On Track Off Road No.184

FEATURE
1) WHO WILL MAKE
THE ORANGE
LOOK OVER THEIR
SHOULDERS?
2018 MXGP was an anomaly.
There were only three winners
in the premier class. Two of
those scooped a total of just
three Grands Prix between
them. One rider owned all the
other seventeen. In 2017 there
were six victors, in 2016 seven.
World Champion Jeffrey
Herlings has already rolled
out the carpet to invite others
to a scene of more parity
in the category thanks to his
broken right foot. Tony Cairoli,
world #2 and one of the three
‘chosen ones’ of 2018, may
have had one of his driest
seasons last year but Herlings
was not exaggerating when he
claims he saw the 222 riding
better than ever at the age of
32. It will be curious to see if
the lack of a Herlings-pacemaker
will see the nine-times
number one push at the same
or higher intensity or taper-off
his race speed to cope with
the threats around him. Cairoli’s
consistency makes him the
next immediate benchmark
for the title assuming that
Herlings will have missed too
many points by the time he is
fit and race-ready.
A KTM will again be the main
target…but expect more
winners in 2019 because
Herlings’ chastening infliction
of result on his peers last
summer has forced brands,
teams, riders and support
structures to heavily evaluate
their ‘packages’ to combat
the dominance.
Where would you put your
money? Three names pop up
instantly. The only Japanesemachine
mounted MXGP winner
in 2018, Monster Energy
Kawasaki’s Clement Desalle
(with a new KX450F to-boot),
Team HRC’s Tim Gajser
(embracing his first healthy
off-season in two years) and
Monster Energy Yamaha’s
Romain Febvre.
Febvre in particular has
made some alterations to his
training output in an effort
to regain some of that fearless
and energetic form that
drove him onwards to a 2015
championship. 2016 was
ruined by a concussion, 2017
was speared due to a misstep
with set-up of the factory
YZ450FM and 2018 was a
lumpy ride of injury set-backs