Herlings vs Gajser in Turkey

There is no doubt, that a handful of riders can win in Turkey this coming week, from defending MXGP champion Tim Gajser, who has won the last round in Latvia and holds the red plate, the comeback kid, Jeffrey Herlings, who seems to continue to surprise us with his toughness and speed, despite a long list of major injuries.

Of course, names like Jorge Prado, Antonio Cairoli and Romain Febvre also have a great shot of victory this coming week, however if you look at the stats for the Turkish GP, then one man seems to stand out, and that is Herlings, who has gone 1-1-1-1 and is undefeated at the Afyon circuit.

In 2018 Herlings scored 1-1 result, with Gajser finishing second with 3-2 scores, then when the MXGP class returned a year later it was Herlings again scoring 1-1 results, beating fellow Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff and Latvian rider Pauls Jonass. Gajser finished fourth with 6-3 scores.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas the team manager of HRC feels it will once again be an exciting week as so many riders are capable of winning the overall. He doesn’t count his man out, but he also knows anything can happen in this very tough MXGP class.

“We have five riders there and any one of those guys can win,” Pereira de Freitas said. “We don’t have a huge gap like when Tony was unbeatable and there are more than the top five and it is amazing how the class is right now. Jeffrey’s mentality to race and do what he is capable of. He is a good rider, strong mentality and of course he is one of the fastest guys in the paddock and it was amazing when he had that crash in Oss and went to Lommel, a really talented rider. Tim isn’t bothered by anyone, and we never even talk about Jeffrey with Tim. He is busy with himself; we never mention Jeffrey during the race with pit boards and nobody bothers Tim, and he is also one of the fastest guys in the paddock. If Tim gets a good start, he is okay, but if you don’t get a good start, you can struggle and make mistakes and crash. I think 80% of the race is the start.

Ruben Tureluren the right-hand man for Herlings feels when his man is on, he can’t be beaten, and he also knows better than anyone how tough the Dutchman is when it comes to fighting diversity.

“We will be ready to fight,” Tureluren said. “I mean I don’t know if you can call it good luck, but this was a bad deal and everyone thinks Jeffrey has been through this and he will fight, but it even surprised me how he can take the physical pain. It is sad to see him riding with so much pain and suffer again from bad luck. We were close to leading the championship before the accident and 42 points behind is a lot. Also, a lot of good guys in front of him, but if we fight for every point and every race, we have a good shot at getting another title. Jeffrey is somebody who processed it, flicks a switch and then he is good to go. He won’t moan about it or anything like that, once he flicks that switch, he is good to go and doesn’t look back. Amazing, how his mental strength pulls him through”.

And the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team manager Dirk Gruebel also knows that being tough is great, but some luck would also be good for his rider. Like so many, Gruebel is often surprised just how much pain Herlings can take and how determined he remains despite all the injuries.

“Luckily the shoulder blade wasn't broken off completely,” Gruebel said. “Just cracked it was a big impact on the body and it changed his program completely, he can’t train during the week, maybe ride once instead of a few times, just to get the feeling. He just does what the body allows him. That performance in Lommel, he was unlucky not to win the overall and I can tell you, after Lommel, he was finished, his body was done and no training and then he goes to Latvia and nearly wins the GP there. It isn’t deep sand in Kegums, but it was sand and demanding, and you could see after that race, he was empty. He used his legs a lot to spare the shoulder, you could say, and it is just draining him. You can see it takes its toll on him and he still gives 100%.”

So now we head to Turkey, for this amazing double header, a week or action that could see some changes inside the top five MXGP standings. Who wins in Turkey, nobody would bet their house on the outcome, because with more than five men capable of winning, anything can and probably will happen.

Photo Copyright: Ray Archer