Comments from the Champion!

There are times when you hate Motocross’ – Jeffrey Herlings

by Gonçalo Viegas

Motocross is a very injury-prone sport, and Jeffrey Herlings – one of the best riders in the sport today – knows this well from personal experience. Just in the last two years, he has been injured more than once – in 2020 he even missed much of the season because of it.

As this year’s champion told mx1onboard.com, his femur injury is now in the past, although he has some pain that doesn’t bother him too much: ‘The femur is completely healed. The only things that hurt in the morning are the hip and the foot. When I’m riding, the hip doesn’t bother me at all, but the foot does.’

Herlings confided that there were moments when he questioned his continuity in MXGP, but all is overcome when the pain is gone: ‘There have been quite a few injuries, I can’t deny it, there are times when you hate Motocross. At Faenza last year, when I was on the ground and I couldn’t move my legs, I thought «what the hell am I doing here», but after two weeks you are pain free and you do everything you want and you think ‘let’s ride again’.

‘I don’t race for the money or the fame; I race because I still love doing it’ – Jeffrey Herlings

by Gonçalo Viegas

Jeffrey Herlings has returned to the MXGP motocross world titles this year. The KTM rider has been one of the sport’s leading figures for many years and, in the service of Red Bull KTM, is naturally one of the highest paid – something that doesn’t matter so much to him at this point in his career.

In an interview with mx1onboard.com, the Dutchman said that money no longer moves him, but the sport itself: ‘Nowadays I don’t race for the money or the fame. I race because I still love doing it. Yes, the bank checks are good, but it’s not a motivation any more. I’m here because I like it and I still want to win; it’s nice. I also like to do unexpected things.’

And Herlings exemplified these unexpected things: ‘I came back to Lommel after an injury, I shouldn’t have done it because I wasn’t really prepared. I had cracked my shoulder blade only eleven days before, but I did it and got a good result. I know that doing something like this is also good for the people around me like KTM and Red Bull. I hate injuries, but the only reason I do it is because I love the sport.’

Dakar Rally will be more challenging this time: Indian rider Noah

 
Ronald Chettiar | ronald.chettiar@mid-day.com

TVS Racing rider will participate in the toughest cross-country rally for the third time next month

 

Indian rider Harith Noah

Harith Noah, the five-time Indian National Supercross champion, is set to represent the nation again at the 2022 Dakar Rally to be held in Saudi Arabia from January 1 to 14. But this time, he wants to stay in the moment.
Noah, 28, who made his Dakar debut in 2020, became the first rally driver representing India to have finished the world’s most arduous race in the Top 20 this year.

Noah believes, compared to the previous races, the 44th edition of the rally, which will start from Jeddah via Riyadh and end in the Saudi Arabian capital, will be more difficult.   

“This race will be harder compared to  previous editions. You don't know what to expect. They give you information about the stages, but not much. This year, the marathon stage is in the first week. Normally, it's in the second week. In fact, it is on the second day. That is very surprising. At Dakar, you are sure to make mistakes. The important thing is how fast you get back on track and how long you think about the mistake. I plan to live in the moment and not think far too long about it," said Noah during a virtual meet on Friday.

The Kerala-based rider won his first National Supercross title in 2011 and was recruited by TVS Racing in 2012.  He is not looking at the result but aims to finish the race.

"I never look at the results. So, I don't know where I finish [in every stage]. Every day I get to know my position as the starting line-up is decided on where you finish in the last stage. It's such a long race and I want to do the best I can; the results will follow," said Noah, who became the fourth rider from India to take part in a prestigious rally after CS Santosh, Ashish Roarane and Aravind KP.

Talking about what makes Dakar special, Noah feels that, unlike circuit races, this event is a test of a rider's navigation skills and there are external factors that make the two-week event very challenging.

