Rob Koy

Jeffrey Herlings' Day at WW Ranch USGP 2017 | PHOTOS

Jeffrey went 2-1 for 1st overall at the USGP

At WW Ranch, Jeffrey Herlings went 2-1 for 1st overall at the USGP. The Red Bull KTM Factory racing rider concluded his two week stay in the United States with another overall 1st place win. We will take you through Jeffrey's weekend in Jacksonville, Florida at the new WW Ranch as they held the first big stage race since only one month ago the site had to be changed as the Gatorback Cycle Park promotor could not come to lease terms with the land owners.

Jeffrey Herlings MXGP Red Bull Factory KTM sits under the US KTM rig early Saturday morning before the track activities got underway at WW Ranch.Rob Koy
Jeffrey took to the new track in the free practice to work on his lines and speed before the timed practice that would follow almost 2 1/2 hours later in the afternoon. Here Jeffrey works on his scrubs on the big man-made hill in the middle of the track.Rob Koy
Jeffrey waited until his last lap of the MXGP timed practice to record the fastest time of the session with a time of 2:00.782. The track was considerably wet from the rainstorms that occurred overnight.Rob Koy
Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli battled for the first four laps of the Qualifying race. Then on lap 5 Jeffrey got by Cairoli on the downhill of WW Ranch.Rob Koy
Jeffrey takes the checkers in the Qualifying race. Jeffrey was able to gap Antonio Cairoli by 19.666 seconds at the end of the race. Jeffrey will have the 1st gate pick in Moto 1 and Moto 2 on Sunday.Rob Koy
Jeffrey Herlings' bike looked a little different Sunday morning before the warm up practice. The team went with a larger fuel tank as they said that after the Qualifying race they did some calculations and decided that a bigger tank was needed for Jeffrey’s riding style.Rob Koy
In the warm up practice, Jeffrey was pre-jumping the braking bumps on the big hill in the middle of the track.Rob Koy
Jeffrey was able to clear the top of the hill and land 10-15 feet down on the downhill.Rob Koy
For the 1st Moto Jeffrey and a RedBull KTM team member scope out the gates as he had the 1st gate pick in both Motos. New this year is the metal grates behind each gate making the conditions behind the gate the same for everyone.Rob Koy
Jeffrey prepares for the 1st Moto as the rest of the field chooses their gates. Each rider has to push their own bike into their gate and set the bike themselves as the mechanics look on.Rob Koy
Jeffrey Herlings got a top ten start in the 1st Moto and was in 8th place after the 1st lap. Jeffrey made some passes on the opening laps and was able to move into 2nd place on lap 6. On lap 2, Jeffrey made three passes as he crosses the finish line.Rob Koy
Jeffrey crosses the American flag as he went over the many steep jumps on the WW track. Jeffrey said that the track was one of his favorite tracks of the year. As a sand specialist he used his momentum speed to stay light in the turns and on top of the bumps.Rob Koy
Jeffrey said that he had to turn some fast laps in the beginning half of the race to get into 2nd place. By that time Eli had a big gap on him and Jeffrey said he backed it down the last five laps to save some energy for Moto 2 as a 2nd is just as good as a 1st in Moto 1 for the overall.Rob Koy
With one lap to go Jeffrey backed his time down by over 8 seconds as he had 2nd place wrapped up. Jeffrey was turning 2:03 to 2:07 laps in the 1st three quarters of the race and was able to match Eli’s speed but Eli got away off the start and was gone.Rob Koy
After a sub par start in Moto 1, Jeffrey looked for a better line into turn 1 for a better start. Checkout Jeffrey’s butt patch for the weekend.Rob Koy
Jeffrey got a better start in Moto 2 with a 4th place start as the field hits the the 1st table.Rob Koy
Jeffrey quickly got into 3rd place over the Monster Energy hill on the 1st lap.Rob Koy
Jeffrey chased Antonio Cairoli for the 1st nine laps until Antonio fell over on lap 10 giving the lead to Herlings. Jeffrey is told “no clutch work legs” as he passes the mechanics suite.Rob Koy
Jeffrey led the last seven laps and was able to gap Antonio Cairoli by 15.990 seconds. Jeffrey’s fast lap was 2:03.788 while Antonio Cairoli’s fast lap was 2:03.728. If Antonio didn’t fall it would have been a good battle as the KTM riders' lap times were close.Rob Koy
Jeffrey said that coming to Florida for two weeks to get use to the Florida heat definitely helped him deal with his heat issues at the hot weather races.Rob Koy
Jeffrey Herlings went 2-1 for 1st overall at the USGP in Jacksonville, Florida.Rob Koy

Working with Aldon Baker at the Bakers Factory in Center Hill, Florida was fun and going up to Crawfordsville, Indiana the week before and racing at Ironman Raceway made the trip all worth it. Jeffrey said that this opportunity to race US National might not ever happen again as he was out of the points in the MXGP series after starting late in the series when he came back from a wrist injury. Jeffrey said he is looking forward to Assen next week and Villars sous Ecot in two weeks at the MXGP season finale.