Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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IN THE WIND P32 Herlings Back On Track at MXGP of Lombardia T he penultimate round of the MXGP World Championship was held on Sunday, November 7, in Italy with the MXGP of Lombardia. All eyes were on the MXGP class with only three points separating the top three rid- ers—Romain Febvre (Kawasaki), Tim Gajser (Honda) and Jeffery Herlings (KTM)—coming into the race. After the transparent team tactics from KTM at the previ- ous round (when Antonio Cairoli moved over for teammate Jeffrey Herlings), Honda HRC enlisted MX2 rider Ruben Fernandez as a buffer for its contender, Gajser. Last week's winner, Jeremy Seewer (Yamaha), rocketed off to another great start in race one. Fe- bvre, Gajser and Herlings followed in close pursuit, but the Honda rider was forced off the track just before turn two. Gajser slowed and safely re-entered the track in the next section but was ultimately docked for his off-track excursion. Points leader Febvre quickly took over the lead with Seewer and Herlings hot on his tail. The "Bullet," Herlings, made his way into second but crashed just a few turns later and collected Seewer in the process. Herlings needed to regroup and fight his way through the field while his title rivals squirted away. Febvre continued to lead, as Gajser moved past Cairoli and into the second position. Herlings battled with the new HRC recruit of Fernandez before closing in on Cairoli and Gajser on the final two laps. The Dutch- man, Herlings, used his sand expertise to slice past both riders on the last lap but came up just 1.1 seconds short of the race win. Febvre claimed the victory, Her- lings second, and Cairoli third. Gajser crossed the line in third but was penalized five positions for his first-turn incident. He was credited with eighth. Red Bull KTM's Jorge Prado grabbed the holeshot in race two but quickly surrendered the lead to teammate Herlings in turn four. Febvre started in third posi- tion and battled with Prado, while Herlings extended his lead. Gajser rode in fifth but even- tually passed both Cairoli and Prado before finishing third. A 2-1 for Herlings was enough for the overall win, beating Febvre's 1-2 and Cairoli's 3-4. Gajser' 8-3 was good enough for fourth overall on the day. Since Febvre and Herlings matched moto scores on the day, the point gap between the two remain at three. Gajser slipped off the pace and is now 15 points in back of Febvre. The championship concludes on Wednesday, November 10, with the MXGP of Citta di Man- tova at the same venue. "I knew I had to win the second moto," said Herlings. "I had my work cut out in the first moto and came up to second even though the seat on my bike was loose. In the second one, I passed Jorge Jeffrey Herlings was the overall winner at the MXGP of Lombardia but didn't gain any ground on points leader Romain Febvre. PHOTOS: RAY ARCHER