The MXGP season is less than three weeks out, and the defending World Champion’s status for the Matterly Basin opener is now in serious question. On Monday, Jeffrey Herlings, practicing in Spain, injured his left foot after a crash. It is now confirmed that after he went home to Belgium, he has undergone successful surgery on his heel. The reigning World Champion, who missed three rounds a year ago due to injury, will likely again this year.
The Accident
Latvian Motocross Champion Davis Livs was the gentleman who unveiled the video of the crash itself. Which was posted on Twitter the day after.
Herlings crash un Spain. @JasonWeigandt @pulpmx @racerxonline @rotoxmoto pic.twitter.com/ziolnSjMhy
— Davis Livs (@DavisLivs) February 1, 2022
You may not be able to make it out, but the rider on the inside is Red Bull KTM MX2 rider Tom Vialle. Given that he and Herlings were riding here on top of the photographer seen off to the side, this appears to be one costly photo-op for the Orange Brigade. In the press release KTM released (more on that in a moment), Herlings claims that he hit a rock on the ramp lead up. That would explain a lot given how he went over the bars. All in all, this is an unfortunate situation for Herlings and KTM consider how and where this happened. ‘The Bullet’ had just come off a convincing win in the opening round of the Spanish Motocross Championship as well.
KTM Press Release
Along with Herlings’ statement, was some words from Red Bull KTM manager Joel Smets.
“We’re paying the price for a ‘nothing’ crash. I think I might have hit a small stone on the take-off and that put me over the bars. The impact was pretty big on my left foot and we needed to get it fixed the best we could. Big thanks to the medical staff for looking after me and getting my foot repaired, again! Also to the whole Red Bull KTM team: we’d worked hard for this 2022 season and the goal now is to be back and winning as soon as we can.” – Jeffrey Herlings
“Of course, this is very disappointing for Jeffrey, the team and the championship. Trying to look at the positive side the injury is not as complicated as his foot problem in 2019. The operation took some time but everything went well and we hope Jeffrey can be out of a cast in less than two weeks and can even start some light training such as swimming and some other activities. Then we’ll have to see how he recovers to plan his GP return.” – Joel Smets
Recovery Timeline
As a part of his surgery, Herlings now has multiple screws and a plate inserted into his foot. If Smets’ initial timeline is to be believed, you could jot down ‘The Bullet’ as doubtful for the Matterly Basin season opener. However, there is some good news for Herlings. The opening month of the MXGP season only has three schedule rounds. In addition, there is an additional week off after round three. In short, if Herlings recovers from this heel break relatively quickly, the time missed may not be much at all.
Considering Herlings won last year’s Championship after missing three rounds, that should be some source of confidence. In any event, it appears both Herlings and Romain Febvre, who finished top two in last year’s championship, will both miss this year’s opener with injuries. As long as Tim Gajser is 100-percent, these could be some long days for the rest of the GP field.
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
