Jeffery Herlings elected to travel to the UK to compete in the second date of the national series in the absence of other pre-season events and with the FIM MXGP Motocross World Championship delayed twice.
Herlings last rolled into a start gate at the Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza, September 2020.
The Dutchman headed Timed Qualification by over a second around the shallow hillside course. In the first moto he ran out of time to chase down local Ben Watson after having to stop briefly to dislodge a stone from the rear end of the bike. He collected a solid runner-up finish. In the second outing he hounded his MXGP peer and made the move to lead the field. Less than a second split Herlings and Watson at the flag and thanks to his victory he reached the highest step of the podium even though they tied on points.
“It was a good day of racing,” the 26-year-old said. “I had a bit of a problem in the first moto and lost around ten seconds while I sorted out the stone. I came back through the pack but the track wasn’t easy for passing and I finished on the leader’s rear wheel.
“In the second moto I had to come back from 6-7th at the start, although I could reach 1st place this time. I had a few issues with arm-pump but I guess that’s normal after eight months away from a race! We’ll keep working from here and hope to get a bit better each week until we go to Russia.”
The Grand Prix of Russia opens 2021 MXGP in three weeks.
ACU British Motocross Championship MX1 overall result, Round 2, Lyng:
- Jeffrey Herlings, KTM, 47pts
- Ben Watson, Yamaha, 47pts
- Tommy Searle, Honda, 36pts
- Adam Sterry, KTM, 33pts
- Jake Millward, KTM 33pts
