Jeffrey Herlings burst onto the GP scene in 2010 and as we approach the 2024 season he is still here doing what he loves. What a career he has had despite plenty of obstacles and visits to the hospital along the way.
Even in his wildest dreams Herlings probably wouldn’t have predicted back in 2010 that he’d go on to win 103 GP overalls (and counting…), breaking Stefan Everts all time GP wins record.
Herlings is coming towards the end of his GP career, at 29 years old, his current KTM contract expires at the end of the 2025 season and it may well be the final contract of his career. The five times world champion has been through a lot with so many injuries and honestly, with what he has been through, he doesn’t need to racing right now so we should be grateful he is still turning up and racing despite all his injuries costing him so many world titles and a lot of pain (literally!). The sport won’t be as good without Herlings behind the gate.
Ahead of the 2024 season, let’s hope Herlings can just stay injury free and turn up for the full series, history tells us that when he does that he is a very hard man to beat. Although make no mistake about it, this will be the hardest title yet with the likes of Tim Gajser, Jorge Prado, Romain Febvre, Maxime Renaux and Jeremy Seewer all desperate to land the title everyone wants: MXGP.
Over the season there will probably be a lot of chat about who the fastest rider in the world is with a lot of Jett Lawrence and Jeffrey Herlings debates… but honestly, both of them are in very different places in their careers. Lawrence is already a superstar in America and has already done a lot over there for a 20 year old but let’s not forget what Herlings has been through injury wise. Also, remember Herlings at 16? That kid was also unbelievable.
Imagine how many more GP wins/titles he’d have had without all those injuries. Let’s hope Lawrence stays away from the injuries but sometimes it can only take one big injury before you start thinking about things and taking less risks.
We put together some of Herlings stats throughout his career and it is truly mind boggling and goes to show he doesn’t really have anything left to prove in the sport. 103 GP wins, 137 podiums and 257(!) race wins across MX2 and MXGP.
It is truly remarkable and no matter what happens during the next couple of years in his career, he will go down as one of the best in history – if not, the very best, when it comes to Motocross.
Herlings stats:
| MX2 world titles | MXGP world titles | Total world titles |
| 3 | 2 | 5 |
| MX2 overall wins | MXGP overall wins | Total overall wins |
| 61 | 42 | 103 |
| MX2 race wins | MXGP race wins | Total race wins |
| 162 | 95 | 257 |
| MX2 podiums | MXGP podiums | Total podiums |
| 80 | 57 | 137 |
Fingers crossed he can stay injury free in 2024 as he winds down his career and the MXGP World Championship battle is an exciting one. We can’t wait for the season to get underway.
Article: Andy McKinstry
