BY STEVE COX
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB KOY
W
e got our first demonstration of
the kind of speed the GP regulars
were going to bring at the U.S.
MXGP in Florida a week earlier, when Red
Bull KTM's Jeffrey Herlings absolutely deci-
mated the best the AMA has to offer at the
AMA Pro Motocross Championship finale in
Indiana. But it's often the case that a racer
who is racing without anything to lose can
defeat those who are not. When the roles
were reversed, many assumed Monster
Energy Kawasaki's 2017 450MX National
Champ Eli Tomac, would be able to do
the same to the GP guys. After all, Tomac
won all four motos against the best of the
GP series at the end of the 2016 season...
Somebody forgot to tell this to Herlings.
But in the MX2 class, it did work out ex-
actly like this, as Geico Honda's RJ Hamp-
shire stepped up to go 1-1 against the best
from across the pond.
VOL. 54 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 P47
Antonio Cairoli leads the start
of moto two. He was hoping to
clinch his ninth FIM MX World
Championship but that will have
to wait until next week.
Brings
Heat
