Honda HRC Petronas rider Jeffrey Herlings showed he is in no mood to concede the title, despite his main rival, Lucas Coenen still holding a healthy margin. The elder statesman of the MXGP field( he said it, not me) showed he not only still has the pace, he will also fight tooth and nail for every single point on offer. In Portugal, that meant pulling out all the tricks to win Race 2 after coming second to a certain Mr Coenen in the first outing. Equal on points but securing the overall was key. Sure, the gap wasn’ t reeled in but he kept his hopes alive and showed the younger racer that he is still a force to be reckoned with. For the record, it was his 117th GP win, yep, 117. And still counting. Not that Herlings is counting the wins, he is focused on the 57-point deficit to Lucas in the season’ s standings. It is 449 to Herlings, 506 to Coenen. The rest of the season is going to be gruelling as the duo forge ahead of the rest but who will blink first, the veteran or the steely-eyed youngster?
COLE CONQUERS REDBUD
Independence Day in the US-of-A is a big deal. The RedBud Round is arguably the most prestigious moto of the year for American fans. What better time for the Australasian contingent to dominate the podium. For the Aussies, the Lawrence brothers were battling each other hard out but Hunter took the round and now has the red plate. For the Kiwis though, it was the 250s that had them cheering loudest as Cole Davies took Race 1. It was looking like he might do a clean sweep as took the holeshot in the second moto but a determined Jo Shimoda hunted him down and took the race win. Jo scored a 3-1 but Cole had a 1-2 day, so took the honours on the biggest day of the season. With the points being tight in the class, Shimoda now has the red plate but Davies is only four points in arrears, so it is all on! Naturally, our money is on Cole.