With Jeffrey Herlings on the cusp of joining Joel Robert on six world titles this weekend in Turkey, have a listen to what his first big rival, Ken Roczen, had to say about their rivalry turned friendship in what still remains two of the biggest generational talents of all time battling each other at the beginning of their legendary careers and both winning a GP at 15!
Roczen, speaking on Gypsy Tales, said: “We’re like the same age, he’s a few months younger, I believe but just crazy battles, right? And we talk on Instagram like pretty regularly. He’s actually pretty cool and I think he’s changed a lot throughout the years, too. It’s a lot more easy to talk and it’s fun to exchange whether it’s memories or knowledge or whatever.
“Back in the day when we were racing each other, we were crazy competitors But, honestly, most of the hype was the people around us that made it like that kind of rivalry, I never really talked to him. But then that automatically turns into, ‘I’m gonna freakin annihilate him on the weekend!’ Anyway, they’re just such different times.
“We were just such shitheads then back in the day! We were both so young and we just wanted to annihilate everybody and stuff, so it’s just good times. We had good battles for sure, probably not enough though, because then I left and it just all kind of split.”
Herlings meanwhile said of his date with destiny this weekend: “I think everyone knows that the championship is possible this weekend, but I’m trying not to think about it too much and just concentrate on each race as it happens. I’ve got a really good run of results going, 14 wins in a row, so if I can keep that alive, the championship will take care of itself. It’s been a lot of fun these past few weeks and my home GP was a blast, so now we just have these three overseas rounds to finish off the season.”
Amazingly, after their teenage battles in 2010 and 2011 at 15/16/17, the duo are still two of the fastest riders on the planet and both are still winning at the highest level with Roczen winning the 450 Supercross title and Herlings about to win the MXGP world title in 2026, nearly 20 years after they both burst onto the scene as extraordinary 15 year old talents on dirt bikes. Their legacy keeps building!
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