Herlings Clinches MXGP Title
J
effrey Herlings captured his
sixth motocross World Cham-
pionship, his third in the premier
division (MXGP) and his first
with Honda HRC Petronas, at the
MXGP of Turkiye on September
5-6. All his prior championships
were achieved with Red Bull
KTM, and he clinched the title
with two rounds remaining on
the schedule.
MXGP
Herlings came on strong in
the second half of the season,
especially the last five rounds,
winning every single moto during
that span. The veteran also led
every lap in Turkiye.
After clinching the champion-
ship at the end of race one, he
was closely chased to the line
in race two by his Honda team-
mate, Tom Vialle, who took sec-
ond overall for his third straight
podium finish. The outgoing
World Champion Romain Febvre
claimed third overall for Kawasa-
ki Racing Team MXGP, his ninth
podium of the season.
"It's great, I'm pleased,"
Herlings said. "Even though I
had such a points gap, I was
stressed the last couple of
weeks because I knew the only
thing that could possibly ruin
my championship was an injury,
and I've been quite fragile in the
past when I had crashes. I didn't
sleep much last night—I think I
got three hours in. I was going
through all kinds of scenarios: if
this, if that, and just trying not to
crash. Out of all of them, I never
guessed I was going to take two
holeshots and lead every single
lap. It's a sixth World Champion-
ship, my 123rd GP win and my
WIND
IN THE
P56
In his first season
with Honda, Jeffrey
Herling clinched
the MXGP title in
Turkiye.
