HRC factory rider, Jeffrey Herlings picked up his 114th Grand Prix victory today in Trentino and it was a performance for the ages. While his 1-2 result was impressive, considering his terrible starts, he wasn’t really 100% happy with how his weekend went.

Bavo Swijgers image

After a ninth place in qualification yesterday the Dutchman didn’t have the best gate-pick and that meant he struggled to get round the tight first corner with the leading pack. Instead, the #84 did things the hard way, using creative lines and keeping his momentum on the twisty Pietramurata circuit.

At one point, as he chased the leading trio, he was four seconds faster than them, before passing them with similar ease to get back to winning ways. The second race looked like being a carbon-copy, but he just ran out of time as he hunted down the leader, settling for second place but first overall and taking a considerable chunk out of the championship deficit.

MXLarge: How would you describe your win?

Herlings: I need to work on my starts but otherwise my speed was really good all weekend. I came from 15th to first in the first moto and 10th to second in the second moto, so it was good. I found a good flow and had some good lines in both races and even though it is a small track, I had to be creative. It was really good to pay back all the hard work from all of Honda HRC PETRONAS, they’ve all worked really hard to put me in the position to win and it was important to get these points for the championship standings, even though we have a lot of racing to go.

MXLarge: It looked like you pushed hard for this win?

Herlings: You know what, I feel I didn’t do a good job, because with the speed I had yesterday I had the crash, and a mechanical issue, we couldn’t get the bike started unfortunately. It took me a bit of time to get going and I came from 25th place to ninth place. I was very first in that first moto, from like 15th to first, which was really good. Second moto, from P10 to second, I closed up to Tim (Gajser), but he had the perfect lines, and I nearly went through all of my tear-offs, passing the other guys. I couldn’t find a way (to pass him). I felt I could have gone faster, but I couldn’t find a spot. I was pushing on the last lap, but he wasn’t making a mistake. He did a great job. 1-2 on the day and I think we did a good thing for the championship even though its 14 rounds to go, so it doesn’t make too much of a difference yet. A lot of Japanese here this weekend and I wanted to give them the victory for the good job they have done for me and the team. We will have a break from the GPs, although I will do some other races and work on our starts. They have been good until this weekend; they were a bit off.

MXLarge: How did you feel on Saturday?

Herlings: No point being the fastest on track when you’re in ninth place. Another mistake early on in the race cost me the chance at fighting with the leaders and instead I had to come through the field from outside the top 20. Good to know I had the fastest lap, and that I can pass a bunch of people but ninth isn’t the goal and I need to make sure I do better.

MXLarge: The first race, you finished as quickly as you started in that first race. How do you do that?

Herlings: I just manage to get a good flow and find some good lines. I was in traffic the whole time and you start to pick up some good lines. At one point I just had a good flow and was two or three seconds quicker than everyone else. It gets difficult when you get to say the top four it gets difficult to pass, when you have these guys next to me. I think I have a good fitness, and I work out every day. If I had starts like Tom or Prado, I would have even more wins. That is one of the only things from my career and the injuries (that is bad). My starts have not always been great, but now I have a great bike, so I need to make myself better.

MXLarge: Just before the finish, you had a really good line, what can you tell me about that, because you passed a lot of guys there?

Herlings: The second moto it was easier and a lot of guys were doing it, but in the first moto I passed a lot of guys on the outside. I would just double in front of them. Like I said, I had to be creative and find some lines. I did my best.

MXLarge: That first moto was unbelievable and you passed a lot of riders and your speed was higher than everyone else. How did that feel?

Herlings: I did a similar thing in Sardinia, if you take away Lucas. He was just good there, but its good here, because it is hard to make time here and many of the riders are very close. I had been on KTM for a long time, and I felt like the bike helped me a lot on this track. I truly believe our bike was better this weekend and I never felt the same on the KTM on this track, if I am being honest. I feel like the bike helped me.

MXLarge: You just keep on performing at this level?

Herlings: I am just super motivated, because people say to me, why are you still doing this. You are 17 years doing it, but I still love it. I still have so much passion for it. If I get a win, I just get so hyped up for it. I train even harder the next week. It also depends on how I get beat. In Sardinia, I was beaten straight up, and I am fine with that. It is going to be a difficult year, because it isn’t just Lucas, its Tim and Romain and so many guys who can be in-between. You can finish P10 and all the guys in front are either world champions or GP winners, its so stacked. I think it’s really good for the sport. It’s good for TV and for everyone. When I was winning, or Tony, it was a bit boring. If you can have a rivalry (its better) and maybe Haiden Deegan is a bit too much (for European taste), but that is what people want to see. That is what makes people come to the racing.

MXLarge: Six wins here now, you have mentioned that Arco is one of the best GPs for atmosphere, and this year was special again?

Herlings: There are some Slovenians here, but the atmosphere is good, but I am here for one reason and that is to ride. I just like the riding part, and I don’t think about the other things around. It is important to have a lot of fans coming to the track and there are tracks like Lommel, Arnhem, this one, the Italian ones, where they are hyped up and there are maybe five tracks like that in the year. Arco was like the first one this year, because Spain and Argentina are far away.

MXLarge: Sport is a mental game, how important was it to get a mental win as Lucas has had some really sensational races this year?

Herlings: I just looked at it like; this is an endurance race. We have like 57 motos and you have to be there every single time. I don’t want to disrespectful to Romain, but Tim was leading the championship and Lucas was faster, but Romain was the guy who won the championship, because he was always there. That is how Ryan Dungey won so many championships. You don’t always have the be the fastest and I feel I had the most speed today, but there are days like Sardinian, where I am not the fastest and I have to just go 2-2 and go home safe. Some races I can get a poor result and some Lucas might have that.