“External factors play a very crucial role, that’s why Dakar is such an interesting race. And that is the main reason why I like cross-country rallies. It’s not like motocross or close-circuit race where mostly skill and fitness matter. But at Dakar, it’s not just the skill on the motorcycle—obviously, it’s important—but it’s also the navigation skill and the mental strength. It’s a combination of many more things than just the normal circuit race. It makes the playing field more even. So the navigation is important,” explained the Scott Sports-supported Indian rider.

Herlings wins 2021 Loon Plage Beach Race

MXGP motos or crazy beach race Jeffery Herlings keeps on winning.

Tortelli Talks Stark Development

As the impact of the new Stark electric motocrosser works its way across the globe, we sat down with test rider and two-time world champion Sebastien Tortelli and poked him with some questions…

DBR: What what were your thoughts when you were approached to do this? ‘Oh no, it’s another electric motorbike’?

“My first thing was a physical reaction. I know that the future is a matter of time, you know, and the second thing was, I know what is on the market, because I rode a bike in the past and I spent also time a little bit with Alta before they went down.”

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“So I knew what was the best electric motorcycle that we had so far. And I saw the development of people doing motorcycles, calling them motocross bikes, but they they are not very motocross bikes, they are more super-hype mountain bikes.”

“So when Anton approached me and he says, ‘You know, I want to build the motocross bike’, and my first reaction was, I would agree to join the company if it’s a real motorcycle. I’m a motocross guy and I’m not gonna go for halfway across and I know the project is not a group perspective.”

“So when I was asked about the project and that was basically what I saw was, and I’m like, I think it’s gonna be a big surprise, and we’re gonna see what comes up.”

DBR: Did you have you have input on every part of the bike from from the beginning or have you have you waited for the guys to design and build a prototype and then you go and say, we know we need to change this, this and this…

“It’s been a process you know, the first was to get the bike on drawings, finalise it and get the first situation of the plastics and then figure out what is comfortable for rider and not comfortable.”

“We’ve been working on together to solve the issues and everybody put their input into the company and then into the what is the best suited bike frame for the motorcycle. So, we work all together from the design point of view trying that out on the tracks and then the powertrain duration and progress through the engines and and all the technical costs at the same time.”

“So it’s not just here is a finished product. It was a progression from the whole team from the beginning all the way through.”

DBR: Did you in terms of things like suspension, have a recommendation or did you did you just go with Kayaba from the beginning?

“I think we will agree that that’s where we’re going to go and you know, that’s that was the best product that we had up there. So that’s fine.”

DBR: How does it really compare to a 450?

“People don’t realise it, but they will realise when they try it, but the power is a huge difference. Yeah. And you have to get used to it because it is different in a way. It’s when you switch from the 450 to the two-stroke or you feel like okay, you know, it’s great, it’s awesome.”

“And then you study in the lap times and you start to see the difference and you start to feel like okay, we are we are somewhere there and then you switch back to the 450 and then you realise really what is the difference.”

“Do the switch back and forth to see really, that’s what it is, and it’s much better than I was expecting, but the bike is so easy to ride at the same time that you don’t really realise.”

“When you ride it is so nimble and so easy that you don’t feel the weight, when you’re riding you feel like it’s a lighter bike.”

DBR: Will you be back to competition in the first couple of years of the bike or will you strictly stay testing?

It’s possible for a few races to introduce the bike. I’m still pretty active and I can still ride pretty fast. I think there is a lot of fun to have, so you know a couple of races here and there would be possible.”

Hair of the Dog

If you have never raced a true desert race you have to watch this. If you have raced to the smoke bomb you will really enjoy this film.

In the beginning they straddled hunks of iron called a Triumph or a Husky and sped across the desert wide open, ignoring the smell of death. They built traditions and became legends. They inspired us then and they inspire us still. We honor the guys who got us here today with this short film featuring Tyler Bereman, Vicki Golden, and the Checkers MC.

Catch Up With BamBam

It’s always a good time talking shop with the ever-present Justin Barcia and at this week’s 2022 Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas team intro, we were able to grab a casual, yet noisy – sorry! – First Person with him leading into Anaheim 1 in a few weeks.