Herlings and MotoGP

AK74
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AK74
Edited Date/Time 8/14/2018 9:43am
At yesterday's round of the MotoGP championship from Austria, Jeffrey Herlings was interviewed on the grid by BT Sport's Neil Hodgson. In response to one of the questions, JH said he'd love to race a MotoGP bike one day.

I wonder if he'll rack-up a couple of 450 world championships and then make the transition. Once Cairoli retires he won't have too much competition, and so before the boredom sinks in maybe he'll follow in the wheel tracks of JMB. Granted he'll be coming it to it w-a-y late compared to the riders who take the usual Red Bull Rookies/Moto3/Moto2/MotoGP path, but part of me thinks it would be cool if he did attempt it. Plus the KTM MotoGP project will doubtless advance in the next 2 to 3 years, so the bike would be more competitive than it is currently. And if the rumor that Stefan Pierer has targeted Marc Marquez to join KTM comes true, it would be incredible to have a Marquez/Herlings MotoGP team.

Probably won't happen though ;-)
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kb228
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kb228 8/13/2018 5:56am
8/13/2018 5:56am
Going from dirtbikes to supersports is a totally different ballgame. Will take him a while to transition but once he does id imagine hed be ahead of the rest. Going from dirt to asphalt puts you pretty far ahead of those going from nothing to asphalt. Not to mention his level in the dirt. Im not sure how many motogp guys can race a pro mx race.
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NateDawg
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NateDawg 8/13/2018 5:57am
8/13/2018 5:57am
This is a bit insulting to MotoGP riders. Herlings would get absolutely crushed if he tried to switch to MotoGP. It takes a long time to develop the skills and "feel" of a road race bike.
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bents
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bents 8/13/2018 6:01am
8/13/2018 6:01am
Never mind Herlings-KTM is going to have to open their vault to hire Marquez!

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jeffro503
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jeffro503 8/13/2018 7:04am
8/13/2018 7:04am
NateDawg wrote:
This is a bit insulting to MotoGP riders. Herlings would get absolutely crushed if he tried to switch to MotoGP. It takes a long time to...
This is a bit insulting to MotoGP riders. Herlings would get absolutely crushed if he tried to switch to MotoGP. It takes a long time to develop the skills and "feel" of a road race bike.
I don't think he mentioned anything about just stepping in and crushing it. He basically just said that he would love to try it in the future. Of course the learning curve is steep , and who know's if he would ever be any good at it , but with the skill's he already has , I'd say he would have a really good jump on other's that have never raced anything on a world stage.
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wideopen198 8/13/2018 7:23am
8/13/2018 7:23am
Just trying it is something else then racing a MotoGP race, lol. He would be dumb if he decided to quit MX early. But I'm not too afraid that's going to happen.
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make1go
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make1go 8/13/2018 7:37am
8/13/2018 7:37am Edited Date/Time 8/13/2018 7:39am
NateDawg wrote:
This is a bit insulting to MotoGP riders. Herlings would get absolutely crushed if he tried to switch to MotoGP. It takes a long time to...
This is a bit insulting to MotoGP riders. Herlings would get absolutely crushed if he tried to switch to MotoGP. It takes a long time to develop the skills and "feel" of a road race bike.
how in the world can you know how long it would take him?
its not like you, i or most anyone here are even remotely competitive with him in what is, our chosen sport..

btw i used to ride mx with steve martin when he was doing well in the wsbk, years back and he was pretty dang good.
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Squirrelings 8/13/2018 7:58am
8/13/2018 7:58am
This is no different than an AMA guy saying he wouldn't mind racing MXGP some day when attending a MXGP race and being interviewed for sponsor obligations or something. Never going to happen.
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jeffro503
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jeffro503 8/13/2018 8:10am
8/13/2018 8:10am
Squirrelings wrote:
This is no different than an AMA guy saying he wouldn't mind racing MXGP some day when attending a MXGP race and being interviewed for sponsor...
This is no different than an AMA guy saying he wouldn't mind racing MXGP some day when attending a MXGP race and being interviewed for sponsor obligations or something. Never going to happen.
What?
shaffstall721 8/13/2018 8:14am
8/13/2018 8:14am
Surprised no one has confirmed Herlings the GOAT of Moto-GP yet. Richardloots where are you?

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Idp57
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Idp57 8/13/2018 8:24am
8/13/2018 8:24am
jeffro503 wrote:
What?
I think you missed understood it,what he meant is empty words when the microphone is in front of you Wink
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deluxeman
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deluxeman 8/13/2018 8:58am
8/13/2018 8:58am
I am sure KTM would allow him to take a few laps on one of their MotoGP bikes at some time to gauge his speed. Many MotoGP riders train on MX bikes and it helps them be able to push/slide the front tire. He has great bike skills already.

