It has been a tough season for Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jeffrey Herling, and while it looks like he will finally end a season without major injuries, he has struggled to find the form of his 2018 and 2021 seasons.

A handful of Grand Prix victories and third place in the World isn’t a bad year for most riders, but when you are a five-time World champion, it just isn’t really what you are looking for. The Dutchman though had a goal at the start of the season and after having injury riddled 2022 and 2023 seasons, he was just happy to get through the year in one piece.

He sat down with the media at the press conference in China and told us about his weekend and his accident in Turkey, which did in fact break a couple of ribs.

MXLarge: You have been riding with some pain, can you tell us about that?

Herlings: Yes, in Turkey I made a silly crash by myself and obviously, I burnt my arm, which didn’t really bother me, but at the same time I broke my hand guard with my ribs and unfortunately, I broke two ribs, again. People who have had it, will understand, you can ride with it, but it is everything apart from being nice. Today I didn’t have much to lose, the championship was kind of over. I just wanted to get through this weekend, try and be on the podium. I could have tried to catch Romain, but it would have meant nothing different for the championship. No different for the overall and I just thought, lets go home safe from this place, take it easy. I am looking forward to the last one in Spain and my ultimate goal was to finish the season without major injury and I have 95% done, so finally the first time since 2017 without missing a round. That was for me more important than the championship, even though I would have liked to have fought for the championship. Two more weeks, Spain, then the Nations and I am quite happy its going to be over.

MXLarge: A different format due to the weather. How did you find the format, a much shorter day and just one day?

Herlings: Basically, I am a big fan of the one-day format, we see how many riders got hurt throughout the season. In the US, they have more races, but they also have three championships, so somebody like Lawrence now, they can win supercross, they can win motocross, and they can win SMX. If we get hurt, our season is over, no championships. Like with Romain, he got hurt, missed three races and the championship is gone, just from casing one jump. Also, the risk of two days, and we do 60 motos long, so I am a big fan of the one-day format, but I also understand, there is a market behind it. For the fans, who pay such a price to come and watch, they want to see us two days instead of one, so I also get that part, and I totally respect that.

MXLarge: Can you explain how it is to come to China and race here, the atmosphere, the track and everything else?

Herlings: Obviously for me, it was a very short trip, I came in on Saturday and for sure the weather was quiet shocking, because when I got on the plane back home it was raining and 12 degrees. I came out and I was like, wow, is this a sauna or something. There were not many fans, which is a shame, coming to China and not seeing many fans (the fans bought Sunday and Monday tickets and due to the storm didn’t come to the track). It is a world championship, and I am happy we travel all over the World and its good for the brands, like Kawasaki, KTM and the others. I think for the market it is good and it stays a World championship, and we had less riders here, apart from some Chinese guys I passed a couple of times, at least. The top guys were really quick. End of the day, it was a good event, the track was really nice. It wasn’t easy to pass, but there was not much riding with just two classes and little time on the track. It was like a road racing circuit this morning and by two o’clock, we were finished. With all the rumours about what was coming (a tornado), so I just hoped everyone stayed safe.

Ray Archer images