Jeffrey Herlings triumphs at final MXGP Latvian event

MXGP of Latvia Number 3 – Kegums: This weekend took fifth Grand Prix of the 2020 Motocross World Championship at Kegums in Latvia.

MXGP

Herlings went 5-3-1 for the week and has a 46-point margin in the MXGP standings as he profited from problems affecting rival Tim Gajser.

Jeffrey Herlings: “The competition gets higher every year and we are all closer to each other, so the starts are key. I struggled a bit in the first moto, with arm-pump also, but it helped to be 4th and then leading the second moto from the second lap meant the overall. Another GP win, so another good day and I want to thank Red Bull KTM because the bike was awesome. I’m happy with the week here in Latvia. I had a few little ‘gifts’ here and there but it was good for the championship.”

Jorge Prado: “The road up until the restart of MXGP has been very tough with two injuries. The femur was horrible and the another one with the collarbone: it meant hardly any time on my bike. This year has been crazy and despite the lack of the training and the riding I could still manage a 3rd overall here. It was a very hard day. I felt good in the first moto but at the beginning of the second I was suffering. I went very, very deep. I’m super-happy to keep that position to make the podium and to come away from these races without any crashes. I hope to keep going like this.”

Tony Cairoli: “Another OK weekend but I feel it was possible to win again today. I paid for the mistake and crash at the start of the first moto because I had to come from far back and could only make 9th. It should have been more. The second moto was better even if I was not riding so free because I hit my back on a landing towards the end of the first race. I tried to stay as close as possible to the front. I tried to catch Jeffrey but I was a bit tired from the first moto. Not too good, not too bad. Let’s see what we can do when we race again.”

MX2

Vialle defends an 8-point gap in the championship picture.

Tom Vialle: “It is close with Jago. We shared the points and the guy who is 3rd behind us is a little bit further. It is quite tough to always fight with the same guy but I think we can say this is one of his favorite tracks, so I was happy to be there with him winning some motos and one GP. Today I didn’t lose points. I’ve improved a lot in the sand since last year. My starts were good all week, so it has been positive in Latvia and I liked the format and doing the three races here. We’ll see what is going on with the calendar now.”

MXGP is now slated to travel to Afyon for the Grand Prix of Turkey in three weeks time.

Motocross World Championship 2020, Round 5 – Kegums, Latvia (number 3)

MXGP

1. Jeffrey Herlings (KTM)

3. Jorge Prado (KTM)

4. Antonio Cairoli (KTM)

16. Michele Cervellin (Yamaha)

32. Alessandro Lupino (Yamaha)

MX2

2. Tom Vialle (KTM)

8. Ruben Fernandez (Yamaha)

19. Simon Laengenfelder (GasGas)