For nearly a decade, MXGP heroes Jeffrey Herlings and Tim Gajser have been at the top of their game—yet seemingly every season, one or the other goes down and out

WORDS: DAVEY COOMBS

Every motocross championship has its great rivalries—a pair of similarly talented competitors both striving to obtain what only one can possess. In the seventies Roger De Coster and Heikki Mikkola battled for supremacy in Europe while Marty Smith and Bob Hannah went at it here in America. In the eighties there were interchangeable rivalries between Broc Glover and David Bailey, Jeff Ward and Johnny O’Mara, Rick Johnson and Ron Lechien. Next came Jeff Stanton and Damon Bradshaw, Jeremy McGrath and Jeff Emig, and then McGrath and Ricky Carmichael. More recently it was James Stewart and Chad Reed, followed by the Ryans, Villopoto and Dungey. Such rivalries help build interest in each championship, as well as the sport in general, because fans love a good battle between familiar opponents.