Jeffrey Herlings - 2012 FIM MX2 World Champion Jeffrey Jeffrey Herlings - The 2012 FIM MX2 World Champion. Image: YouthstreamThe young rider from Geldrop put his name in the history of the sport, but also in the records of his country, as the last time a Dutch rider won a World Title was back in 1993 with Pedro Tragter. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings has had a very consistent season, with only a few problems in the muddy races like the one in Brazil and the DNF he had in Latvia. A part from that, the seventeen-year-old rider from Geldrop has had an outstanding season. So far he has obtained eight pole positions from the fifteen possible, he has won eighteen motos out of thirty and he has been on the top of the podium in nine occasions. "I had many ups and downs during the whole season, but I managed to find the way to get through everything and win the Title. I am really happy to have had my team behind me because they have been really supportive all the time.” Last year it was his teammate Ken Roczen who dominated most of the heats and obtained most of the overall victories, so even Jeffrey Herlings himself admitted today that in the previous season he did not really deserve the World Title. The Dutch rider faced this 2012 season knowing that it would be a tough one, especially with riders like Tommy Searle or Jeremy Van Horebeek fighting all for the Title, but in the end he was able to be the most consistent one. Jeffrey Herlings is only seventeen years old and he has already become a referent in his country, getting some front covers in the main written media of the country and having the motocross back on TV: "It has been more than twenty years since a Dutch rider won a World Title, so it is amazing feeling like I am really writing history now. In the last few years I have managed to put the motocross back in the front covers and on TV in the Netherlands, so I hope to do good for my country and put the sport in the place it deserves.” The Herlings effect is so strong that a great part of Faenza was covered in orange will all his fans who travelled from the Netherlands to celebrate his maiden FIM MX2 World Title: "Not everybody could come, but there were at least 300 people in Faenza this weekend supporting me. Having them here it felt like winning a the Title a little bit at home even being more than 2000km away.” With this MX2 World Title, Jeffrey Herlings has contributed to keep KTM’s winning streak in the MX2 class and KTM has now up to five FIM MX2 World Titles in a row since the one Tyla Rattray won in 2008. Check out the celebrations - Dutch style !! |