I think the transition would be tough to even break into the top 15 in MotoGP. Mostly because you have to have the bike to do it. KTM's bike is a rolling road cone right now, and i don't see that changing anytime soon. they have made little progress in the short time they have been involved. It would be fun to see him try his hand at it.
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Freddy
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Freddy 8/13/2018 9:17am
8/13/2018 9:17am
Will he be the fastest moto gp rider through the sand trap?
psg119
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psg119 8/13/2018 9:31am
8/13/2018 9:31am
kb228 wrote:
Going from dirtbikes to supersports is a totally different ballgame. Will take him a while to transition but once he does id imagine hed be ahead...
Going from dirtbikes to supersports is a totally different ballgame. Will take him a while to transition but once he does id imagine hed be ahead of the rest. Going from dirt to asphalt puts you pretty far ahead of those going from nothing to asphalt. Not to mention his level in the dirt. Im not sure how many motogp guys can race a pro mx race.
Never going to happen unless he's grown up doing both. And "going from nothing to asphalt"? You mean like never riding anything ever to try road racing? Yeah I'm sure he'd be miles ahead of them. But so would everyone else who has ever ridden any kind of motorcycle. Now WSBK racer Jake Gagne raced two rounds of AMA motocross I believe and scored points in one if I remember correctly. And Moto America champ Beaubier could probably fair OK as well. But both of them have been doing both since very young. He could possibly road race competitively in club racing, maybe even some pro organizations some day but Moto GP would be a tall order. They are the best of the best. Many amazing amazing riders have tried their luck with those guys with nothing to show for it. Anyways this is probably all a waste of breath since he will most likely never leave his lucrative KTM ride for a chance to road race and I'm sure will never make a go of it after retirement. He'd have a much better shot of switching to cars.
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Rooster
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Rooster 8/13/2018 9:36am
8/13/2018 9:36am
It's amazing how the top guys can transition between disciplines. Jordan Szokes, who was the Canadian road Race champ for years is just as amazing on a trials bike as he is going 200mph on a liter bike. I know a bunch of guys who've transitioned from moto to RR and they always bypass the learning curve that normal riders follow.
clem
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clem 8/13/2018 9:41am
8/13/2018 9:41am
Collin Edwards got a pretty late start. Started out in motocross and transitioned into road racing which eventually led him to Motogp.
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psg119
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psg119 8/13/2018 9:49am
8/13/2018 9:49am Edited Date/Time 8/13/2018 9:50am
deluxeman wrote:
I am sure KTM would allow him to take a few laps on one of their MotoGP bikes at some time to gauge his speed. Many...
I am sure KTM would allow him to take a few laps on one of their MotoGP bikes at some time to gauge his speed. Many MotoGP riders train on MX bikes and it helps them be able to push/slide the front tire. He has great bike skills already.

I think the transition would be tough to even break into the top 15 in MotoGP. Mostly because you have to have the bike to do it. KTM's bike is a rolling road cone right now, and i don't see that changing anytime soon. they have made little progress in the short time they have been involved. It would be fun to see him try his hand at it.
I think you mean slide the rear tire.

Sliding the front tire



Sliding the rear tire
psg119
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psg119 8/13/2018 9:55am
8/13/2018 9:55am
clem wrote:
Collin Edwards got a pretty late start. Started out in motocross and transitioned into road racing which eventually led him to Motogp.
I wouldn't say 16 is a late start.
B DUB 333
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B DUB 333 8/13/2018 9:58am
8/13/2018 9:58am
Tomac would win the title in his first year. Motogp. Then he'd come race the real series here in the states and crush them. WSBK. Where the bikes are faster.
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WCRider
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WCRider 8/13/2018 10:07am
8/13/2018 10:07am
B DUB 333 wrote:
Tomac would win the title in his first year. Motogp. Then he'd come race the real series here in the states and crush them. WSBK. Where...
Tomac would win the title in his first year. Motogp. Then he'd come race the real series here in the states and crush them. WSBK. Where the bikes are faster.
Tomac on 4 wheels imo.
RichardLoots 8/13/2018 10:37am
8/13/2018 10:37am Edited Date/Time 8/13/2018 10:43am
shaffstall721 wrote:
Surprised no one has confirmed Herlings the GOAT of Moto-GP yet. Richardloots where are you?

tsssssssssssssssssss

Vital on a roll .... dude would like to ride that bike for a few laps , but its insulting to MotoGP riders LMFAO
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Moto96
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Moto96 8/13/2018 10:39am
8/13/2018 10:39am
Id be interested if he did some supermoto.

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dcg141
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dcg141 8/13/2018 10:42am
8/13/2018 10:42am
Unlike motocross, road racing is not 90% rider.
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mwr
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mwr 8/13/2018 11:09am
8/13/2018 11:09am
aFACEdismembered wrote:
Ask JMB how that worked out for him
Well, he was on a couple of factory teams and scored a few pole positions, but he did what he wanted to do so who can complain.
74
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74 8/13/2018 11:21am
8/13/2018 11:21am
aFACEdismembered wrote:
Ask JMB how that worked out for him
Worked pretty well, for a motocross racer.
aFACEdismembered 8/13/2018 11:55am
8/13/2018 11:55am
aFACEdismembered wrote:
Ask JMB how that worked out for him
74 wrote:
Worked pretty well, for a motocross racer.
JMB certainly did better going to pavement than a road racer would coming over to dirt. Unfortunately, Assen on a MotoGp weekend is about as close to sand as Herlings will get on a MotoGP bike. He's improved his riding on hard surfaces but pavement is the hardest surface of them all.
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