Setback for Jeffrey Herlings in Swedish Grand Prix

Jeffrey Herlings of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team suffered a severe setback in the Swedish Grand Prix. After a strong second place in the first heat, he had good cards in hand to challenge for overall victory in the second. Whilst lying second, however, his bike’s chain derailed and he was forced to retire from the Grand Prix.

After two successive Grand Prix victories, Jeffrey was dead set on continuing the trend at Uddevalla. He was quickest in both training sessions. In an eventful qualifying heat, he initially slotted into third place. In battling with Tim Gajser, Romain Febvre opened up a gap in the lead. Making a move in the wave section, Herlings passed Gajser. He set in the hunt for Febvre and in the penultimate lap he moved into the lead to win the qualifying heat.

It rained heavily at Uddevalla on Saturday night and the track was tricky and slippery. Jeffrey had a decent start, and immediately got involved in a pitched battle with Clement Desalle. Once he had moved into second, Gajser had a big lead, and Herlings could not get further than second. He did claw back points on championship leader Antonio Cairoli, though.

Fate dealt Jeffrey a cruel blow early int he second race. He had just moved into second spot, when the chain of his bike derailed. This cost Jeffrey the potential Grand Prix victory as well as the opportunity of making up more points on Cairoli. The DNF held him to ninth overall for the delay, and he now has a 101 point deficit on Cairoli in the world championship series. The series continues in Jacksonville, USA, over two weeks.

Overall MXGP Sweden:
1 Tim Gajser 47 Pnt
2 Romain Febvre 40 Pnt
3 Gautier Paulin 40 Pnt
4 Clement Desalle 36 Pnt
5 Glenn Coldenhoff 32 Pnt
9 Jeffrey Herlings 22 Pnt

World Championship Standings MXGP:
1 Antonio Cairoli 631 Pnt
2 Jeffrey Herlings 530 Pnt
3 Gautier Paulin 526 Pnt
4 Clement Desalle 519 Pnt
5 Tim Gajser 453 Pnt