Herlings on a dramatic day at Arco
Jeffrey Herlings says it’s go time and called Antonio Cairoli the Greatest Of All Time after a day of drama in Arco that saw the Dutch rider crash twice in race two but still get fourth with some help from his teammates, especially Cairoli on the last lap to allow Herlings into fourth.
Herlings said: “Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit. Let’s attack from now on. P4 today.
“A big, massive thank you to my team and mostly to the greatest of all time @antoniocairoli for the help and @jorgeprado61 for making my life easier in moto2. We are strong as a team, and sometimes having strong teammates is what’s needed. Massive respect for the favor boys.”
And he is motivated for Mantova saying: “Can’t wait for Mantova!!! It’s go time. 🚀”
See the highlights here with Herlings crashes 5 mins 23 seconds in:
Herlings later explained his two crashes: “Where can I start?! The day actually began quite good but then went downhill from there! My start was alright in the first moto but I could not get in my rhythm for the first three laps and at one point I was 4th but lost a lot of time passing Jorge. Basically, Romain and Jeremy had then gone. 3rd place was still OK. In the second moto I really wanted to attack and go for the win. I was into 2nd on the second lap and I thought ‘this is going to be my moto’. I went over the finish line jump and wanted to chase Tim because I felt I had the speed but the bike went left-right and I was shot-off. It was my mistake but the bike was then a bit bent and I needed some laps to get used to it. The rhythm was coming back and I was close to Romain but my hand came off the bar over that same jump and I was shot to the moon. That was a big hit with a big crash. The bike was even more bent! I knew then I would need something special today. I was 10th and I needed to keep pushing because every point counts. To go home only 3 points down, I know it is still in my own hands. I didn’t make it easy for myself and the last two GPs here have been tough but it is all still possible. Thanks to Tony. Only the greatest and the biggest champions would do that. To me he not only showed his loyalty to KTM but helped me a lot because those are two very important points. Only a real team player would do that. Jorge as well, I had to pass him three times in that second moto. It was a real team effort and I cannot thank them enough.”
Image: Ray Archer
Podcast! Listen to our thoughts on a wild triple-header at Arco here in iTunes on Spotify below:
