Honda HRC PETRONAS rider Jeffrey Herlings continued his unbelievable run of form, going one-one again at the MXGP of Turkiye, helping him to wrap up his sixth world championship. Needing to beat his nearest rival in the first moto to secure the title, Herlings got the holeshot and never looked back, sparking wild scenes amongst the team and his travelling family, friends and supporters who’d made the trip to support him.
With the championship sorted out after race one, many would forgive the six-time champ for relenting a little bit in race two, but not The Bullet and not when he still had a win-streak to protect. Once again he grabbed the holeshot, but this time he was pursued for the entire moto by teammate Tom Vialle, who was ready to pounce on any lapse in concentration. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, Herlings hasn’t made a mistake for six rounds now and despite doing everything he could, Vialle crossed the line just 0.499 seconds behind. That one-two moto result meant that Herlings and Vialle would go one-two at the GP, giving more reason to celebrate in what was already a historic event for the team.
After yesterday’s unlucky incident, Ruben Fernandez was 50-50 on even going to the line, but the Spaniard has showed his toughness all season long and today was another example of it, as he battled inside the top 10 for the majority of both races. Unfortunately he did drop a couple of positions near the end of each race, but he can still be proud of his efforts as he tries to fight for a top five championship spot.
While the team will be celebrating later tonight, their immediate attention involves packing up the crate for Shanghai, China next weekend for what is the penultimate round of the series. While the championship has been decided, Herlings is still wanting to remain victorious until the end of the season, while Vialle is hoping to stop the streak and also overtake fourth place in the MXGP standings and considering he has three podiums in a row, the momentum is definitely in his favour.
MXGP Race 1
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:27.218; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:03.637; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:18.321; 4. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:24.478; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:51.370; 6. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:56.371; 7. Alberto Forato (ITA, Fantic), +0:59.218; 8. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), +1:05.096; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:06.311; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +1:08.424; 11. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:22.495; 12. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:27.707;
MXGP Race 2
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, Honda), 34:34.791; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, Honda), +0:00.499; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:28.437; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, Yamaha), +0:36.479; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Kawasaki), +0:41.735; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:47.697; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +0:50.104; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:52.571; 9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +1:08.851; 10. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Ducati), +1:12.801;
MXGP Overall
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 50 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 40 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 40 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 24 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, DUC), 23 p.; 10. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KTM), 23 p.; 11. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 21 p.;
MXGP Championship
1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, HON), 855 points; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 699 p.; 3. Tim Gajser (SLO, YAM), 659 p.; 4. Lucas Coenen (BEL, KTM), 566 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 559 p.; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, HON), 545 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 523 p.; 8. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 449 p.; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 428 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KAW), 366 p.;
Rubén Fernández 70
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Today was a tough one after yesterday’s incident and I was definitely not 100% healthy but I fought as hard as I could for every point. I knew I just had to get a good start and hold on as long as possible and although I ended up just outside the top 10, I can still be proud of my efforts.
Tom Vialle 16
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I gave it everything I had in that second moto to try and win but Jeffrey just didn’t make any mistakes. Still, I think I showed that I’m close and we have six races left to try and get the win so that is my aim in China and Australia. I knew after yesterday I’d be close, but I wasn’t able to get the holeshot in either race, despite getting really good jumps, and that made life a lot harder. Overall though, a good return to Turkiye and I’m excited to get to China and see what I can do there.
Jeffrey Herlings 84
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Tom definitely didn’t make my life easy in that second race, but it was a great GP and to win the GP, win my sixth world title and keep my winning streak alive is something I am very happy with. It’s been a lot of work throughout the year to get to this point and I’ll make sure to celebrate tonight with all my friends and family who came here to watch. However, I’m already excited and motivated to keep this going in the last two rounds and even for next year as well.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas –
Honda HRC PETRONAS
What a GP! Jeffrey winning the world championship was obviously the goal at the beginning of the year, but it still a massive undertaking to make it happen and we definitely will be celebrating tonight. The whole of Honda HRC PETRONAS have done an amazing job and I think it shows on the track when Jeffrey and Tom go one-two at the GP, with Jeffrey also extending his winning streak to 17 races. The second moto was great to see Tom battling with Jeffrey and gives us a lot of hope and motivation for the future.
A word also for Ruben who fought through the pain to score decent points, as he tries to move up some places in the championship.
📸 @shotbybavo
