Jeffrey Herlings: The crash that almost left him paralysed

SportSpiel

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with 2018 MXGP World Champion Jeffrey Herlings.
In this wide-ranging chat the motocross star takes us through his childhood and the horrifying crash that derailed his 2020 season.

Herlings was the red-hot favourite for last year’s MXGP world championship title but it all changed in September when he was involved in that head-first crash in free practice at the Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza in Italy.

The impact was so powerful the Dutchman was unable to move, and he lay motionless on the track. In his words he thought that was going to be game over and that he might have been paralysed.

Thankfully – Herlings’ injuries were not as bad as first feared, he was incredibly lucky and he knows it. But that crash has changed his outlook on life, and his outlook on how he approaches racing for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team.

With the 2021 campaign scheduled to start in a couple of months all focus is now on winning the world championship again, but as Jeffrey explains in this episode it’s about enjoying things a lot more now rather than putting an intense amount of pressure back on his shoulders.

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Watch Jeffrey Herlings' episode on Red Bull's MX World here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd6rW_9Twi0

Credits

Images: Red Bull Content Pool
Music: Otis McDonald