Successful foot surgery for MXGP champion Herlings

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 Post: Troy Guenther

'The Bullet' determined to be ready to race as soon as possible.

Image: Supplied.

Jeffrey Herlings has undergone successful surgery to fix a broken heel bone in his left foot, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider injured while riding in Spain late last month.

Herlings was spending time in Spain for pre-season preparation ahead of his MXGP title defence, winning the opening round of the Spanish national championship before the incident occurred the following day.

‘The Bullet’ was reportedly unseated on a small and routine jump section of the former grand prix site RedSand MX complex near Castellon, ultimately causing the crash with complications.

“We’re paying the price for a ‘nothing’ crash,” Herlings explained.  “I think I might have hit a small stone on the take-off and that put me over the bars.

“The impact was pretty big on my left foot and we needed to get it fixed the best we could. Big thanks to the medical staff for looking after me and getting my foot repaired, again! Also to the whole Red Bull KTM team, we’d worked hard for this 2022 season and the goal now is to be back and winning as soon as we can.”

The Dutchman underwent surgery in Belgium under the knife of Dr Stefaan Verfaillie who had previously operated on him, and more information is expected to released in the coming weeks as to when he will be back on the bike and ready to race.

Herling’s isn’t the only MXGP title contender to be injured during the off-season, 2021 runner-up Romain Febvre recovering from right leg surgery on a double fracture of his tibia and fibula sustained at last year’s Paris Supercross.

Take A Look Inside ELI TOMAC’S STAR RACING YAMAHA YZ450F

Eli Tomac’s move from Kawasaki to Star Racing Yamaha was one of the biggest talking points of 2021. Everyone wondered, could the 2020 Supercross Champion and 3-time 450 National Champion become even faster on the Yamaha? Or was it a risk to join the Yamaha team after the success he had with Kawasaki? Well, after convincingly winning his first ever 450 Main Event on Saturday at Anaheim 2 with his new team and extending his points lead to 6-points over Chase Sexton, it’s safe to say that Eli didn’t make a bad decision.

We met up with Tomac’s mechanic Josh Ellingson to go over the top secret details of Eli Tomac’s race bike. His YZ450F features a Rekluse clutch, custom footpegs, KYB hybrid spring/air forks, a titanium brake tip, custom FMF muffler guard, 10-millimeter back foot peg position, Dunlop spec tires, shaved brake housing, auxiliary start button, and much more! For more of MXA’s “Inside the Pro’s Bikes” episodes like this, click the link www.mxamag.com

Triump Coming to a SX Near You Soon?

Anderson, Roczen speak out on Anaheim 2 contact

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Post: Troy Guenther

450SX title contenders share perspectives on lap five clash.

Image: Octopi Media.

Following contact in Anaheim 2’s main event between 450SX title contenders Jason Anderson and Ken Roczen, the pair have spoken out on the incident that ultimately saw the Team Honda HRC rider fall from the lead and drop outside of the top 10.

While Anderson was able to take over at the front of the field and eventually claim second position behind winner Eli Tomac, Roczen could only recover for 13th position in the end.

Roczen made a strong start in the 450SX main event and led four laps, quickly getting past Shane McElrath and taking the early lead as Anderson started fifth, working his way to second by lap four and began working on Roczen.

The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider then took an inside line through the sand section, with Roczen to the outside, the pair colliding on corner exit as Anderson made the aggressive pass and later took ownership of the impact.

“I went on the inside of him in the sand and I kind of went for it,” Anderson recalled. “It ended up not so well… I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m that guy tonight. I’ve got to maybe not look at the Instagram too much because we are going to be getting some heat.”

While Anderson was able to hold on and finish the night in P2, Roczen could only manage 13th after remounting, the German dropping to ninth in the championship standings as a result.

“Things were going pretty decent,” Roczen stated. “I struggled with the whoops, so that was definitely not my strong point – I almost went down there once and the same lap I got taken down by Anderson… unfortunately left the door open.

“Probably not the right turn for him to put on a pass, but obviously it got me and I crashed pretty hard right there. I had to make a stop after that to get all the sand out of my goggles and our night was pretty much over after that. I could only salvage 13th place, but we never gave up”.

Round five of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship takes place this Saturday at Glendale, where Roczen will have the opportunity to regain lost points and Anderson will be looking to make inroads on red plate holder Tomac in the standings.

WORCS 2022 ROUND 1 PRIMM NEVADA

Herlings Hurt Again!

