Jeffrey Herlings triumphs at home in Valkenswaard

Jeffrey
rode a superb and seamless first moto. He got away to a good start and
the only rider to challenge him was Roczen who moved up to within a
half a second of the Dutch teenager before making several small
mistakes. Herlings needed no excuse to seize the moment and went on to
take the victory by a massive 37.4 seconds to the collective joy of
thousands of wildly cheering Dutch fans. 
 
But
it was in the second moto that the young Dutch teenager genuinely
thrilled the crowds. This time it was championship leader Roczen who
flew out of the start gates and immediately took the lead.  Knowing
that a good start and a commanding lead gave him victory in the first
moto Herlings then proceeded to systematically hunt down his German
rival with everything he had. Then half way through the second lap he
came off the bike after losing momentary control during an overtake
maneuver and ended up in the sand. Jeffrey was back on his KTM 250 in a
flash, turned up both the gas and the adrenalin and set off in furious
pursuit. 
 
Herling's
chance to retake the lead came when the riders were about two thirds
through the second moto and from that moment on, he poured on the
pressure until he had built a commanding advantage. Jeffrey then
enjoyed cruising home in the final two laps to win by a margin of 11
seconds. It was a masterly ride by Herlings and levels the overall GP
wins to 1 each for him and Roczen, not only the two most talented
riders in MX2 but also the greatest rivals. The stage is now set for
some stunning races between these two, especially when they next meet
on the track at Glen Helen for the USGP, where it will be Roczen who
will enjoy the crowd support. The young German has been racing the AMA
SX West Lites competition and has already attracted plenty of attention
and a considerable fan base in the USA. 
 
Jeffrey
van Horebeek, the third member of the Red Bull Teka KTM MX2 Factory
Racing Team is currently sidelined after injuring his shoulder in the
Belgian national championship.  
 
Jeffrey
Herlings: "I am very happy I felt very comfortable on the bike and
today I was the fastest guy out there on the track. And I'm pretty
satisfied that I came away with two wins and it's also good for the
championship. Now I'm only eight points behind my teammate Kenny." The
Dutch fans gave Jeffrey the star treatment and the young rider was
mobbed wherever he went over the weekend. 
 
While
teammate Ken Roczen was clearly disappointed not to take the win he
said he could still be satisfied with two second places and he was
happy to be going to the next GP in Glen Helen in the USA as the holder
of the red number plate. "I did expect a bit more today but Jeffrey was
going really fast and it was okay, also for the championship points,"
he said. Ken now goes back to the USA where he will race again in the
AMA SX Lites for several races in the run up to the USGP at Glen Helen. 
 
Red
Bull Teka KTM team boss Stefan Everts said he was "super satisfied"
with the MX2 results. "Coming into this GP we expected a great result
today. This time there was a lot of pressure on Jeffrey because he won
here last year and he showed something really great today, especially
when he came off the bike and got on and back in the race so quickly.
Now we are 1 and 2 in the championship and in the next GPs we will see
more fights between Ken and Jeffrey." 
 
First EMX2 GP to KTM rider Michael van Wesel of Netherlands 
Michael
van Wesel performed well on the Valkenswaard sand to take the first
EMX2 GP in front of his enthusiastic home crowd finishing with a 2-1
result to become the first to hold the red plate as championship
leader. "I had a bad start in the second moto and was back at 5 or 6
and the track is very rough. But I got back into it and had a good
race. Now it's a dream to have the red plate," he said. 
 
MX2 Round 2 
1, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM 25-25—50 points 
2, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 22-22—40 
3, Tommy Searle, Britain, Kawasaki, 20-20—40 
4, Arnaud Tonus, Switzerland, Yamaha, 18-18--36 
5, Gautier Pauling, France, Yamaha 16-15--31 
6, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM 13-16—29 
Other KTM 
10, Nikolaj Larsen, Denmark, KTM 10-9--19 
13, Antonio Butron, France, KTM 12-0—12 
14, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM 12-0—12 
16, Jordi Tixier, France, KTM 3-6—9 
19, Lars Olekma, Germany, 5-0—5 
20, Nick Triest, Belgium, KTM 0-4—4 
21, Pascal Rauchenecker, Austria, KTM 4-0—4 
 
MX2 Standings after two rounds 
1, Ken Roczen, Germany, KTM, 94 points 
2, Jeffrey Herlings, Netherlands, KTM, 86 
3, Tommy Searle, Britain, Yamaha, 84 
4, Arnaud Tonus, 67 
5, Gautier Paulin, 65 
Other KTM 
8, Joel Roelants, Belgium, KTM, 48 
10, Nicolas Aubin, France, KTM, 36 
 
EMX2 Round 1 
1, Michael van Wezel, Netherlands, KTM points 25-22—47 (also leads standings) 
2, Jens Getterman, Belgium, Yamaha, 20- 25—45 
3, Alexandr Desprey, France, Yamaha, 11-18—29 
4, Maxime Desprey, France, Yamaha, 11-18-29 
5, Even Heibye Norway, KTM, 14-15—29 
6, Romain Febvre, France, KTM, 15-9--24