Jeffrey Herlings scores a moto win in the Grand Prix of Italy

Earlier in the day Jeffrey Herlings rode a spectacular opening MX2 moto and crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. But he missed the start in his second race letting Slovenian Tim Gajser escape at the front. He was already in podium contention after a handful of laps and steadily trimmed the time deficit over the rest of the race. Herlings put himself in contention to make the pass in the final lap but cross-rutted in part of the course that was half shade and half sunlight. He scrambled back onto his KTM 250 SX-F and crossed the line in second.

Jeffrey Herlings: “The start was not good in the second race but overall we had a good Sunday. We won the qualifying on Saturday and the fist moto pretty easy. I had a really bad start in the second moto but I worked my way up to the front then I had a stupid crash that was my fault. I picked up some points so I look forward to next weekend. I am not sure I would have caught Gajser. For sure I could have been close but obviously he did a great job. Hopefully I can take the win in Valkenswaard in front of my home crowd. I’ve already won there five times in a row. So that’s what we are hoping for.”

MX2 Overall Classification
1, Tim Gajser, SLO, Honda, (2 – 1)
2, Jeffrey Herlings, NED, KTM, (1 – 2)
3, Jordi Tixier, FRA, Kawasaki, (3 – 3)
4, Dylan Ferrandis, FRA, Kawasaki (5 – 4)
5, Max Anstie, GBR, Kawasaki, (4 – 7)
6, Jeremy Seewer, SUI, Suzuki, (7 – 6)
7, Valentin Guillod, SUI, Yamaha, (6 – 8)
8, Benoit Paturel, FRA, Yamaha, (12 – 5)
9, Brent Van Doninck, BEL, Yamaha, (11 – 10)
10, Julien Lieber, BEL, Yamaha, (10 – 11)

MX2 World Championship Classification
1. Herlings 172
2, Ferrandis, 159
3, Jonass, 133
4, Gajser, 126
5, Lieber, 101
6, Guillod, 101
7, Seewer, 99
8, Tonkov, 95
9, Covington, 86
10, Tixier, 75