MXGP Insider No.29: Herlings Finished?

Welcome to our weekly web-exclusive column, Transmoto‘s MXGP Insider. Penned each week by Vurbmoto’s David Bulmer, the MXGP Insider will present the story-behind-the-stories of the European motocross scene.

KTM has just released some PR stating that Jeffrey Herlings will not be racing Brazil, which I can’t say I’m too shocked about. However, rumours are now also flying hot that he won’t be in Mexico, either. This, I’m definitely surprised by.

Earlier this year I spent a decent amount of time in Holland with Jeffrey and all I can assume is that the doctors are putting the absolute fear of god into him to try and stop him boarding that plane to Mexico. This is a rider that has ignored the advice of doctors before and rode, it’s a rider who knows he’s better than the rest of the field and it’s a rider who believes he deserves this title. And not only that, there is A LOT of money at stake for him to just sit this one out. Now I’m not going to say he should or shouldn’t be riding, because only he truly knows that, I’m just saying it must be extremely serious for him not too.

If he doesn’t line up, it’ll certainly lower the interest levels for the final GPs of the year, as essentially all Jordi Tixier will have to do is score 57 points in four races. That’s averaging 6/7^th place in a field that isn’t going to be at full strength for these two flyaways. Of course, Herlings could be playing the ultimate mind-game with Tixier and swoop into Mexico fully fit and ready to roll, but I’m not sure even he could pull it off.

What an incredible turn-around it could be for Jordi Tixier though, who after the fifth GP of the year sat in 6^th place, already 51 points off the lead. At that stage people were wondering if he’d even manage to find a ride for 2015, let alone walk away from KTM with a world championship, and he’s certainly making the French Federation look pretty stupid for not picking him for the up-coming Motocross of Nations.

Speaking of which, the official rider entry list has been announced and that has certainly helped my anticipation levels for the event. I still believe the USA are (strong) favourites but I don’t think it will take much for them to lose once again, especially if conditions aren’t great. There are quite a few nations that just need a little bit of luck for it to swing their way, things like Belgium’s Lieber getting a holeshot on his new Standing Construct KTM or Great Britain actually completing an event without an injury or bike malfunction. Special mention must go to the Estonian team who have a good chance of doing well and in Tanel Leok they have a rider who hasn’t missed an MXoN since he turned Pro at 16! It’s a pretty incredible achievement for any rider and I hope he puts on a performance that will please the massive Estonian presence that is expected.