Herlings Interview

The Flying Dutchman went 1-1 last weekend and will head to Maggiora, Italy with his confidence growing and his condition improving.

We caught up with the red plate owner after his victory and asked him about his weekend in France.

Question: Jeffrey, how did you feel with your weekend?

Herlings: Saturday was a tough day, and I struggled a bit. It isn’t one of my favorite tracks. When you come from Holland we are used to sand, and in France it was up-hills and down-hills, hard pack and rocky, so not my type of circuit. Some of the other guys like Jordi (Tixier) and Valentin (Guillod) grew up on tracks like this. On the Saturday I had an ok start, but then crashed and worked my way up to sixth, but then my bike died going towards the finish line and I finished 24^th. I was a bit stressed during the night for the Sunday starts.

Q: Sunday you looked much sharper?

Herlings: Sunday I did what I had to do, and got two holeshots, which was a surprise considering I was all the way on the outside. First moto got the holeshot, but then made a small crash and some guys passed me. I passed them back, but they rode so well. Second moto I had another great start, and got the moto win and the overall win.

Q: What will it take to be back to where you were before the injuries?

Herlings: I am still not in top condition and I had some crashes in Spain and also in Argentina. I need to get my speed back, but we are working on it and I left France with 1-1 results and no crashes, so now we can spend more time on the bike and improve.

Q: Despite your speed not being what it has been in the past you still have a massive lead in the series points. Are you happy about that?

Herlings: We did a good job for the championship and consistency wins championships. Last year we had 145 point lead and I figured I couldn’t’ lose the championship and I still see Jordi as the biggest challenge for the championship. It is still a long season and we have had eight races, but we still have 10 to go and I need to stay fit, because another injury and it’s all over for the championship.