Jeffrey Herlings Wins Kegums GP And Further Increases World Championship Lead
Jeffrey Herlings of the Red Bull KTM Factory racing team won the fifth round of the MXGP world championships at Kegums in Latvia. After a difficult first race where he finished fourth, he won the second head to clinch the overall victory.
Herlings quickly posted the pole time during qualifying, to underline that he meant business at this, the last of three races at the same venue. He launched poorly in race one, and was just inside the top ten. He battled to find a rhythm initially, and it took him long to pass Clement Desalle. After that he passed Ivo Monticelli, and set off in pursuit of Jorge Prado. A small crash cost him a position, which he quickly reclaimed to finish fourth.
A better start in race two immediately had Herlings in the top five. He quickly made his passes, and before long, had the lead in hands. He kept championship rival Tim Gajser behind him, and when Gajser made a mistake, he opened up a gap. He was not threatened for the rest of the race and took the race – and overall victories.
“I was the most consistent of all during the three Latvian race,” Herlings remarked. “We still have to work on a number of aspects, though, because I’m not yet riding like I should. I did come away from these three races with the most points in total, and that was largely due also to the great bike which the team has given me. I’m glad to have clinched another GP victory, and look forward to the next race.”
Jeffrey has now clinched his third GP victory for the season, and the 89th of his career. Main championship rival Tim Gajser suffered mechanical problems in the second race, and Jeffrey has increased his world championship lead to 46 points.
The series continues in Turkey on 6 September.
Overall MXGP of Kegums:
1 Jeffrey Herlings 43 Pnt
2 Arminas Jasikonis 42 Pnt
3 Jorge Prado 38 Pnt
4 Antonio Cairoli 34 Pnt
5 Romain Febvre 32 Pnt
World Championship Standings MXGP:
1 Jeffrey Herlings 213 Pnt
2 Tim Gajser 167 Pnt
3 Arminas Jasikonis 163 Pnt
4 Antonio Cairoli 163 Pnt
5 Glenn Coldenhoff 146 Pnt
Gallery:
