Admittedly, I don’t know much about Gajser, except that he’s 18 years old (two years younger than Herlings) and looks and rides a bit like a young Eli Tomac, right down to a familiar red #243 bike. He never wavered as Herlings reeled him in during the frantic last laps, but besides Jeffrey, he was clearly a step faster than everyone else in the field of young European riders. Tim Gajser is a name we should all familiarize ourselves with, because we will likely be seeing him at the front for years to come, wherever he ends up.

As for Herlings, we’re all very familiar with him—he’s already won more GPs in this class than anyone else ever will—and he arguably can stay down in MX2 for a couple more years as he will remain under the 23-year-old max through, what, 2018?

Herlings has been through a lot. He’s been on the international radar ever since he turned pro in September 2009 at age 15 and raced the Motocross of Nations in Italy for his native Netherlands. He is considered the fastest sand rider in the world, with maybe only Tony Cairoli able to make a case otherwise. But Herlings is much, much more than just a sand rider, and on the slick, rough, and rocky Arco di Trento, his lap times were faster than anyone’s (on Saturday in the qualifying race), including Cairoli and both race winners Gajser and Max Nagl (MXGP). He’s nearing fifty GP wins, most of which did not come on sand tracks, and he’s the obvious heir-apparent to Cairoli as king of the Grand Prix scene whenever Tony finally makes his exit. (And, like Cairoli, he’ll likely spend his entire career in Europe, racing motocross full-time rather than trying to learn supercross now.)