Slaw Dog
Ugh, at this point I just feel bad for Jeffrey Herlings. Injuries have derailed his title chances throughout his career and now he’s dealing with another one, through no fault of his own.
In the first moto at the MXGP of The Netherlands, Herlings was landed on by Ivo Monticelli. It was damn gnarly, but Herlings still went on to WIN THE MOTO!
Unfortunately, Herlings sustained a shoulder injury in the incident, which ruled him out for the second moto.
“I got no words for this. I played it so smart this year, I took 0 risk and did everything according to plan this season. I was allmost in the championship lead and then this…… As you can see on the uphill the starting device didn’t pop out yet, so I lost a bit balance because of it, and next thing I knew somebody landed on my left shoulder. I can’t believe I still won the moto with a broken shoulderblade. The pain was unreal, I had tears in my eyes the whole moto from the pain. I’m so sorry for my great team, @ktmfactoryracing I am so gutted. The bike was once again ????????. Tomorrow we’ll check further how bad the damage is and when we will be able to return to racing. Thanks to my sponsors for keep believing in me. Had to dig deep for this one. Thanks.”
After the race, Red Bull KTM confirmed in a press release that Herlings suffered a small crack in his shoulder blade.
“What can I say about today? I had high hopes and wanted 1-1. I had a great start in the first moto but the start device did not disengage immediately up the hill and I did not jump as far as I usually do out of the waves,” Herlings said. “The rest is history. I had a lot of pain but thought I’d keep going to try and get 4th or 5th. I saw I was still able to catch the guys so I started passing them even though I could barely hold on for the last three laps. I have a small crack in my shoulder blade and I still don’t know how bad it is. We had a scan and it doesn’t seem too bad. I don’t have any pain now but racing a dirt bike is a different story. We’ll have another check tomorrow.”
Herlings is still second in points, 23 behind Tim Gajser, who won the overall on Sunday. The MXGP of Czech Republic is set for this Sunday. At this time, Herlings status is uncertain.
