Jeffrey Herlings crowned MX2 World Champion
By TMX Archives on 4th Sep 16
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Teams Jeffrey Herlings has sealed the 2016 MX2 World Championship after a decisive win in the opening moto at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, USA. It was the Dutch riders third world title and very well deserved after recovering from a series major injuries in the past seasons.
Jeffrey Herlings went on to take third in race two behind US national champion Cooper Webb, which gave the overall win to Webb. American Austin Forkner was overall third. Fastest other KTM rider was Dutch rider Calvin Vlaanderen who finished fifth with a 5-8 result.
On his way to the title, Herlings won the first 12 rounds on his KTM 250 SX-F, dropping only three possible points with a second place in the opening moto in Italy.
He then sat out three rounds (Czech Republic, Lommel in Belgium and Switzerland) to heal a broken collarbone. He bounced back at the next round at home in Assen for another GP win, and on the start of race one at Charlotte he knew he only had to finish in front of closest rival Jeremy Seewer to take the title.
Herlings: "I am super, super happy, especially after everything we've been going through with a broken femur, a dislocated hip, two broken collarbones and almost losing my little finger. It's number three and hopefully many more to come.” Asked to comment about racing against leading Americans, he added:
"The two strongest guys from America Webb and Forkner were here. Webb is the national champion and I beat him straight up in the first race and then he beat me in the second. I think the competition is stronger in the US, but we won the championship and that's what it's all about.”
Speaking about the final round next weekend: "I like the track at Glenn Helen and it should be better than this track. Like always, we will do our best to make it happen.”
