Five-time world champion and 104-time GP overall winner, Jeffrey Herlings, has voiced his concerns about rider safety in the MXGP World Championship. In an interview with Dutch media outlet omroepbrabant.nl, Herlings was candid on the issue.
“What is happening is shocking. I am aware that this is a dangerous sport. Accidents just happen in motocross. And sometimes that’s just bad luck. But the organisation can also reduce the risk of accidents and make care better. But they don’t. Making money seems more important than investing in safety. The other day, MX2 just took off while it was thundering hard. That’s life-threatening! You won’t hear me whining about hard rain, but I think this is absolutely unacceptable.
“Take the finish jump at the GP in Portugal. If you jump off along there, after 30 metres you fall straight onto the concrete. That’s one of the things… I understand that racing in Europe is sometimes difficult because of lack of space but the organisation gets a serious amount of money to organise a GP. So then in some cases go to a bigger, better venue where you can build a safer track. Also make sure you have flaggers and track sprinklers with experience. Work with people who do this weekly and not with a different inexperienced team in each country. If the track is not maintained in time, you get deep ruts and it becomes dangerous. And put less dangerous obstacles in the track”.
Herlings has also highlighted concerns with medical care, something the FIM have had issues with this year in the cases of Brent van Doninck, Henry Jacobi and Pauls Jonass…
“A handful of teeth were out of his (Jacobi’s) mouth and they dragged him off the track like a doormat knocked out. You have to be more careful with that, because for the same money the boy had broken his neck and the consequences were incalculable. I don’t think that’s acceptable. They should treat us with more respect, because we are not dogs”.
The Factory KTM rider emphasizes that it is time for action and changes to be implemented in the series to benefit the next generation of riders aspiring to compete in the MXGP World Championship.
“The organisation could well give a bit more and take less. We already don’t get any prize money from them, so it’s okay to ask if they want to invest in safety. Fewer accidents is also better for them. But actually it is time for action… As competitors, we don’t talk much among ourselves, so it will be quite difficult to bring everyone together. But without clowns, there is no show and people don’t go to the circus. We have to do something for the next generation, because otherwise it will go back to the cover-up”.
Source: omroepbrabant.nl
