IN
THE
WIND
P48
Herlings Wins MXGP Championship
T
he MXGP of Città di Mantova,
in Mantova, Italy, November
10, served as the series finale
and concluded one of the clos-
est title fights in recent memory.
Back-and-forth racing forced a
winner-take-all situation, as the
championship was decided in the
last race of the season. When
the dust had settled, Red Bull
KTM Jeffrey Herlings prevailed.
Romain Febvre (Kawasaki) en-
tered the day as the points leader,
just three ahead of Herlings.
Defending champ Tim Gajser
(Honda) trailed in third, a distant
15 points in back of Febvre but still
mathematically in the fight.
The start of race one went to
Jorge Prado (KTM), but both
Febvre and Herlings followed in
close pursuit. The three riders
waged an aggressive battle for
much of the early moto, with
Herlings eventually passing both
riders and moving into the lead.
With Herlings up front, Prado
served as a buffer for a few laps
before Febvre made the crucial
move for second.
Gajser suffered a poor start
and clawed his way through the
field. He worked his way around
Cairoli and Prado before crossing
the line third, just 0.4 seconds
behind Febvre in second. Her-
lings took a commanding moto
victory and tied up the points
going into the final race.
The scenario was simple going
into the final moto of the year:
Whoever finished higher in race
two between Herlings and Febvre
would take the championship.
Once again, Prado led Febvre,
Herlings and Gajser through turn
one. By the end of lap one, Feb-
vre passed for the lead. The KTM
rider then quickly relinquished
second place to his teammate
who set his sights on the leader
and the championship. A deci-
sive pass for the lead was made
Jeffrey Herlings celebrates
winning the 2021 MXGP title
in Mantova.
PHOTO: RAY ARCHER
