The following interview is courtesy of MXLarge.com.
Red Bull KTM factory rider Jeffrey Herlings made a bit of a statement on the weekend in Italy, finding his old speed and showing the world that he hasn’t lost anything since his return from 12 months out of the championship picture.
MXLarge: Firstly, welcome back, because that second moto win was the old Jeffrey Herlings before your 12 months off. Because you crashed on that first corner in the opening moto, and having to be a bit desperate and charge through the field, did that bring back your speed?
Jeffrey Herlings: Well, I kind of had to. I’m already like 17 points down on [Jorge] Prado. When I looked up and I was on the ground with [Romain] Febvre and [Jeremy] Seewer and I saw Prado jumping the big triple and I thought, “Okay Jeffrey, we gotta go now.” On that first lap somebody ran into me and pushed me off the track and I was like dead last or something like that. I worked my way back to ninth and I was with that group from fifth to ninth and I was ninth. I showed I had one of the fastest lap times throughout the whole moto. Going into the second moto I had a good start, but my front wheel washed away in the first corner, and I lost a few spots, so I was between fifth and 10th on the first lap. I got my way from 10th to first and I knew I had to go for it, because the points gap was getting bigger and bigger. I knew I had to start winning at least a moto. I felt really good all Sunday, just some bad luck with the start crash. Obviously, Romain went down, and I had nowhere to go. At least my speed was there, so that is good.
Like I said, that is the first time we really saw that speed. You have been playing it a bit carefully, obviously, because you have been out so long. Prado has been on fire, better than ever probably. Have you doubted yourself at all leading into Trentino, or did you ever think, shit, do I still have it?
No, not really. Prado, where it comes from is that he holeshots and once he starts leading, he has nobody in front of him, he has a clean racing track, and he can basically do his thing. You could see on Saturday, when he was not at the front, not taking a holeshot and he was around fifth, then he had trouble making it to the front. Of course, that is his strong point, to take the holeshot and do his thing and win the moto. That is definitely something I need to work on and that is the starts. I have been working on that the last two or three weeks and Sunday it was there, but then we had the crash with Febvre, nothing I could do about that and second moto I was fifth and I messed up myself. Of course, Prado is dominant in the start, and he is also riding really well, you can’t deny that. I need to start winning some motos to close up the points. I am already one moto down in the points, but there is so much racing still to come, like 45 motos.
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Courtesy of KTM Images/Ray Archer ![]()
Courtesy of KTM Images/Ray Archer ![]()
Courtesy of KTM Images/Ray Archer ![]()
Courtesy of KTM Images/Ray Archer
That second moto must have given you a lot of confidence and motivation for Portugal and Spain? You came from a little bit back, passed easily and it was nice what [Maxime] Renaux said in the press conference, that it was like a tornado coming through.
Yes, it was like the old days, starting fifth to 10th and work my way to the front and win the moto. I felt comfortable in that second moto and overnight we changed some things, and we felt a huge difference. The bike felt much better Sunday. I was super happy on Sunday and how we performed. Coming back to what you said that second moto was like in the old days.
We don’t talk much about the bike, but of course it’s the same bike everyone had huge trouble with in 2022, including Cooper Webb in America and other riders who rode it. You had a good winter on it to prepare and test, but how has that been, have you felt comfortable on it?
It is a learning experience. A few years ago, we had more people riding the bike, but now it is basically just me and Prado riding it in Europe. All the other guys on factory equipment are racing supercross right now and that is like comparing mountain biking and cycling on the road, both cycling, but completely different sports. So obviously you can’t have the same set-up for supercross and motocross. Because the KTM group has less riders now, I have to do more development myself and more testing myself. It was also a great learning experience, to learn the new bike the new parts we have and to go through all those testing days and just try and reach the best possible bike. I am on the spring fork, Jorge is on the air forks, so our set-up is completely different. Our riding styles are very different, so basically, we set up my bike just for my needs. We have a great bike now, but we are fighting for tenths of a second, so trying to get the maximum out of the bike. We have a great team and KTM is one of the biggest manufacturers, so we all in the team try and get the best out of it. I think we are looking good, but as you saw in Trentino, from Saturday to Sunday we made a big jump, huge improvement.
Can you mention what you changed?
We changed some settings in the suspension. It is obviously hard to find tracks to train like Switzerland and Trentino, because there are not many tracks like those. So, testing also from Saturday gave us a big improvement for the Sunday, as you saw.
Being out so long and having to work so hard to get back, I would imagine that 2-2 victory in Sardinia and your moto win and a podium with 9-1 last weekend were some of the hardest fought and rewarding in your career?
Definitely. I used to get them much easier. I am still not at the speed I should be. I had it in the last moto last weekend and the last 15 minutes in Sardinia, which is the speed I used to carry. I feel more confident now, for sure after what happened on Sunday, with me running the fastest lap times, first one from last to ninth and second one 10th to first. That has given me a lot of confidence and I hope we keep going like this. Let’s wait and see. The team gives me everything I need, and you see with Jorge he has a similar bike, and he is taking holeshots and it is up to me to get those starts and make it happen.
It seems like it is down to four people, you, Romain, Maxime and Jorge. All former World champions and a very talented group of riders, similar to 2021 with Romain and Tim [Gajser]. Is that something you look forward to, or you prefer to just dominate?
I want to win myself, but for now it is very competitive. It is also good, because one day, this guy wins, the next day that guy wins. I am fifth, then I win. Romain won on Saturday last weekend and then didn’t make the podium. It is very close between us four. All of us can take away so many points from each other, which is good, because if you go on a weekend 1-1-1, then you make up a lot of points. When I used to fight with Tony [Cairoli], we were always 1-1 or 2-2, same with Tommy [Searle] back in the day, always 1-1 and 2-2, so getting a gap in the points was difficult or catching the points leader was also difficult. Now, if I go 1-1-1 and the other guy goes 5-5-5, I can make up 25 points or something like that.
You race again this weekend, right?
Yes, the Dutch Masters this weekend then off to Portugal.
MXGP of Trentino - MXGP
April 16, 2023| Rider | Motos | Bike | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jorge Prado |  | 1 - 3 | GasGas |
| 2 |  Maxime Renaux |  | 2 - 2 | Yamaha |
| 3 |  Jeffrey Herlings |  | 9 - 1 | KTM |
| 4 |  Ruben Fernandez | | 3 - 7 | Honda |
| 5 |  Mattia Guadagnini |  | 4 - 10 | GasGas |
Images courtesy of KTM Images/Ray Archer
