Jeffrey Herlings – 2013 FIM MX2 World Champion

LOKET (Czech Republic), 4 August – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has written once again his name not only in the Dutch Motocross History, but also in the History of the sport. The young Dutch rider from Geldrop has obtained his second FIM MX2 World Title at the age of eighteen and he becomes the best ever Dutch rider with the same number of World Titles as John Van Den Berk, but Herlings has already obtained 30 overall victories – 21 more than the former World Champion – and he still has a long and promising career ahead of him.

“Everything is going so fast … three years ago I took part in my first Grand Prix and now I have already won 30 Grand Prix, two MX2 World Titles and I’ve been on the podium so many times … it is an amazing feeling, but maybe only when I’ll be older I’ll realize what I have accomplished.”

Among the 22.000 people that travelled to Loket this weekend, there were a lot of Herlings’ best friends, relatives and fans who have travelled to the Czech Republic to support him on such special day. Besides, two of the main TV Dutch broadcasters came also onsite to obtain special coverage, as well as loads of Dutch specialist and non-specialist media that did not want to miss any moment.

“It’s amazing to have all the fans, friends, national and international media around me because it is good for me, for my team and for the sport. It has been a crazy weekend with so many fans and close people around me who came to support me; we are not in Holland but it kind of feel like it, without them I would have feel very lonely.”

This second MX2 World Title seems like it has been an easy one for Jeffrey Herlings, but the Dutch rider has had many ups and downs during the whole season, suffering heavy crashes in the qualifying heats and during his training sessions. However, Herlings has managed to win every single Grand Prix, he has won twenty-six out of the twenty-eight heats – he was the second best MX2 rider in the Super Final in Brazil and third in the first race in Sweden – he has obtained seventh pole positions and there are still three Grand Prix to go until the end of the season.

Jeffrey was very happy to obtain his second FIM MX2 World Title and he explained that he was also very happy for his team and sponsors who supported him during the whole season. However, he also explained that it felt completely different from last year’s:

“It is totally different; last year I had to work really hard to win the Title because Tommy (Searle) was really good and I really had to fight hard. I had a lot of ups and downs, so it was a very emotional Title the one of last year. This season it was easier after winning all the Grand Prix, I missed only two race victories, but I must say that the competition was very strong, as there are also very good riders this year in the MX2 class.”

In fact, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings will not take it easy from now onwards, as he still wants to fulfil one of his main goals of the season, which is winning every single Grand Prix.

“I hope to win the last three MX2 Grand Prix and set another record, as nobody in the History has won all the Grand Prix. I’m also ready for the Motocross of Nations at Teutschenthal where I will have the opportunity to race against the Americans and of course also with Tony (Cairoli).”

With this MX2 World Title, Jeffrey Herlings has contributed again to KTM’s win streak in the MX2 class and the manufacturer has now celebrated six FIM MX2 world titles in a row since Tyla Rattray was victorious in 2008.

This is a birds’ eye view of Jeffrey Herlings taking his second FIM MX2 World Championship.

Complete results are available here
Photos of the whole Grand Prix available at here

JEFFREY HERLINGS – BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Name and surname: Jeffrey Herlings
Nationality: Dutch
Place of birth: Geldrop
Date of birth: (d/m/y) 12/09/1994
Website: www.jeffreyherlings.eu
First GP raced: 2010 Grand Prix of Bulgaria, Sevlievo, MX2
World Titles: 2 (MX2)
First World Title: 2012, MX2
GP wins: 30 (MX2)
First GP win: 2010 Grand Prix of the Netherlands, Valkenswaard, MX2
Last GP win: 2013 Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Loket, MX2
2012 position in the Championship: 1/MX2; Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Other results

Updated at the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Loket, 4th August 2013

LINKS
Youthstream
FIM
Jeffrey Herlings