The results don’t show it but Jeffrey Herlings rode the best he has all year in Arco on a track that isn’t exactly Lommel! The Dutch rider had that extra edge in his riding once he got going in race one after the first ten minutes and a bad start that prevented him from going with the title contenders at the front – Prado, Febvre and Gajser.
But in that moto Herlings was on it and caught from 20th to 4th using lines and jumping bumps with an aggression and edge we hadn’t see so far this season. The bike looked planted and he looked fired up and the more he passed, the more inspired he got, Herlings was feeling the flow and the pace was there to battle for the lead – he just needed the start!
Race two he got the start and then crashed in the second turn while fourth! He was right there and he knew he had a shot at it but the enthusiasm and haste to get on the gas on a deceptively slick berm proved to much and he washed out. And now he had to come from the back again! Herlings charged again, using lines that had him jumping bumps just like Prado was out front – it could have been a battle for the win but Herling still has put the start and the opening laps together, like Prado who has all the pieces of the puzzle right now.
But this was without a doubt Herlings approaching his best again, the intensity, the lines, the passes, he was not messing around and had the eye of the tiger. The belief looked back in his riding and he looks ready to win again – but those starts are still key with Prado in this form.
Herlings is 55 points back of Prado already after just four rounds, but with two weeks off allowing his ribs to heal, Herlings will be going for it in Portugal. The riding is there, the speed and importantly belief is now there again but Prado is still there too and going nowhere, he is in the form of his life with no apparent weakness and you can’t count out Gajser and Febvre either.
However, Herlings knows he can win again, he can feel the speed and the flow is back. Let’s see what happens from here – he’s ready now.
“I clearly had the speed to be on the podium today,” said a frustrated Herlings after the weekend. “I came from P20 to pass many guys and reach P4 in the first moto and in the second I had a really good start but the rear end washed away and it meant another charge back, this time to 7th. It’s pretty devastating because I had the pace to maybe even to go for the win. Two out of three starts this weekend were good and my feeling was really good, especially with my ribs…we just didn’t have the result! Anyway, we go home in one piece and we have sixteen more races to come. I should be fully fit and ready to go in Portugal.”
Article: Jonathan McCready
Image: Ray Archer
