Jeffrey Herlings admitted he was happy to settle for second overall at the MXGP of South Africa after a huge moment during the racing convinced him not to take unnecessary risks.
The Honda HRC Petronas rider saw his run of back-to-back Grand Prix victories come to an end at Johannesburg’s Terra Topia circuit, finishing second in both motos behind championship leader Lucas Coenen.
Despite setting the fastest lap of the opening race and repeatedly applying pressure to Coenen, Herlings was unable to find a way through on a circuit where overtaking proved extremely difficult.
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The five-time World Champion revealed afterwards that a spectacular save during the racing changed his approach as he opted to bank valuable championship points rather than risk throwing away another podium finish.
“You can’t win every time, I gave it a go, but after I had a big moment, I think I used up all my luck so I just decided that second overall was good enough. My footpeg hit the ramp of the jump and I don’t know how I saved it, but somehow I’m able to talk about it so it’s all good. I think this was one of the best tracks we’ve ridden this year, but it was still very, very difficult to pass on and that makes the start so important and fifth place round the corner just isn’t good enough.”
Although his winning streak came to an end, Herlings still collected another strong haul of championship points and remains second in the MXGP standings. With eight rounds remaining, the Dutchman now trails Lucas Coenen by 68 points as the championship heads to Foxhills for the MXGP of Great Britain after a weekend off.
Images courtesy of HRC – @shotbybavo
