MX Diary: Herlings unsure of MX2 return
By Team TMX on 28th Jul 16
Jeffrey Herlings sat out the Czech GP and no date has been set for a return to racing for the runaway MX2 GP leader.
"I don't know the medical details,” said KTM MX2 team leader Dirk Gruebel.
"All I know is that the collarbone is broken, it has been plated and when Jeffrey went to the doctor this week he was advised that he should not race here. He has not ridden since the accident in Halle.
"He will go back to the doctor this week and if he is given the all-clear he will race at Lommel, but if the doctor does not give him clearance he will not be there either.
"There is no target date for his comeback; he must be ready.”
Even if the Dutch rider misses the upcoming GPs in Belgium and Switzerland, he will still be series leader headed for the final European GP at Assen on August 27/28.
Herlings' closest chaser Jeremy Seewer remained calm: "Jeffrey still has a big points lead and I'm not looking at myself as a new title candidate at the moment. But his absence does open up a new scenario and for sure will boost the interest in my home GP in two weeks time.”
Pauls Jonass, the third man in the mix, stays third on points, but will miss at least this weekend's Belgian GP after breaking his nose and suffering severe concussion when he crashed on the big leap off the Loket hillside while leading on lap two of the first GP moto.
The Latvian appeared to jump too far to the right, clipped the bank and was planted face first in the dirt.
After intensive medical investigation at the track he was sent to the local hospital for scans, but there appeared to be no internal damage.
FIM track doctor, David McManus, who had examined Jonass together with Czech colleague Martin Sycirek, was adamant when asked if the Latvian would be racing at Lommel: "Not if I have anything to do with it. There is a minimum time out of racing for concussion, and we will have more idea how long he will be out when we get the results of the scans 24-hours after the crash.”
The Ulsterman, determined to introduce stringent controls worldwide for concussion victims, was handed ample justification when Romain Febvre – out of action since Matterley – admitted on Saturday: "I needed a complete month to recover after my crash in England and I have only been able to train four times before coming here.”
Asked about his plans for ther remainder of the year, he added: "It's not over yet, but realistically the championship is almost gone. I just want to win every race for the rest of the season.”
