Herlings shows champion class at Hawkstone Park
Former world motocross champion Jeffrey Herlings marked his return after a six-month absence in victorious style at the 2024 Hawkstone Park International.
A strong line-up of racers took part in Shropshire, as Herlings pipped fellow Dutchman Glenn Coldenhoff to the post in a captivating SuperFinal.
Herlings sat out the entirety of 2022 with a foot injury, before seeing his Championship aspirations during an injury-ridden 2023.
The 29-year-old crashed and fractured his C5 vertebrae in Germany, before later suffering a collarbone fracture in Arnhem.
Fellow former world champion Romaine Febvre took victory in race one, but Herlings clinched the next two races.
Herling admitted he is heading into the latter stages of his career but insists he has a few years left in the tank as he targets more success.
“I am super happy with my day,” he told the media. “I know I’m kind of a diesel so I know I should get better throughout the season and as I get more races because I haven’t raced for a long time.
“Last year was very unfortunate with the crash. It’s part of racing, it’s a scary sport at times. Injuries are just around the corner so when you’re doing this sport, you know it can happen.
“Even though I tried to ride as smart as I could last year and take minimum risks, I still got hurt so you have to be a bit lucky.
“At least I’m going to try to win more but the thing is, the 10 Championship, they’re done.
“I know I’ll never get to 10 Championships because I might retire in two, three, four years from now.
“I don’t even think I’ll race five more years so imagine five Championships in a row will never happen.
“I’m happy that pressure is on my shoulders and I can just enjoy the sport. I’m in the second part of my career and probably going into the last part so just a few more years left in the tank and I want to make the most of it.”
A full day of racing saw thousands descend upon the Hawkstone Park Circuit to whet the appetite ahead of the first MXGP race of 2024 in Argentina on March 9-10.
Herlings enjoyed a tight individual battle with Coldenhoff, while Febvre eventually finished third in the SuperFinal.
Coldenhoff finished second in the first two races to Febvre and Herlings respectively but finished at the top of the rankings for the MXGP overall.
On his aggressive style, Coldenhoff said: “I hear that more often that I should be more aggressive but that also comes with feeling. I believe we have the bike working great now, the suspension is good and then you’re able to be more aggressive.
“You can be more creative and I believe I’m in a good spot now. We’ll see in two weeks time in Argentina. It’s good that it’ll start and I feel like I am ready.”
Current MX2 champion Andrea Adamo posted a sixth-place finish and Pauls Jonass rounded off a strong day of racing in fifth.
Adano won the two races in the MX2, finishing above Cas Valk on both occasions, to finish top overall.
After the event, Shropshire Motocross commented: “We are delighted that the event was able to go ahead. The weather beforehand made the call very difficult and also the parking much softer than we would have liked.
“Luckily the sun came out and the thousands of fans enjoyed a successful days racing. We are very grateful to everyone this weekend for their help and support, neighbours, land owners, riders, medics, marshals and all the fans.
“We were treated to watching some of the fastest riders in the world and it didn’t disappoint. Local rider Joel Brookes had a really strong race one and we wish him luck for the season ahead.”
