Still recovering from his broken femur, Jeffrey Herlings has been cleared to race and will attempt to retain his MX2 World Championship.
Jordi Tixier’s unchecked gathering of points in the FIM MX2 World Championship standings has been harder for Great Britain’s Jeffrey Herlings to bear than Herlings’ broken femur. Herlings, the defending World MX2 Champion, has apparently decided that enough is enough.
Herlings has been cleared by his doctors to race in the final round of the MX2 World Championship in Leon, Mexico this weekend, and he plans to take part in the round in an effort to gather enough points to retain his World Championship crown. Herlings who celebrates his 20th birthday on Friday, still holds a 23-point lead over Tixier going into the final round, but had Herlings remained on the sidelines, the number-one plate would have, in all likelihood, switched sides of the team paddock.
Herlings clearly wants to give himself the chance to prevent that, and there is no denying that he was the class of the MX2 field when he was healthy, banking an incredible 12 of the first 13 overall wins in the series, including 22 moto wins, prior to his injury. The broken femur, suffered during a charity race in Belgium, has forced him to miss the last three rounds and allowed Tixier to quickly narrow the series points lead that Herlings had built.
KTM Team Manager Pit Beirer said that the team is cautiously pleased that Herlings’ doctors have cleared him to race in Mexico.
“It will be difficult for him after some weeks of healing the fracture,” Beirer said. “Of course he lacks race practice and doesn’t have the same level of fitness he had before his accident, but we feel he deserves to have a fighting chance to wrap up the title.”
Beirer said that rehabilitation experts Ortema have helped Herlings out by providing him with some additional protection for his leg.
“They (Ortema) made a special trip to Jeffrey’s home in the evening this week to take a sample cast of his leg,” Beirer said. “Then they worked all night to make him a special carbon knee brace. It was a great gesture and one that we appreciate very much. Without this kind of professional dedication and willingness to help us in a difficult situation, Jeffrey would not have this opportunity.”
Beirer added that a team of doctors, physiotherapists and medical staff have put in an extraordinary effort to give Herlings the chance to keep his World Championship.
“Jeffrey’s own determination to make it happen, and the expertise of these medical specialists and their staff have together played a decisive role in getting him back on the track,” Beirer said.
Herlings and Jordi Tixier, the two Red Bull KTM MX2 factory riders who both compete in the KTM 250 SX-F bike are the only two with a mathematical chance to take the title. Husqvarna’s Romain Febvre is currently in third but is 60 points behind Herlings with just 50 points up for grabs this weekend in Mexico.
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