When the 2017 pre-season began, everyone was looking at the two Red Bull KTM factory riders, Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings as two of the big four. Also included in the group was defending MXGP champion Tim Gajser, and 2015 MXGP champion Romain Febvre. All champions fighting for the greatest prize in motocross.
For Herlings, a pre-season injury took him out of the running, and it wasn’t until the round of Trentino that Herlings finally found his mojo. The only problem for Herlings was that Cairoli rode one of his greatest GPs riding through the pack and winning his 80th GP.
Not a lot has changes since then, and despite the fact Herlings has won a GP in Latvia, and finished on the podium nearly every single GP since Trentino, he hasn’t been able to close the points gap held by Cairoli.
“I am so sick of finishing second,” Herlings said after Portugal. “I went into Ottobiano sick. As you could see I faded on the end and I was so sick for the second race I didn’t want to line up. I didn’t want to eat because I felt so bad. After the second race I was leading, but I had no power left.”
Herlings, however looks forward to a couple of sand races in the near future. Lommel, and Assen might once again see the Cairoli versus Herlings, but the Dutchman wants his revenge over his Italian rival.
“I can’t wait for Lommel to get my revenge. I mean Ottobiano was his home ground and Lommel is mine. I hope the weather is like 10 degrees (laughing), that would suit me better.”
As for Cairoli, while he has big respect for Herlings, he didn’t see his victory over Herlings in Ottobiano, or Portugal as a big deal, just another day at the office.
“They are races like the other ones,” Cairoli said of his battles with Herlings. “He is one opponent just like the others. For sure he is a good sand rider and it’s good we could fight there. It’s normally a good track for him, but also for me, because I like soft ground. I think he is a good rider, a big talent, a lot of championships. To be a champion you need a lot of things, you need to be fast, you need to be talented, like I said before, you need a lot of stuff. I hope for him he has these things and if he doesn’t have it, he can develop these things. Maybe we can have good battles for the years I am still riding. Then after he can fight with other guys. Tim, he is also very fast, a good talent, he is also very young. For the long future, its Tim and Jeffrey, they are the guys for the future and the fights.”
But for now, the riders can enjoy a two-week break until the hard pack of Loket pits the two KTM riders against each other again. Both don’t enjoy the tricky Czech Republic circuit, so don’t be surprised to see somebody else on top of the box in Loket, but then again, as we have seen the last two GPs, don’t be surprised either if these two-champions fight for victory.