Jeffrey Herlings: Fighting Pain

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Jeffrey Herlings is probably the best guy to ask how tough motocross is, and the four-time World Champion proved that tough men play tough sports, when he battled through his busted shoulder blade to win a race at the toughest circuit in the world, Lommel in Belgium last weekend and finish second on the podium.

Now just over 40 points off the championship leader Tim Gajser, the Dutchman will head to Latvia this weekend to again fight a circuit that has been good to him, but also unkind and he will once again do it with painkillers and heavy strapping to restrict the pain.

It was back in 2019 at Kegums, that he won a race with a broken foot, and after his heroics of Lommel, you wonder what the KTM rider might pull out of the bag at Kegums this time around.

“It was painful,” Herlings said about Lommel. “When I woke up on Sunday morning last week, and I really wasn’t looking forward to racing Lommel, and normally I love racing here. We had a lot of bad luck in championships, and I am now still in the hunt for the championship. We might be 42 points down, but we have a lot of races to go, and we have a lot of things to work on, but I am in this championship and that feels great.”

As for that championship lead, it isn’t something new for Herlings to lead championships, he has done it time and time again, four times to collect a world title, and probably six times to end up in hospital with injury. He still rues the lost points from this most recent injury.

“If I didn’t have this injury in Oss, I would be leading the championship now. I think the other guys haven’t been as consistent as me. Every GP I have raced, and I have been on the podium, Russia, England, Maggiora, I would have been in Oss if I didn’t get landed on and now in Lommel I was there again. We need to stay consistent, that is the biggest goal and that was my plan coming into the season and still is my plan.”

So, despite the lost championships in the past and the pain of one operation after another, Herlings is still motivated and determined to add to his three MX2 championships and one MXGP title, and starting in Latvia, he will continue to fight the pain and look forward to the small break between Latvia and Turkey, in early September.

“I had a lot of bad luck because of injuries, like in 2014 and 2015, leading the championship with 100 or 150 points, 2017 broke my hand before the season, 2019-foot injury, 2020 breaking my neck when I was leading the championship by 60 points, it has been a hard road with injuries. I still have hope in this championship.”

For those lucky enough to be live at the circuit on Sunday, or part of the thousands and thousands around the world watching on live stream, or television, be prepared for something special and some drama, because that is the only way Herlings does things.