Jeffrey Herlings—who knows looking ahead isn’t something that always brings success—having suffered his share of injuries over the last two years, the Red Bull KTM Factory rider is taking it one step at a time. He is only looking at this year’s MX2 title as the goal.

Geoff Meyer from MXLarge could not help himself, though, and asked him about what might happen if he can wrap up the MX2 title early.

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You look a little lethargic sitting in the press conference. Has all the travel got to you a little?

No, I mean, the travelling is hard on your body and we do a lot of training and after two moto’s, yes, I am tired, but it’s kind of normal. It shows I did what I had to do and that’s work hard.

 

Each weekend you look faster and faster and it seems like you continue to improve. Does it feel that way?

I have been on top of the world. Winning championships in 2012 and 2013, and I have been injured for 18 months. I feel like I am like I was before I broke my femur. In fact, I think I might even be better than I was before the injuries. Everybody has improved—the bikes have also improved—but I feel mentally strong and just trying to stay out of the injury zone.

Jeremy Seewer (right) gives Jeffrey Herlings (left) a champagne shower in Latvia.
Jeremy Seewer (right) gives Jeffrey Herlings (left) a champagne shower in Latvia.

I asked Antonio Cairoli about the current level of the new MXGP guys, and he wasn’t sure that they have lifted the level of the class. What is your opinion?

Those guys like [Romain] Febvre and [Tim] Gajser, those are the guys to beat in the MXGP class. Of course Tony [Cairoli] is still there, but you have to be honest, he is 30 years old now and he was on top of his game for long time, winning MXGP races for almost a decade. Its normal that you get slower, or just stay the same. Gajser is 19 years old, Febvre 23 or 24, those guys are fast.

 

I know you like to watch the clock and see how your lap times compare to the MXGP guys. All weekend in Latvia, you were two seconds quicker than them and four seconds quicker than your MX2 rivals. Did that impress you?

I showed today again on a little sandy track, on a track that is still better on 450 than on a 250. Kegums, with all the 180 degree turns is easier on the 450. On a 450 you have more power, so for sure you can go faster on a 450 here, but I managed to be faster. In the qualification heat and also the two Sunday moto’s, I did fast lap times and the races were faster. I have been riding on a 450 lately, and I have often been two to three seconds faster on the 450 compared to the 250. I am a tall guy, like 80kg [176 lbs] and being on the bigger bike I just love the power. I am a little surprised how it goes. We started riding the 450 last week and when I jumped on everyone in the team is like, “Wow, you are crazy fast”. But of course this year it’s important to win the MX2 championship and I am not even thinking about what I will do next year. I just want to finish the season off and we predicted so much in the past and it didn’t turn out.

Jeffrey is perfect so far in 2016. 6 for 6 in qualifying races and 12 for 12 in MX2 motos.
Jeffrey is perfect so far in 2016. 6 for 6 in qualifying races and 12 for 12 in MX2 motos.

Everyone I talk to says when Herlings moves up he will dominate. We look at Gajser and Febvre when they moved to the MXGP class and they are dominating. Those guys have won every GP. You are riding a 450, so I am thinking, win the championship, then go to Assen on a 450. I know you don’t want to talk about that stuff, but how cool would that be.

That would be super cool, but I remember I was going to win the championship in 2014 and the planning was to go to Lommel on the 450, go to Unadilla on the 250 and then finish the rest of the season on the big bike. Then do 2015 on the 450. That is why I don’t want to plan anything. I just look week by week and we see how things turn out.

 

I know you don’t want to think about the future, but you were two second a lap quicker than the 450 guys all weekend in Latvia. You mentioned you jump on the 450 and are three seconds a lap quicker than you are on the 250, so you could nearly say you would be five seconds a lap quicker on some tracks than the current MXGP guys.

I’ve only ridden the 450 on sand tracks, and I don’t know how it will be on hard slick tracks. That is something we need to try, and I don’t have that much time to ride the 450, because just about every weekend is either a Dutch championship or a World championship. We have three races in a row, then a weekend off and two in a row. I actually think riding the 450 has made me a better 250 rider, because you use different body language and you are calmer.

Will Jeffrey dominate in MXGP like he is in MX2? Only time will tell.
Will Jeffrey dominate in MXGP like he is in MX2? Only time will tell.

You raced the Belgian championships on the bigger bike in previous years. Will you do any Belgian championships this year on the 450?

I rode the 350 in a Belgian championship a couple of years ago, so I haven’t really raced a proper race on the 450. At the moment we will do the Dutch and World championships on the 250 and we haven’t made a plan yet for the Belgian championship rounds. We have such a busy schedule and the next Belgian championship is in August.

 

I was speaking to David Bulmer about that Assen idea [on the 450], and he actually mentioned if you are on the perfect season, then you might not want to move up and go for the perfect season.

You guys are crazy. We are only 1/3 into the season. We have done six rounds and there are still 12 to go. It would be something great to get a perfect season, and I would love to accomplish that. It’s been done in America, but never in Europe. You just need a mud race or a start crash for it to go wrong, so it’s going to be tough. In America you have different weather conditions and in Europe we have some mud races, so it makes it harder to do.

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