Herlings Sensational win in Argentina
Posted on March 04, 2018
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jeffrey Herlings went 2-1 to win the MXGP class at the Grand Prix of Argentina. In a sensational performance the Dutchman caught and passed Antonio Cairoli in the second moto in what seemed at one stage an impossible situation.
“It was tough man, KTM did a great job and I couldn’t get out of the first turn, and I was sick all week, you can probably hear it, and to come back, that’s awesome. Never give up, we worked all winter and it pays off.
Second overall was Antonio Cairoli with 1-2 results and third was Clement Desalle with 3-3 results.
For Herlings it was a Cairoli like effort to win the Grand Prix, and as mentioned previously, the Dutchman has learnt from the best in the business. His quickest lap of the race came in that very last lap of the moto. Clocking 1:43.9 and 143.3 for the final two laps, just amazing.
Cairoli took the holeshot in the opening MXGP moto, followed by Lieber, Paulin, Herlings, Febvre, Simpson, Van Horebeek, Desalle, Searle, Nagl, Bobryshev, Coldenhoff, Seewer, Anstie, Salazar.
Herlings a brilliant pass on Paulin to move into fourth, and Febvre in third. Cairoli quickly getting away from Lieber, and Febvre all over the Belgian. Herlings not making an impression on the front three.
Desalle and Paulin in a nice battle, and Herlings suddenly all over Lieber and Febvre, first passing Leiber and onto Febvre. Desalle also on the charge as he passed Lieber.
Herlings on fire as he makes a great pass on Febvre for second place and quickly got away. The Dutchman is the fastest rider on the track at present.
After three laps it was Cairoli, Herlings, Febvre, Desalle, Lieber, Paulin, Van Horebeek, Simpson, Seewer and Searle.
Cairoli turns it up a little to remain around four seconds ahead and after seven laps it was Cairoli, Herlings, Febvre, Desalle, Van Horebeek, Paulin, Lieber, Seewer, Searle and Coldenhoff. Anstie in 11th, Nagl 12th, Bobryshev 13th, Simpson 14th and Jaskonis 15th.
Herlings clocks the quickest lap of the race and moves to two seconds behind Cairoli, and Febvre also making ground on Herlings.
Herlings turned it up and moves even closer to Cairoli. Cairoli looks back and sees Herlings on his back wheel. Less than a second in it. After 12 laps Anstie moved back into the top ten as Coldenhoff drops to 11th.
Desalle and Febvre in a dogfight with each other for third place, and Van Horebeek closing on those two. Desalle does a little block pass as he passed Fevbre.
Herlings all over Cairoli, this is motocross at its best as the King and Prince fight for the lead. Cairoli suddenly gets away from Herlings in this cat and mouse contest.
Two laps to go and Herlings closed up a little, but Cairoli still has the advantage. Lappers everywhere with a lap to go. Amazing battle to the end.
What a brilliant start to the MXGP season as Cairoli gets the moto win from Herlings, brilliant racing as the two KTM riders congratulate each other. Third is Desalle.
Cairoli took the holeshot again in the second MXGP moto, followed by Desalle, Van Horebeek, Febvre, Simpson, Herlings, Paulin., Coldenhoff, Strijbos, and Bobryshev 10th. Bad start for the Brits with Searle and Anstie last and second last after a turn one accident. Lieber also down.
Cairoli quickly had a two second lead over Desalle. Herlings made a pass on Febvre just as the Frenchman made a small mistake. Seewer went down hard in a crash, and dropped out of seventh place.
After two laps it was Cairoli, Desalle, Van Horebeek, Herlings, Febvre, Paulin, Simpson, Coldenhoff, Nagl, and Bobryshev. Febvre all over Herlings in a great battle, with the Dutchman having the best of it.
Herlings on fire as he made great passes on Van Horebeek and Desall, but Cairoli was still clicking off great lap times.
Amazing watching the lap times in this race how Herlings would pick up a little on Cairoli, then the Italian would extend his lead.
After a rather uneventful period in the race Herlings started making time on Cairoli and with two laps to go, Herlings was onto the Italian.
Herlings is sensational as he passed Cairoli and just took off.
Ray Archer image
MXGP - Overall Classification
1 84 Herlings, Jeffrey 22 25 47
2 222 Cairoli, Antonio 25 22 47
3 25 Desalle, Clement 20 20 40
4 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy 16 18 34
5 461 Febvre, Romain 18 16 34
6 21 Paulin, Gautier 15 15 30
7 24 Simpson, Shaun 10 14 24
8 33 Lieber, Julien 13 9 22
9 12 Nagl, Maximilian 8 13 21
10 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn 11 10 21