It was a great weekend for Jeffrey Herlings racing at his home MXGP round in Arnhem. Last year he ended up injured during free practice but this year he was able to do the job and went 1-1 bouncing back from the disappointment and back luck in Sweden.
We caught up with Herlings after the GP to discuss a range of topics… you can listen, watch or read below…
GateDrop: Jeffrey, The sand king, but also the comeback king. Do you ever get tired coming from the back? (laughs) It’s unbelievable….
Herlings: Yeah, definitely man. I’ve been coming back already a few times this year, in Lommel and again, today was one of the biggest comebacks I’ve done in a while. Like, coming from almost half a minute down, I think like 25 seconds to Jorge, to chase them all down, catch them, and even pass them and still win, so that was quite intense. But it was good, you know. I got 1-1 on my home GP and that’s all I could ask for.
GateDrop: In the second moto, you actually got a pretty good start… I think you were even ahead of Jorge at the start. Is this real life (laughs). But like the first 10 minutes, were you just sort of chilling, because you knew you were there, and you knew in the first moto you came from so far behind… Were you just content sitting there for the first 10 or so minutes?
Herlings: No, I felt like I had it under control. Like, you know, I could see the leaders, and I could see what was happening, so I felt I had things under control, and it’s definitely never easy, but I mean, I had the speed to really go over them if I had to, and once I passed Jorge, I gapped him by 5-6 seconds, kept it, and managed to win. But obviously Jorge is also very, very strong in the sand, and like I said through many interviews already, for me, he’s the most talented, the most gifted rider in the battle right now, so to beat him is never easy, but I think for the sand, I’m a bit more big, and a bit more strong, and that’s what kind of helps me. But yeah, I think today was a really good day, and yeah, let’s win this race again next weekend.
GateDrop: You say Jorge is the most talented rider, but I mean, I agree he’s the most technical, but when it comes to talent, I mean, do you not remember how good you and Ken Roczen were at 15? Wow, that was unbelievable…
Herlings: Yeah, but still, like, when you see Jett Lawrence, and you see Jorge Prado, Yeah, the technical side of what they do, it’s just insane. They’re so good, and for me, even maybe Jett is even a step better. I wouldn’t say he’s better, but I think, you know, he’s just really good and really complete, and also Jorge, man, I can’t say any bad word about him. He’s really good. He’s one of the best racing right now, and yeah, I’m happy I can beat him every now and then, but yeah, him together with Jett are the guys for the future, I guess. Together with, I think, Lucas Coenen coming up, he’ll be a big star, I guess, as well in the future, so we’ll see.
GateDrop: Lately, it’s just been the big three, you, Tim, and Jorge, but Glenn Coldenhoff got in the mix this weekend. Was it nice battling with him this weekend? Obviously, that was probably better for the crowd atmosphere.
Herlings: Yeah, definitely. I mean, actually, I was at training just a couple of weeks back, and Glenn was there, and he just smoked me. I was like, oh, he’s so fast, but when it comes to home GPs, he’s always quite good, I would say, so he’s been, yeah, I’m happy for Glenn because this season hasn’t been going that great… Not bad either, but I think I expected more, so for him to come back, and I think he finished 4th overall, I’m very happy for him, and also that he won the qualifying race. He deserves it. As a person, he’s such a humble nice guy.
GateDrop: After Lommel, I think you had an update on the bike to try and improve the starts. Can you tell me a little about what that update was, and did you use it in Hawkstone and in Sweden?
Herlings: I used it in Hawkstone. I didn’t use it in Sweden.
GateDrop: Did you use it here?
Herlings: I used it in Balen on Thursday, and I used it yesterday, but, yeah, because I had a back injury, which had nothing to do with racing, it just went through my back, but doing absolutely nothing, actually. So we had actually a big test planned this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I couldn’t do it because of my back, so we didn’t have the right software to really make it as good as we can, so, you know, we didn’t have enough time on that, so hopefully we can start testing again after Switzerland and maybe race in the last races. It has something… I think it’s better for the start than my current bike, but, yeah, we still need to fine-tune it, and, you know, also my bike I’m racing now is a great bike, so I’m very happy with that as well.
