth lap and pulling away to take the chequered flag.
In the second race, Längenfelder crossed the first lap in fourth position, but quickly found a rhythm that allowed him to start making up ground until, on lap 10, he managed to get ahead and celebrate in style in Bariloche. Second overall was Spain’s Guillem Frarrés (Triumph Racing MX2 Factory Racing), who finished third and fourth in each race, while Camden Mc Lellan (Triumph Racing MX2 Factory Racing) completed the first podium of the year.
Sacha Coenen (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who had dominated on Saturday and was on course to win the Grand Prix after finishing second in the first race, got caught up in the final start and then crashed before completing the opening lap, an incident that put him out of contention.
The latinos proved themselves among the best in the world
Once again, riders from the region took advantage of the opportunity to shine on the world stage. In MX2, Chilean Benjamin Garib (Honda) achieved a surprising result, finishing 11th overall in the Grand Prix, just one step away from the World Top Ten. He was followed by Bolivian Carlos Padilla (Gas Gas) and Argentine Felipe Quirno Costa (Honda).
Among the riders in the top division, Argentine Joaquín Poli (Kawasaki) was the standout, finishing among the top 20 in the world and beating Bolivian Marco Antezana (Yamaha) and Argentine Fermín Ciccimarra (Yamaha) in the Latin American Motocross Championship standings.
After the competition, the President of FIM Latin America, Pedro Venturo, announced that the two winners will have the chance to travel to the last two rounds of the MXGP season, in China and Australia, with the financial support of the organisation.
A joint public-private effort
The 2026 MXGP Argentina YPF edition has come to an end. But if there is one thing to highlight about this edition in Bariloche, it is the joint effort between the public and private sectors. This great team has made this race one of the most important rounds of the World Championship and the only one of the season on the American continent.
‘I believe that after this successful first experience, Bariloche has shown that it has everything it needs to host this type of events: a nearby airport, significant hotel infrastructure and the immensity of the landscapes throughout the region,’ said Daniel Scioli, Secretary of Tourism and Environment of the Nation, who was present at the Bariloche MX Race Track alongside the governor of Río Negro, Alberto Weretilneck; the mayor of San Carlos de Bariloche, Walter Cortés, accompanying David Eli (President of +Eventos), Leonardo Marcasciano (President of FEEBA), Elian Caramichos (Vice President of FEEBA), Leonardo Desideri (Secretary of FEEBA) and Walter Chodasewki (Member of FEEBA), among other authorities.