Slaw Dog
Red Bull KTM announced today that Jeffrey Herlings will miss the fifth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship set to take place this weekend at Loket due to a shoulder injury sustained last weekend at the MXGP of The Netherlands.
The four-time world champion was landed on by Ivo Monticelli in the first moto last weekend. Somehow, Herlings gritted through the injury and went on to win the moto! The injury forced him to sit out the second moto, though, and will also sideline him for this weekend.
“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,” he said after last weekend. “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.”
According to the team, Herlings underwent further scans this week and initial fracture that had ruled him out of the second moto of his home Grand Prix last Sunday was found to be larger than originally thought. There is currently no timetable on a return for the 26-year-old.
“I don’t have pain in my shoulder for day-to-day life but sports and especially something like motocross is a different story,” he said. “We’ll sit out Loket with the aim to come back 100%. It’s a shame and something that wasn’t my fault but it is what it is.”
Main image: KTM Images
