Jeffrey Herlings “I clearly had the speed to be on the podium”
MXGP stayed in Italian soil but swapped the sand of Sardinia for the hard-pack of Trentino in northern Italy for round four of the 2024 campaign.
MXGP rushed around the Pietramurata dirt in the shadow of the Dolomite Mountain range and at one of the most consistent events in the last decade of Grand Prix racing. The tight, compact and slick layout of the Arco di Trento facility was familiar to many teams and riders and something of a complete contrast to the deep, draining sand tackled the previous weekend at Riola Sardo.
Red Bull KTM came to northern Italy after Jeffrey Herlings ha captured his first podium finish of the season the previous weekend. The crew’s competitiveness came through to the fore in the Saturday RAM Qualification Heat where Herlings took the KTM 450 SX-F to 4th spot and a decent pick of gates for the motos on Sunday.
Under bright skies and in significantly cooler conditions than Sardinia, race day depended largely on the starts. Jeffrey Herlings made a reasonable getaway in the first moto and worked hard to pass Pauls Jonass and Valentin Guillod to seal 4th position. In the second race the Dutchman was better placed and tried to accelerate into 3rd spot out of the third corner when he lost rear traction and slid out. #84 used the rest of the moto to regain ground to arrive to 7th; meaning 6th overall.
MXGP now breaks until the first weekend of May where a ‘double’ on the Iberian Peninsula – Portugal and then northern Spain – will push the series up to round six.
Jeffrey Herlings, 4th and 7th for 6th overall in MXGP: “I clearly had the speed to be on the podium today. I came from P20 to pass many guys and reach P4 in the first moto and in the second I had a really good start but the rear end washed away and it meant another charge back, this time to 7th. It’s pretty devastating because I had the pace to maybe even to go for the win. Two out of three starts this weekend were good and my feeling was really good, especially with my ribs…we just didn’t have the result! Anyway, we go home in one piece and we have sixteen more races to come. I should be fully fit and ready to go in Portugal.”
