Five-time world motocross champion, Jeffrey Herlings knows how to win races and GPs, which is obvious by his 116th GP win last weekend in Italy. What we are seeing now though, is a 31-year-old, who is winning races on sheer determination and really taking his body to places it has probably never been before.

Battling a 19-year-old kid, who was around two years old when “The Bullet” won his first ever GP, well, that is just special and while he is still miles behind in the championship, his will to win, just never dies. Below are some comments from Herlings from his weekend.

Prior to the Weekend

Weekend off from the GPs was good. I raced in the UK, which I always enjoy and then we had a couple of good training sessions in Barcelona alongside the Fox Racing team. I like to keep busy and this has been good for that. Montevarchi is a new GP track so it’ll be interesting to see what that’s like. I’ve heard its pretty tight and small so we will see, but really the goal is to get back to winning some races and focusing one moto at a time.

His Saturday Performance

I think it’s fair to say that those conditions are not what I expect when I race a GP. For a training day, it would be too dry and dusty, so for an MXGP I think they should do a better job for the safety of us riders. I know that getting a good start would make my life a lot easier so that’s the goal for the two motos, but for today, it was tough to come through after a bad start just because of the track conditions.

On having the speed

Herlings: I had the speed to win all weekend long. Yesterday we missed the start and had to fight through the pack with Romain [Febvre] and Lucas [Coenen]. Today I took a gamble, going to the gate twice next to the box, and it paid off, especially in the first race where I got the holeshot and could lead. It's not easy leading with pressure all race, first from Maxime [Renaux] and then from Maxime and Lucas. In the second race I had a better start, then was behind Maxime until about six or seven minutes to go and I knew if I kept Lucas behind me, I’d win the overall.

Credit to the HRC Team

Herlings: That's another GP win, my fourth of the season. Credit to Honda, Gariboldi and the whole HRC Petronas team, they've worked so hard through the good and bad. We had two tough weekends in a row with DNFs, that cost us around 40 points in the championship, but we keep charging, and we're at the halfway point now. Racing against Lucas is good as he’s a fair, clean rider to pass, he's never done anything dirty to me, and racing him like that, he'll hopefully have a long career.

A Very Difficult Track

Herlings: That isn’t really a track that suits me, but we got two good starts, and I made some good passes early-on in race two. It was tough out there, but the track was much better today and even though we were racing on conditions that I’m not the most comfortable on, I still was happy with my one-two and my fourth win of the season. The team have worked so hard and it’s great to get the victory and just hopefully keep this momentum going.

And Improved Track

Herlings: I think today (Sunday) the track was much better than yesterday. Yesterday in timed practice it was very – sorry to say – dangerous with the dust and the rocks. Today, obviously the rain also helped, but definitely today was an improvement. When it’s better, you have to be honest. Is it great? No, but it was definitely a bit better today. Today I had a good start, in the first moto I led all of the moto and won. In the second race, I was around 5th or 6th with the start, I made some quick passes because I knew I had to. And then I just wasn’t able to pass Tim, all moto I was behind him, until like 6 or 7 minutes to go. I saw I was gapping Lucas a bit, and I was like okay, as long as I keep him behind me, I’ll win the overall. I know if I went 1-1 or 1-2, it wouldn’t change so then I let him go just because I was eating roost and those stones are really painful. I can tell you that from the 450cc.

Mechanical Issues

Herlings: You know, I’ve went home in a stretcher many, many times with a dislocated hip, broken femurs, broken neck, back… So, if for me it’s a broken engine, I’ll sign for that every day instead of a broken leg or any other bone in my body. For me, health goes first and then I prefer to have a broken engine. It’s mentally a little bit less tough because an engine can be made, a bone as well, but it takes a little bit longer time. You know, it’s part of racing and nobody wants this. It’s part of racing. It’s just a shame to happen, but it is what it is.

Racing Lucas Coenen

Herlings: Lucas is a reasonable, nice rider to pass. He’s never to me did anything dirty or crazy. Like this, he will have hopefully a long career by playing it smarter. There are riders on track who, I won’t say names, but they are dirtier. And then you don’t like to race them so much because you don’t know what they’ll do, or they’ll clean you out or whatsoever. Today on this track, I think all riders will agree with me, it was just most important to go home safe because it wasn’t an easy one.