JEFFERY HERLINGS INJURED JUST 20-DAYS BEFORE 2022 MXGP SEASON OPENER

Sadly, the 2021 MXGP World Champion, Jeffery Herlings, has injured his left foot just 20-days ahead of the series opener for the 2022 MXGP season. Jeffery’s career has been characterized by dominating speed and dramatic injuries. Sometimes, Herlings is able to overcome the injuries to win anyways. For example: last season at Round 4 of the 2021 MXGP season at Oss, Holland, Jeffery was landed on immediately after the race began (click here to watch videos of it) and he somehow still managed to win the moto with a broken shoulder blade. However, the pain was too much to bear afterwards and Herlings sat out Moto 2 and the following weekend’s race. Then, amazingly, Jeffery was able to recover and solider on to eventually win the 2021 MXGP title.

Now, after winning a pre-season training race in Spain, Jeffery is once again dealing with an injury that will affect the beginning of his 2022 MXGP season, whether he tries to race through the pain or not.

First Yamaha victory for Tomac to increase 450SX lead

Craig back on top to extend 250SX advantage at Anaheim 2.

Image: Octopi Media.

Eli Tomac has become the fourth different winner in as many rounds of 2022 Monster Energy Supercross, stepping up at Anaheim 2 to increase his lead in the 450SX point-standings as Christian Craig won in 250SX West.

After taking over the red plate last weekend despite having no wins, Tomac cemented himself atop the standings by earning a first victory since making his high-profile switch to Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha in the pre-season.

Early leader Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) went down by virtue of unintentional contact made by Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in the sand with around 15 minutes remaining, dropping him well down the order, which enabled the latter to take over at the front until he made a mistake soon afterwards.

While Anderson was able to keep it on track, his error was enough to let Tomac sweep by and he wasn’t headed from there – winning by 4.619s in a dominant performance to become the fourth different winner in four races.

Behind him, Anderson recovered for the runner-up, with Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) claiming another podium result in third position. Tomac’s teammate Dylan Ferrandis was strong yet again in fourth, while Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) took fifth after he managed to start up front this time around.

The top 10 also featured Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) despite losing the front-end midway through, Dean Wilson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Shane McElrath (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM WPS) in one of his better rides of the year to date.

Roczen, meanwhile, finished down the order in 13th place with another dent in his title prospects. Also enduring a tough main event, Plessinger crashed out on the second lap, with Brayton also later going out after he went down while in 11th position.

The 2022 Monster Energy Supercross series now sees Tomac build a six-point buffer at the front, followed by Sexton, with Anderson ranked third ahead of Glendale’s first of the Triple Crown rounds next Saturday night.

Image: Octopi Media.

Points-leader Craig extended with a third 250SX class win of the season at A2, stamping his authority on the series in convincing fashion.

There was no stopping Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Craig on his way to a third victory in four races, overcoming longtime leader Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) to stand atop the podium.

It was Vince Friese (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) who led initially before Mosiman made his way by, with Craig giving chase from outside of the podium positions. The red plate-holder made his way into P2 by lap four and then made a move stick on Mosiman on lap 10, stretching away from there to win by 2.948s.

Mosiman wasn’t quite at the level of Craig on his way to the runner-up, while behind them, Lawrence made it four-straight podiums in third tonight, but only after Friese crashed in the whoops with two laps to run and was struck by Jo Shimoda, who also went down.

Unfortunately for Friese, he wasn’t able to remount after showing genuine pace throughout the round, while Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Shimoda – again affected on a luckless evening – managed his way back to seventh position.

With Lawrence salvaging third, fourth came Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), comfortably ahead of the improving Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and Carson Brown (AEO Powersports KTM) starred in claiming sixth ahead of Shimoda.

The top 10 was completed by Carson Mumford (BarX Suzuki) over Robbie Wageman (Team Solitaire Nuclear Blast Yamaha) and Derek Kelley (AEO Powersports KTM).

Craig maintains the lead in the 250SX West point-standings, now by 11 points over Lawrence, with Mosiman a further three in arrears entering the Glendale Triple Crown next Saturday night.

Eli Takes A2

Eli's back with help from Works Connection. Look close at the fork and you will see one of the reasons for Eli's improved starts. Better starts means he's on the top step.

Christian Craig Has Huge Crash at Anaheim 2 Press Day...He's OK

During press day yesterday for round 4 of the 2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in Anaheim, 250SX West Region points leader Christian Craig had a MASSIVE get off and was saved by the Steve Matthes (or Kevin Windham, depending on who you ask) Memorial Nets.

2022 Yamaha Presents: Beyond the Gate Ep. 2

 The Monster Energy® Yamaha Star Racing team kicked off the 2022 Supercross season with a mix of heartbreak and triumph. While a defending champ went down to a season-ending injury, Star Racing teammates stepped up ready to take on the title fight. Christian Craig served notice that he’s the man to beat in the 250 class with back-to-back wins, and bLU cRU new guy Eli Tomac showed exceptional early speed on the YZ450F to demonstrate why he’s a huge threat for another premier class championship.