Is there a time when winning can be bad for you? Stay with me here. Jeffrey Herlings stood on top of the podium at Leon last Sunday and there are a number of forces ready to collide around the Dutchman after his latest superlative performance in winning five in a row and accumulating ten moto victories.
Herlings’ immediate post-race comment to TV cameras after triumphing again with a combined margin of over a minute through both motos (his 52nd career success) and having “48 to go” hints at the twenty-one year old’s thirst for statistics and the rewards that evidently roll with. Herlings is in MX2 for what would seem to be the right reasons – sporting superiority, appeasing his factory, records, riches, fame – and while his throwaway comment that “no win is easy” on Sunday in the press conference was lip-service, the truth is not quite so black and white. ‘84’ was also searching for a feeling, a sense of confidence and self-belief that would come from the spoils but also the knowledge that Herlings again had a category and the best it could offer totally in the palm of his hand. It is almost as if the 2012 and 2013 World Champion needs the security of total domination of one class before escalating to the next and the injury ravages of the last two years necessitated some severe ego-massage before he could consider another career ‘rung’. His words in Leon indicated as much. “I feel that I am at the level I was before I broke my femur so I am looking to the rest of the season, and I know there is a long way to go and remember well the last two seasons. My confidence is growing every week. The guys are going fast but until now I have been able to make some difference and I hope I can keep this rhythm and winning streak going.”
Straight afterwards Herlings gave the clearest indication yet that he is finally thinking of leaving the 250SX-F behind: “When I move up to the MXGP class I need to start off fast and keep going; those guys are fast and I know it won’t be easy. The riders in MX2 are also good but it is slightly easier [for me] there. MXGP is another level.”
That Herlings is vocalising and reconciling these beliefs is important; it means that arguably one of Grand Prix’s outstanding talents this century will make the jump into the premier class and where two of his former opponents – Romain Febvre and Tim Gajser – that he beat regularly on a 250 were sprinting clear of the best the division had to offer by almost thirty seconds in the second moto in Mexico.
But as is wont to happen in the world of Jeffrey what is said and what actually occurs can sometimes get skewed. There were already rumours before Mexico that Herlings would see out his KTM contract in 2017 in MX2 once more and continue his stockpiling. Who could blame him for lapping up the trappings of his pre-eminence? The danger in his current situation (and his possible future one) is one of malaise. MX2 is a non-contest, and fans and followers are starting to lambast Herlings for his caution and strategy instead of his brilliance. Perhaps it was inevitable that the sympathy and understanding he generated by his nearly-not-quite years in 2014 and 2015 would start to erode once a streak of form – the likes of which we are witnessing now – begins to occur. Herlings is not only the most experienced racer in MX2 but also holds 48 Grand Prix wins of margin over the next most decorated rival, Max Anstie.
Herlings is correct in his point that “no win is easy” and rather than a moto win by thirty seconds he is referring to the pain, effort, work, sacrifice and element of danger that professional motocross athletes live with on a daily basis. Jeffrey is better than all the rest because of his work ethic, a fantastic team and motorcycle, immense talent and a no shortage of balls. His predicament at the moment is that he faces little in the way of competition (not for the first time and not really his fault) and with every subsequent victory is almost casting a degree of staleness on a possible legacy. He is choosing glory…but not necessarily greatness. While Gajser proves that an exceptional racer is exceptional regardless of the class or the cylinder size, Herlings – more than ever – has a clock ticking over his head in order to show that he really deserves to have his rapidly growing career stats compared with the other greats of the sport.
There is a running joke that Herlings will get asked quite early in every racing season when he will announce his plan to get stuck into MXGP and cause a stir. He has playfully batted the probe away since 2013 and those terrible injuries in the last two years have added delay. With his form now back to extreme heights at what is already the highest level he cannot defer too long for danger for devaluing what his immense talent and prospects rightfully deserve. Herlings has a special destiny in this sport…and I’m sure it doesn’t involve the knowledge that the hardest rival he had to beat over a period of years was himself.
Photo by JP Acevedo
