Jeffrey Herlings was in fine form at Loket and the second moto showed just how much speed he still has if he needs it.
The five times world champion spoke to the media after the MXGP to discuss his speed and more…
On a crazy second moto…
Yeah, Guadagnini went down and I like jumped over his bike, I was fifth or sixth still. There was one guy he broke super hard and I hit his rear wheel. So, from crashing at the second turn and being dead last, within two laps I was in thirteenth. When I was behind Bonacorsi he nearly high sided, I hit his rear wheel and again I was almost last. I fought my way back to the rear wheel of Vlaanderen. I think the speed was quite good (laughs). Luck wasn’t on my side today but with the speed, at least I feel like my old self like 2018 and a couple of years ago. It is quite late for the championship, we have lost some points but there are still a lot of things possible. I feel like I am still improving and as you can see, those tracks are not easy. It shows the fitness and speed are quite good for me. Still seven GP’s to go and a lot is possible so looking forward to the final races.
What goes through his mind going down twice…
I was so p*ssed, I messed up myself. I should have known the guy was going to much slower, why I hit him is because I really wanted to get to the front. In the first moto I went from fifth to second in like a lap, let’s say. I wanted to do the same things in the second moto to try and make a statement but maybe a bit too much confidence again. It is what it is. 1-4, not great, not bad. I got my 200th moto win today so that is pretty special so now let’s move onto Lommel this weekend.
On his 200th moto win…
Yeah definitely. You know to win your 200th moto, it’s a record, no one has ever reached that amount. I missed maybe two or three seasons in total due to injury… 2022 a full season, 2023 half a year. That is why at the beginning of the season I was a bit off because you need to race. You seen last year when Tim came back, he needed a couple of races. It just takes a bit of time when you come back from a major injury. I am looking forward once again to the rest of the races. I feel comfortable and the bike is in a good spot. Last weekend I did a sand race (ADAC), we had really good speed there as well in the deep sand. I think my bike there is really good. I guess the only thing I really need is two decent starts – top three or top five starts. We’ll see where we get.
On his second moto speed…
(laughs) I think I passed over 50 riders, I did everything all over again almost. I actually felt in control. When you are racing guys in P15 and coming through at that speed, it can just bite you. I was just, in the second one, I still thought I could do a top three and I still almost did a top three. I knew that would keep my overall alive but yeah, it’s part of racing.
