Published on 31 May 2019

Herlings on his comeback race: I knew it would be tough!

Jeffrey Herlings says he was content with his first race of the year, but admitted he wasn’t quite his “old self” just yet after wining the first moto but not being able to pull away at the Dutch Masters at Rhenen.

The world champ also said he got some arm pump in the second moto that restricted him to a fourth place but with third overall he was happy with his first race of the year but says he needs “a lot” more races to get back to his level.

“Yesterday was a good day I’d say,” commented Herlings, “we qualified first with a decent gap to second so that shows I have the speed already: the endurance is something else of course! I haven’t really done any motos yet, so coming to the race I knew it would be tough because the tracks in Holland are pretty bumpy and the competition is really strong with other GP riders lined-up.”

Herlings will now race at the ADAC Masters in Austria this weekend as he continues his quest for race fitness.

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Promising first 2019 #motocross #race appearance for @jeffrey_herlings84 in the third round of the Dutch Masters series at Rhenen yesterday. A first moto victory and third overall is the start of the comeback trail for the #mxgp world champion. "Yesterday was a good day I’d say," #84 said. "We qualified first with a decent gap to second so that shows we have the speed already: the endurance is something else of course! I haven’t done any real motos yet, so coming to the race I knew it would be tough because the tracks in Holland are pretty bumpy and the competition is really strong with other GP riders lined-up." "I was not too bad," he added. "I got a good start in the first moto and was fighting for the lead the whole time. I could win but I was not my old self and couldn't run away from the guys. It wasn't too bad though. In the second moto I worked my way up to the lead but got some arm-pump. I struggled, but that's normal because I haven’t raced for eight-nine months. I feel that I need to do a lot of racing right now and work my way back-in with the guys. The bike set-up is good and the team are working hard so I just need to do my best now and it will take some weeks, maybe even months to get back where I belong. My foot is not too bad at the moment…for what is the day after the race. I’m looking forward to racing the ADAC now and getting some more race rhythm." #readytorace #ktm

A post shared by KTM Factory Racing (@ktmfactoryracing) on May 31, 2019 at 4:50am PDT