Who impressed: MXGP Assen
Jeffrey Herlings – What a way to win a world title! The Dutchman put an exclamation point on his championship year by storming off with the first moto win 38 seconds ahead of Cairoli and over a minute ahead of third, lapping up to sixth place!
Race two saw a crash but then another memorable win after yet another great battle with Cairoli to seal a perfect day with a 1-1 score!
Herlings’ success, a remarkable 16 GP wins in 19 rounds (missing one with injury and second in the other two) has come because of a huge desire to win and a lot of dedication.
“I was getting flash backs of every morning waking up, doing the routine, jumping on the road bike which is what I do every morning when I wake up, hitting the gym, all ten months of the hard work and dedication all put into this day. This was the day it was most likely going to happen,” admitted Herlings.
Herlings and Beirer embrace. Pic: Ray Archer
“It was emotional and I was sitting with my mum, we both looked at each other in the eyes and we both had tears in our eyes,” he continued. “We were just like, today is going to be the day! It’s emotional, going into the last lap I knew I was going to be world champion because I knew I lapped up to seventh or eighth. I knew I was world champion and on the last lap just everything went through my head about what I done this year and also in the past.”
Now a four-time world champion, Herlings says he will now just take one day off before resuming his schedule to get ready for the MXoN at Red Bud, his thirst for victory remains undiminished this season and it’s why is already one of the greatest riders of all time.
Cairoli at Assen. Pic: Ray Archer
Tony Cairoli- You have to hand it to Cairoli, he just never quits! He beat the rest of the field by thirty seconds in both motos and then gave Herlings a real run for his money in that second moto just to remind Herlings and himself that he still has the stuff to push the Dutchman It also emphasises the level Cairoli is still riding at, this isn’t a washed up Cairoli, in fact, there hasn’t been many seasons he has beaten the rest of the pack by this much in his entire career and at 32 years old that is some going, nevermind the fact he is still Herlings’ biggest challenger.
Cairoli says he will work harder and be more focused next season, just where he finds the motivation is a mystery but it’s great for the series to see a living legend prepared to go to the well again and try and improve even more, admitting Herlings is the fastest rider in the world right now.
Cairoli said: “I feel good. It has been a long season and many things happened. At the beginning I was good and very prepared but in the last part I made a lot of mistakes and also mentally I was going up and down with some crashes, mistake and this-and-that. No complaints, like Jeffrey said he won 16 races from 19, so he was the fastest and the strongest all the time. We have to work if we want to keep with him and it’s an honour to finish behind Jeffrey because he is the fastest rider in the world at the moment; I didn’t finish second to a slow guy. I know I can still be competitive and have to work a bit harder to be strong the whole race but it is a nice challenge. Thanks to Red Bull KTM for making all this happen and being 1-2 in the championship again. We’ll see for the next two races. For sure Italy in a couple of weeks will be very busy for me and then the Motocross of Nations also. There was an incredible crowd here and it was good for the sport.”
Simpson Pic: Yamaha
Shaun Simpson – Simpson really is ending the season with a bang! Two sixth place finishes in the sand is finally the level Simpson probably expected to be at all year but it’s nice to see the smiling grafter get his reward after a difficult year. Simpson has proven himself worthy of another ride in MXGP and the signs are looking good he will be back in the paddock in 2019.
“I feel good,” said Simpson to the Yamaha media team. “I am slightly disappointed that I didn’t finish inside the top-five. I wanted it, the team wanted it and Jeremy has been wanting it all year, but unfortunately we couldn’t get it done. I am a little bit disappointed on that front, but otherwise it’s been the best weekend I have had all year. I showed some good speed yesterday, and even today but I crashed in every race this weekend. I think the mistakes definitely cost me the first race where I could have finish fourth. In the second race, my speed was good but it just wasn’t enough. I needed more ‘sprint’ speed, rather than the marathon pace I was running. Stuff to work on, just a shame it’s the end of the year. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the last race of the year.”
