Winners

For Jeffrey Herlings the injury to CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy rider Arnaud Tonus a few weeks ago, and poor form of the other Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jordi Tixier in the early part of the season has meant his third MX2 world championship could be wrapped up as early as Loket in two weeks time.

"I am really excited for Loket now,” Herlings said. "I won the championship there last year and hopefully I can wrap it up there. It was a dream to win it at Lommel, it feels like my home GP because it’s just an hour from my house, but it would be cool to wrap it up in two weeks,  hopefully, number three.”

As for the Hyvinkää circuit being too rough, it was never an issue for Herlings despite many riders feeling the circuit was tricky and really rough. Herlings enjoyed the whole experience and his 1-1 results showed that.

"I am from Holland, so it wasn’t so tough, when you are from Italy it’s a different story. When you grow up on these types of tracks it isn’t difficult, we always had tracks like this and I felt it was pretty flat and I wish it was more bumpy, but it was a good weekend.”

While Herlings might not have had too much trouble with the circuit, his older and more experienced Red Bull KTM team-mate Antonio Cairoli found the circuit one of the toughest this season.

"I think this track was one of the toughest we have had up until now,” Cairoli said. "Really bumpy and technical. For me it was nice to get the holeshot and I didn’t have to chase anyone. I have been working on my starts and it’s working well.”

While Cairoli might not be wrapping up the MXGP title in Loket, it is looking likely he will be crowned MXGP world champion as early as Lommel in Belgium or in State of Goias in Brazil. His 65 point lead in the MXGP series is more than enough for him to cruise through the Czech Republic and Belgium rounds and then move onto Brazil for his own celebrations.

One thing Cairoli isn’t worried about is what his rivals are doing and he just wants to be consistent and be ready to score enough points at each GP to end the season as the number one guy.

"I never really have a lot of pressure, the championship is getting closer to the end and since I am healthy and I have no injuries, I have time to make points. I am sorry for the other guys who got injured or crashed. I always try and be there, that is important.”

So onto Loket in the Czech Republic in two weeks. A place both red-plate holders don’t really enjoy, but will probably have something to celebrate under the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team tent.