MXGP’S BATTLE OF THE TITANS!

Is anyone else missing the titanic battle between the three big hitters – Jorge Prado, Tim Gajser and Jeffrey Herling – whose on-track tussles dazzled us throughout the 2024 MXGP season? With Prado now racing in America and Herlings missing the opening three rounds while recovering from an off-season knee operation, the fight for the premier class’s red plate feels like it’s lost a bit of its lustre so far this year. Sure, the likes of Romain Febvre, Maxime Renaux, and Herlings’ new KTM teammate, Lucas Coenen, have all taken the battle up to Gajser on occasion, but not consistently. Which is why Gajser has won the last four motos on the spin and already holds a 29-point lead in the standings as the series heads into this weekend’s Round 4 in Sardinia.

All the more reason we’ll be relishing this weekend’s return of KTM’s Jeffrey Herlings – the five-time world champion and most successful Grand Prix winner in FIM Motocross World Championship history (103 GP wins). Admittedly, with Herlings only back on the bike for a few weeks now after a longer-than-expected post-op recovery, the gnarly Sardinian track is likely to reveal Herlings’ ring rust.

That said, we should have learned by now to never to discount a rider who’s notched up nine top three championship rankings in 14 active seasons. Also, don’t forget that the 30-year-old Dutchman has scored two Overall wins and one podium finish in the super-rough deep sand of Sardinia’s Riola Sardo circuit in the past four years. So even if Herlings isn’t quite at 100% physically, he can’t be ruled out on his favourite type of terrain!

Or can he? And if so, what sort of odds would you be prepared to offer against a Herlings’ win?