Jeffrey Herlings was “The man” at the MXGP of Loket, Round 13 of the MXGP World Championship. Despite not getting the overall victory (that honor went to Tim Gajser) the KTM Red Bull Factory rider reached a milestone of 200th moto wins after winning the opening race of the day and then charged all from behind to get 4th after two crashes. Undoubtedly, Herlings is back on his best form heading into the final stretch of the season.
With seven rounds to go, Herlings is now 55 points behind Red-Plate holder Tim Gajser, but besides the numbers, the five-time world champ feels better and better each Grand Prix, so better that the word retiring is not on his plans.
Lorenzo Resta spoke with the kind and fast Dutchman after his epic performance in Loket, who provided some interesting information about his health, the future and the possibly of having a young teammate in 2025.
The interview is also available on Spotify:
Interview: Lorenzo Resta
So, Jeffrey, we´re in Loket after six years of missing this race. There were plenty of stories about that because you were injured hard here twice. One was horrible, I still remember you screaming, the hip was something unbelievable. And in 2018 you won almost everything that day, the qualy race and both motos. Do you remember that day?
Yeah, yeah, for sure I remember that day. It was against Tony. But then I felt like the depth field was less that it is today. Tim wasn’t that fast, and Jorge [Prado] wasn´t there yet. So, I think it was a bit different, but yeah, we went 1-1 that day. That year I was very dominant, I won 17 out of the 19 GPs I raced. The other two I finished second, and in the other one I wasn’t there because I broke my collarbone. So, yeah, that year I was also very dominant.
Imagine this, that evening, like today, I was coming to you in the press conference, saying, `You know, Jeffrey, you will come back here in 2024, winning one motor and being dominant in the second one, even without winning’ What would you say to me?
Depends on when you ask me. If you would ask me at the beginning of the year, I would say, you’re maybe high. If you ask me that last week, I feel like I’m good, I feel really good. But it’s just that I had no luck coming my way. If you compare it to Portugal, I miss 25 or 22 points. Again, Today I had some star crashes. I’ve been very unlucky, even though I had great speed like today. It’s not a secret, I had the speed to go 1-1 pretty easily but that doesn’t happen, it’s quite frustrating. But anyway, the speed was good, the riding was good, the bike was good. Good, all good, I would say.
In the press conference, you said that it’s pretty late to think about the championship, seven races to go, but you are on an eight-podium strike. I mean, since Galicia, you have been always on the podium. Prado missed the podium three times, and Gajser twice. You reduced your gap in the standings and you’re still there.
Yeah, I think I’m 55 points behind. So, you know, after the first moto, I was at 48 points or 55, it hurts, you know, especially if I had the speed to make it. And then with Lommel, and then with Arnhem coming, there was more hope. But still, also second place is still good. For sure the big dream is to win a world championship, But for now, we just go race by race and do our best. We’ll see where it gets us.
With you, it’s always a matter of records, and Today you reached another one that is a milestone for everyone in motocross history, as is your 200th moto win. What’s your thought about this?
Yeah, it’s crazy… Like… Sometimes I underestimate how long I’m already doing this because I remember 2010 I was also here today, 2024. Yeah, I did miss maybe a total of two or three full seasons due to injuries, like 2022 or 2023. Also, I missed a couple of races in 2019. So, yeah, I did miss quite a bit. But eventually, I’m already here the longest of everyone, maybe together with Coldenhoff. I’m not planning on retiring in 2025. I think I want to go for one year at a time then because I used to always make three-year deals, even this. Also, I only did two years, because I didn’t really know what I was going to do eventually. But the way I feel right now, I feel healthy. I feel pain-free. I feel like I’m still capable of riding podiums and winning races every now and then. So, yeah, I don’t see a reason why I do retire end of next year.I mean, obviously, there’s still a long way to the end of next year. But if I’m still competitive like I am now, I will not plan on retiring.
Do you think you are as competitive as you were in 2021?
Yes, because when I smell blood, I get dangerous. And at the beginning of the year, I was just too far off. I was not willing to take the risk. I was a bit scared. I was looking up to other riders. And now I’m like different again. I feel like I belong with the top guys again. At the beginning of the year, I was even looking up to them. So, you know, racing is also mental.
You started this interview by saying 2018 was a bit different due to the field of your contenders. Now you have Jorge, you have Tim who is leading the championship. How do you compare yourself with those young guys? I mean, Tim is not so young, but still, he’s younger than you.
