he motocross world will probably never really know just how close we all came to seeing Jeffrey Herlings, the reigning FIM Motocross World Champion and current FMOTP (fastest man on the planet), spending his summer racing here in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. Herlings, unable to line up in the early MXGP rounds after badly injuring his foot in preseason training, was hoping to be ready by mid-May in order to cross the Atlantic to race against U.S.-based rivals like Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Marvin Musquin, and more. The Dutchman had gotten a taste of American motocross in 2017 through a cameo appearance at the last AMA round in Indiana, posting a convincing win. Now, with the MXGP title lost, he had a unique chance to race in America for a summer without having to go through the meat grinder that supercross often becomes for imported talent.
There was immediate pushback from some in the European MX media, who talked about it ending badly for Jeffrey—and they may have had a point if he’d lost, as Ryan Villopoto found out in 2015 when he went to Europe for a short, ill-advised misadventure.
Herlings has been at the top of his game since that day in Indiana, winning 17 of 19 MXGP rounds last year. The 24-year-old was fascinated by the possibility, and he teased the possibility with little hints on social media. Then in early March he told a Dutch news site that it was “definitely an option to ride in America. I am certainly open to it, but only if I am completely fit again, can prepare well and be able to ride for the title. Next week we have talks with the team in Austria, which is one of the scenarios that will be discussed, but it is only later that we cut the knot.”
A call was even made to the AMA to reserve #784, which was the number Herlings wore in Indiana.
In another interview he said, “When I come back, I want to do that with a bang. It also depends on what KTM says. Of course, there are many interests attached to it. It also depends on what KTM is going to say and how soon they want to see me again. It is an option to go to America, but I can also start training in Europe for a month or two.”
By that point, KTM was being pulled in two different directions. Herlings lining up in America would have been huge, but also problematic.
“In Jeffrey’s contract, only the World Championship is included in the MXGP,” said KTM sports director Joel Smets, a former champion himself. “Participating in the motocross circuit in America was a wish, an idea. However, KTM already has two riders there, the American Cooper Webb and the Frenchman Marvin Musquin. Another rider would cause unnecessary rivalry. We prefer to see him alongside Tony Cairoli in the MXGP. We expect him back on the bike at the end of April, but we will not put a date on his return. That will also be a return in which he has to drive with less ambitious goals.”
Red Bull, the global sponsor of KTM, was more than willing to shift budgets and take on the responsibility of added costs and bonuses for Herlings’ move. There was an inquiry concerning the availability of the various national tracks for Herlings to possibly rent and preview, should he really pull the switch. A call was even made to the AMA to reserve #784, which was the number Herlings wore in Indiana.
However, with his ankle still far from healed and with Hangtown rapidly approaching, KTM made the decision in April to keep Herlings in Europe, despite his inability to defend his MXGP title.
“I actually wanted to go, but logistical-wise, if something happened to Tony, they would have nobody here in MXGP and three in America,” Herlings explained to the Grand Prix-based MX Large website. “For KTM it wasn’t an option, although I would have dreamt to do it. It was a lifetime chance, I would say, and I had to only spend three months there. I was prepared to do it, but I have an MXGP contract, so we couldn’t make it happen.” 