Jeffrey Herlings (Red Bull KTM) starts this weekend’s MXGP of Great Britain at Matterley Basin near Winchester the same way he seems to start every weekend he races at the moment – as the man to beat.
The 23-year-old Dutchman is already 48 points clear of his team-mate and defending champion Tony Cairoli. So far he’s won 12 motos – including the last five – from 16 starts and hasn’t finished out of the top-three yet this season. He took a double win at the rolling grassland circuit in the MX2 class the last time the world championship visited the UK in 2016 but he was beaten on a 450 at the Motocross of Nations at Matterley in 2017 by Britain’s Max Anstie (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna).
Anstie was on fire that day last October but he’s not managed to carry his late-season form into 2018 and a serious concussion sustained in Spain in March forced him to miss three rounds of the championship.
UK riders in the MXGP class have had a tough time over the eight rounds run so far. Along with Anstie, Shaun Simpson (Wilvo Yamaha), Tommy Searle (Bike It DRT Kawasaki) and Graeme Irwin (Hitachi ASA KTM UK) have all missed rounds through injury and none of them are fully race fit. Home support will give them a huge lift but will it be enough to carry them onto the podium?
If you’re looking for more realistic top-three finishers this weekend then it’s the usual suspects who have to be taken into consideration.
Cairoli looked like a beaten man in Germany but the Italian hasn’t won nine world titles by giving up when there are still 12 rounds to go. Belgian Clement Desalle (Monster Energy Kawasaki) has won a round this year and his French rival Gautier Paulin (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) has shown he knows how to holeshot races – he just needs to hope his rivals are buried in the pack while he makes a break for it.
Champion in 2015, France’s Romain Febvre (Monster Energy Yamaha) is still looking for his first podium finish this season. He’s been fourth too many times this year and will be desperate to get on the box at Matterley.
Then there’s 2016 champion Tim Gajser (Team HRC). The Slovenian missed the opening round while he recovered from a broken jaw so started the championship on the back foot. He’s been building steadily and recorded two second places last time out in Germany and could be the man to take it to Herlings. He also took a double win at Matterley in 2016 and was second overall behind Anstie in the MXGP class at the MXoN so we know he likes the track.
The MXGP action kicks off at 5pm on Saturday with qualifying to determine gate pick for Sunday’s pair of points-paying races.
