Jeffrey Herlings delivered what can only be described as exhibition races on Sunday in front of his ecstatic home fans who turned out in numbers to see a display of riding that many will remember for years to come. The 17-year-old said before the race that he wanted to win by a minute, already a mind-boggling margin by any rider’s standards. But remarkably he not only did it, he did it twice and his ride in each moto was equally thrilling. In short, he was untouchable.
Herlings made a stunning comeback from a crash in Saturday’s qualifying to secure an impressive win for pole position. He shot out of the gates on his KTM 250 SX-F and from that point on the numbers best tell the story in the opening moto. He was seven seconds ahead after the first lap, 13 after the second, then 25, 28, 33 and still he wasn’t satisfied as he continually lapped riders. When he finally shot over the finish he was 2:07 minutes ahead of second placed teammate Jeremy van Horebeek and sitting behind him after having lapped every other rider in the field!