GateDrop: We’re 16 rounds in. You’ve actually made every round so far this year… I mean, even in the years you’ve won the title, you’ve probably missed a round somewhere. Are you just enjoying lining up at every GP this year? Is that something you’re enjoying? Because it’s never… It’s been a long time since this happened…
Herlings: I’ve done 80% of the year, so I need to do 20% more, which is more races, so… Fingers crossed (laughs). Let’s see if I can… If I’ll finish all four of them. That’s my goal.
GateDop: Just on the title, it’s very intense between you, Tim, and Jorge. Obviously, Sweden, bad luck there. Are you thinking about the title?
Herlings: You know, Sweden really made it difficult with what happened on Saturday. I obviously had the speed all weekend to match the leaders, which was Jorge. You could see on the Sunday I could match the speed. In the first moto, you know, Tim hit me, so I went out of the track. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but still. I went out of the track, went back to 15th, and, you know, obviously finished up in fifth, I think, so lost quite a lot of points, so that didn’t help me. But… Still four races, 35 points down. For me, like I said, the championship is not even on my mind, because for me, everyone expects Jorge or Tim to win, and so do I. So… Whatever I do is good.
GateDrop: How do you feel going to Switzerland? That wasn’t a great GP for you last year, but I think it was only round four last year, so you were sill kind of getting into the swing of it. How do you feel going there? And will you do any riding this week, maybe you will do Leylstad during the week, or what are your plans?
Herlings: I need to see a bit with my back and how that feeling is going, but… Yeah, right now I haven’t really planned anything yet, but, yeah, I just look day by day and try to make the best I can out of the Switzerland race.
GateDrop: Just on the Motocross Des Nations, obviously the Dutch team was picked. I don’t think anyone can really argue with the team based on the whole… Are you excited to go to the Motocross des Nations for Team Netherlands, and I’m sure at least challenge?
Herlings: Yeah, yeah. I think that we have a really strong team. You know, we had too many riders actually to pick out from, because, like, Glenn didn’t get selected. There was… Brian didn’t get selected, just because we have already so many good riders as Kay, as Calvin, as maybe myself, so… Anyway, I’m happy I’m on the team, and I think we could do a good result. I think winning as a team is quite difficult against Team US. You know, Team France, you know, they won last year. They’re always quite good, Team France. Then Australia, so it’s… But I think as a goal, for us as a team, it would be very nice to be in the podium. That’s what I would hope for our team to be on.
GateDrop: Finally, it’s nice to see… Well, from your point of view, I’m sure it’s nice to see a Dutch kid in MX2 dominating the way Kay is. What’s your thoughts on him as a rider? He kind of reminds me of you, because he kind of sends it right to the end. Like today, he didn’t need to go for Lucas in terms of the championship, but it goes to show how much he wants to win…
Herlings: Yeah, I think Kay is looking good for the championship. Hopefully… I mean… Yeah, he’s Dutch, and he’s a little bit my friend, so… If I want somebody to win the championship, I hope it’s Kay. Not that I don’t want Lucas to win, because I think Lucas is a very great kid too, but my connection with Kay is a bit different, and we know each other already for a longer time, so definitely my hopes go to Kay for hopefully winning this championship. He deserves it. I think over the whole year, both of them have been very good, very solid, but yeah, it’s still going to be an interesting last four races for them.
GateDrop: Obviously, Ruben… He worked for you for years, and he’s working with Kay de Wolf now. I think he’s been very positive for him. Would you agree?
Herlings: Yeah, I think so too, yeah. I think Ruben has a lot of experience, Ruben worked with me for a long, long time, and I think he’s… Yeah, he’s a really good guy, as he’s my friend as well. He’s still my friend, so I think he can keep Kay a little bit calm and hopefully bring him to the goal of the championship.