Yeah, we’re actually two years apart. I think when I get 30 this year, he gets 28. But, yeah, Tim has been very consistent and he’s always been there. If it came to raw speed, often I had the better of him. But also, like, at the beginning of the year, he was just way faster, and now I feel like I’m close to his level again. We’ll see how it goes. I mean like you said, I’m not the youngest anymore; I get 30 in two months, but sometimes I still feel like 18. All the injuries I’ve had have healed up pretty well. So, yeah, we’ll see.
First moto, you were dominant. Easily, you were 5th or something like that, and then you came back in almost one lap to the lead and you went away. But in the second moto, do you think that you could have done the same? Of course, with a good start… But with those two horrible crashes and restarting, Do you think that those crashes give you something more in terms of speed? Because you were forced to go on another level completely from the first moto.
Yeah, I think when I crashed, I wasn’t too bad. I was something like 7th or 8th. So, if I wouldn’t have crashed, if, would have, should have, could have really easy to say, I definitely could have fought for the win still. But, yeah, when you’re on the ground and you have a full gate, like, for example, Indonesia, we’re 16 riders. I wish we had 16 today, but today we had 40. So, you know, by that time, I went past all of them, and then I crashed again because I got in touch with Bonacorsi. Then I missed out on quite some positions again. I had to fight back again from 17th or something like that. So I lost too much time, and then still came back to under 10 seconds of Gajser for the win. I mean, being right on the wheel for P3 with Calvin I think it was quite an impressive ride. In the sand, there’s one thing or mud, but with this, on this track, where everyone can go fast, it’s quite impressive.
I don’t want to be in any way disrespectful to the others, but when looking at some of the riders, the top riders, factory riders, they were looking almost as lapped rider with you.
Yeah, like, when I went through there, I went fast. I also didn’t hesitate: I went, boom, catch them, pass them, next one, catch them, pass them, next one. I felt a little bit like the old Jeffrey from 2018/2021.
It’s quite amazing to see you today riding in this way. (7:01) We were talking about the young riders leading the championship at this moment, and there are also a few young riders coming. One is the current MX2 class red-plate holder and it’s Dutch like you, Kay de Wolf, you know him for sure. What do you think about him and the other riders that are growing at the moment?
MXGP and MX2 are different. MX2 is a kid’s class, and coming up to it, it’s like going from Formula 2 to Formula 1 or going from Moto2 to MotoGP. Don’t underestimate MotoGP. Don’t underestimate MXGP. The bike is heavy, is like a tractor, and it’s fast and rough. (7:34) You know, it’s different. I hear a lot of rumors about Kay de Wolf and Lucas Coenen going up next year. If I were them, I would not do it. I’m not saying it because I don’t want them to move up. I wish them all the best, but if I were their age, especially Lucas who is 17 years old. I hear a lot of rumors of him (Lucas) moving up. I would never, ever do that. And if I were Kay and I would win a championship, I would maybe consider it because he has the length and the strength to maybe do so. But also there, he’s pretty young and you can do all your life at MXGP. We’ll see.
That’s a kind of a little bit burning the steps to just come up to MXGP class. Already the 23-year rule or the two championship-winning rules it’s enough for me to do this. So, they don’t need really to push to go up.
No, because I’ve seen a lot of riders. I would say like a guy like Tommy Searle. He was a really perfect MX2 guy. Or like Alessio Chiodi back in the day, or Sacha Coenen now. They’re very small, very light They are maybe not even capable of running MXGP because they are very small or whatsoever. So it’s like almost the end of a career, you know. There are also very few seats in MXGP. Again, next year, quite some riders have to go up. and I don’t know if I would have not made that rule. Instead, I would be open to whatever age, same as in the USA. Whatever age you can race. I think it’s good that then you’ll have two very competitive classes.
You were really, really good in every condition this year. Portugal was water, even more than mud. Other races with deep mud, other races with dry. Here, really dry and stony. Still the best rider on track many times. Do you think, and you consider yourself at the top, you said, what kind of Jeffrey we will see in the sand races? Because when we were racing in Riola, you were still in “that moment”.
I broke my ribs that Saturday and also I wasn’t good yet. I’m just going, to be honest, I want to win [in Lommel]… Can I win? I don’t know. In Riola, I was off it on a Saturday, I broke four ribs, which I found out the next week. And I was in a lot, a lot of pain. So, that’s why maybe I wasn’t so great. We never really had any deep sand tracks afterward, we just had Latvia, but it’s not deep sand; It’s quite hard and has some sand on top. I believe if I can get two top three or top five starts, I believe I can win in Lommel.
