It's Mexico agony for brave Herlings
By Team TMX on 17th Sep 14
Jeffrey Herlings rode through the pain barrier in Mexico on Sunday but came up short in his bid to claim a hat-trick of World MX2 crowns.
The Dutchman, who celebrated his 20th birthday two days before the final round of the world championship, broke his left femur when he crashed an 85cc bike at the Everts & Friends charity event on July 21.
At the time he was 145 points clear of Red Bull KTM team-mate Jordi Tixier after a run of 18 consecutive race wins but was forced to sit out three GPs, allowing the Frenchman to reduce his advantage to 23 points going into the season finale.
Despite an x-ray taken in Mexico on the Saturday evening showing that the break was a long way from being healed, Herlings elected to race in an attempt to retain his title.
But after a dramatic second moto the championship went to Tixier by just four points.
"First of all congratulations to Jordi Tixier for winning his first world title this year,” said Herlings on his Facebook page on Monday.
"Saturday I was in a lot of pain because Thursday at a practice track I got a big impact on my leg again...from the impact we got two torn muscles.
"But I am not a quitter and I wanted to fight for every point possible.
"I lost the title with four points but I showed I had a big heart because there was a realistic chance I could break my femur again because the bone was far from healed.”
Herlings, who wore a custom-built carbon knee protector made by rehabilitation experts Ortema, now plans to complete his recovery in the off-season and will start a strong favourite to regain the title in 2015.
"It was a s**t season,” he added.
"Loads of bad luck. But 2015 will hopefully be better and I want to try to fight for my third world title. I want to be dominant again in 2015 and get that championship back. But first let's get healthy.
"I want to thank all my fans for the great support. I took this risk for you guys to prove to you all I am the real deal. Thanks everyone. Love you guys.
"Again, congrats 911!”
