Herlings vs Cairoli - Battle of Britain

I am still sitting here shaking my head. The racing we have seen in the MXGP class in 2018, well, it is some of the best I have seen in my 27 years covering the GP racing from Europe, or the 47 years I have followed motocross as a fan. Jeffrey Herlings is doing things that keeps the press room, the spectators and the whole motocross world watching, and he will elevate the sport in Europe to another level.

His tactical break down of Antonio Cairoli was just vicious. What we are seeing is a version of a rider, that hasn’t yet been seen. Asking around in the paddock, everyone feels the same, the seemingly new era, the post Antonio Cairoli era (if you dare say that) is one of the most spectacular we have ever seen.

Now, let us not get ahead of ourselves, because Antonio Cairoli is long but done. His speed in Matterley Basin was the best Antonio Cairoli we have seen at this track, a track he has won on four times and clinched a world title at, but seriously, Herlings played with him like he was a half dead mouse and Herlings was a nasty cat. Flicking the Sicilian around like a toy, and then smiling as if to say, there you go mate, take that. His look back at the end of the second moto, while crossing the finish line to win the race and the Grand Prix was a sign of what is to come.

The two don’t like each other, that is clear for everyone to see, and clearly KTM have said, “boys, behave yourselves” and in public they have done just that. Of course, they respect each other, but two very different athletes, but both with the same hunger, and that hunger is to win, and at times at any cost.

We interviewed Antonio on the Saturday, and he felt Herlings couldn’t carry this type of speed all season long, and maybe he is correct, because Herlings wasn’t as dominant in England as the previous few GPs, but still, he had enough to win, and win in style.

The fact Herlings felt he could just sit back in that all important second moto, wait until the two-lap board came out and then go, catch and pass Cairoli in a fashion that was just WOW. It is like he doesn’t even have a care, like whatever Cairoli can do, he can match and then add some.

Antonio Cairoli isn’t happy, in fact his actions after that second moto was very much a rider who will come to France next week and be seriously keen to put some hurt on somebody. In the past he has been able to respond to this type of attack, be it Clement Desalle or Gautier Paulin, but both those guys, multiple GP winners, and very good GP riders, don’t have a single world title, and probably never will. Herlings, a three-time world motocross champion, with 74 GP wins is a totally different animal, and Cairoli knows that better than anyone.

When Jeffrey Herlings jumped into the back of his KTM van and headed to the Eurotunnel to get home on Sunday night, he was smiling, laughing and in great spirits. This kid isn’t just loving his job at the moment, its way more than that, his life is just as he wants it, and if he continues to ride the way he is riding, his 101 GP victory will come long before he is 25, and he might have an extra couple of world championships to his name.

Sit back and watch world, this season is a long way from over, and possibly the greatest GP rider of all time (Cairoli) isn’t finished just yet, and his responce in France, a circuit that will suit him more than Herlings will be the perfect place to make his own statement, and his chance to reply to this stunning effort by Herlings.

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