Very few riders have been able to truly challenge Jeffrey Herlings this season. Lucas Coenen managed it on several occasions, before Kay de Wolf finally shook up the MXGP king in Arnhem. On home soil, the Nestaan Husqvarna rider secured two front-row starts and went toe-to-toe with his idol. Finishing second in the Grand Prix behind a once again imperious Herlings, Kay de Wolf confirmed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2027. A duel with Herlings, a sore ankle, surgery, winter training, contract extension with Husqvarna, Motocross of Nations… The Dutchman opened up after this impressive home performance. Interview by Marco Kamper.
Kay, we can say that your day went pretty well at Arnhem. You were able to follow Jeffrey, and you were even faster than him in the final laps. In your opinion, what were you missing to beat him?
De Wolf: That’s a really difficult question. Honestly, I don’t know. We first need to analyse everything, I think. I tried everything. So I’m not going to go to bed tonight thinking, “I should have done this, or I should have done that.” Well, maybe I will actually… But I can’t say that I didn’t give everything. I gave everything, literally everything, and even a little bit more. So I’m happy with my performance and satisfied with the result.
Three weeks ago, I wasn’t even capable of battling with Jeffrey. We worked on my starts. We worked on several things, on my fitness. And I’m really happy that I was simply able to battle with Jeffrey. He has won 17 Grands Prix at home. So beating him on his own turf isn’t easy. But I tried everything, and even a little bit more. I gave everything I had. But we’ll have to wait a little longer before beating Jeffrey.
Jeffrey is the best MXGP rider of all time. I think he’s even the best rider in the world. So to simply be able to battle with him and hear him say that you ruined his day… That must feel pretty good?
De Wolf: It does. That’s also what I told him. It’s incredible to hear that from him. And it only makes me stronger for the future. I’m really happy. Eight years ago, I was still watching him on television. And now I’m racing against him.
You’ve had some problems with your ankle this year. Where do things stand with that?
De Wolf: Yeah, my ankle isn’t great. I hurt it again yesterday during Saturday. It’s really unstable when I put a lot of pressure on it. I’m suffering a little bit, actually. But I’m going to have to fight through it for… what, around five more weeks until the Nations? After that, I’ll have surgery.
I might suffer even more after the operation, when I’m lying in my bed 24/7. But I’ll be lying in that bed without any regrets.
I just need to work hard next winter. And hopefully we can improve the bike a little bit, which is something the team is already working on. And I’m almost certain that with the new bike coming, it’ll be a big step forward.
I’m really looking forward to having a good winter and being able to work properly. Because I think if I have a solid winter, I could fight for the title. And that’s the ultimate dream. So we’ll see.
I saw an interview where you said you never used the clutch on the 250. It’s different on the 450. There’s a video going around where we see your mechanic open up the clutch, and it’s smoking! Do you use it more on the 450?
De Wolf: Yeah, definitely. I use it more to manage the power a little bit. The 450 is pretty powerful.
But yeah, that was in Balen, at a local race in Belgium. It’s a track with lots of small, tight corners. I think everyone’s bikes were getting hot. I’d never seen a clutch smoke like that, at least not on my bike. It was the first time they opened the clutch cover and there was smoke coming out. But it was just after the race.
So basically, all the bikes probably would have smoked in the same way?
De Wolf: Yeah, but we’d never seen that before. My race mechanic opened it. He’s been my race mechanic for six or seven years now. So even he had never seen it. That’s why we were laughing about it.
I definitely use the clutch a little more in the sand with the 450. On hardpack tracks, I don’t use it as much. I think I can do an entire weekend with one clutch. Even in the sand, actually.
I remember watching Dutch television, a programme called Willem Wever, around ten years ago. You asked how to do a scrub, and Jeffrey Herlings came along to explain it to you. What does it feel like now to be fighting your idol for the win?
De Wolf: Yeah, it’s funny that you ask me that question. It’s crazy because this weekend I was battling against him!
How many years ago was that show? Ten years, something like that? So basically, it was in 2016. I asked Jeffrey how to do a scrub. The funniest thing is that I passed him with a scrub in the first race. You could say he taught me pretty well! [laughs]
No, seriously, Jeffrey is my hero. To be able to battle against him and give him a hard time is incredible.
A word on the starts. They aren’t really your strong point, we can say that. But I think your starts were much better this weekend. Is that something you’ve been working on over the last few weeks?
De Wolf: Yeah, definitely. We’ve worked a lot on the starts. I completely changed my technique, and it really paid off in the first race. I came into the first corner side-by-side with Jeffrey. I don’t really remember what happened in the second race. I think I completely messed up my reaction time, but I still had a good first corner. I came out third and quickly moved into second.
You know, you don’t really change the bike settings for the starts. I think starts are more about technique, and hopefully we can also improve the bike a little bit in that area for next year.
There are rumours circulating in the paddock. You had several offers and decided to stay with Husqvarna. What was the main reason behind that decision?
De Wolf: First of all, they had a right of first refusal, so they could match any offer and, in that case, I would have had to stay. That’s what they did, and I’m really happy they did because they’ve been my team since I started racing in Europe and in the World Championship.
So you could say I consider Nestaan to be “my” team, because we’ve been together for such a long time. I literally started with them, which is why I’m happy to stay.
You clearly pushed the limits with Jeffrey this weekend, but I get the feeling neither of you actually went over the limit.
De Wolf: Yeah, but I can’t say I had a good second race. Actually, I felt pretty bad in that second race. I made a lot of mistakes, in my opinion.
The team told me I should watch the race back because, according to them, I actually rode pretty well. They saw me doing some incredible things, but from my point of view, I really struggled a lot in that second race.
I wasn’t efficient enough, and that’s really something I need to work on.
That’s the perfect word to describe what I’m going to do this winter: work on my efficiency.
We know Jeffrey is a clean rider, and you battled really well together during the races. Is there also an element of mutual respect?
Kay de Wolf: Definitely. I’m not going to deliberately take Jeffrey out, but I know he’s going to give me a little elbow, and I’ll give him one back. But we’re not going to try to take each other down, especially considering the position Jeffrey is in in the championship. I’m simply going to battle him as hard as possible, but I’m not going to try to take him out like some wild man.
For the rest of the season, what is your goal? What do you want to achieve?
Kay de Wolf: There are three rounds left, so at least getting one or two more podiums would be good for me. Of course, I’m aiming for a race win, I’m aiming for a Grand Prix win, but I don’t know if that’s possible given Jeffrey’s current form. He’s so determined to win at the moment.
Maybe he’ll ease off a little bit in Turkey, but if he clinches the title on Saturday, which is possible, maybe he’ll still give it everything on Sunday. But I hope he parties so hard on Saturday night that he isn’t even able to ride! Then maybe I could try to go for a win on Sunday. But right now, Jeffrey is at the top of his form.
My final question concerns the Motocross of Nations. The 250 spot hasn’t been decided yet. Who would you like to have alongside you?
Kay de Wolf: I’m a rider, not a team manager, so I can’t decide who will compete at the Motocross of Nations. But Glenn rode really well this weekend, so we’ll see who they choose.
I can’t decide and I’m not going to decide for them. I believe we have a meeting this week. Jeffrey and I will both have our say, I think.
We’re not team managers, but I think we could put together a good result there. One thing is certain: I’ll fight for my country. I’ve always brought good results at the Nations. I’ll show up at 110% and fight for the flag.
