Jeffrey Herlings achieved a personal milestone for the second time in as many rounds at the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina this past weekend, as his second moto victory was also the hundredth race win of his relatively short career. The event held significance for ‘84’, as a crash here last year kick-started an unfortunate string of hard falls and injuries.

The fourth fixture on the 2016 FIM Motocross World Championship calendar was far from testing for Jeffrey, however, as some quick moves meant he led all official laps and was unchallenged for the duration of each moto. In fact, the hardest part of his weekend came once the dust had settled post-race. In a bid to spend as much time at home as possible in the five days between the Argentine event and upcoming Mexican GP, Jeffrey rushed out of the facility as he had a plane to catch.

Why would an athlete as decorated and dominant as this elect to put his body through extra strain, rather than regroup and acclimatize ahead of the next event? It is really quite simple. “Since I dislocated my hip and broke my femur it has been hard to do things other than cycling, mountain biking, swimming and riding,” the Dutchman commented following his qualifying heat win.

“They are kind of the only things I can do. Going to Mexico I don’t have a cycle, I don’t have a mountain bike and I don’t have my practice bike. We managed to find some good flights home, so I can be home already on Monday evening. I will be flying back on Friday, so it will give three or four days at home to train, ride and do whatever. Yeah, it’s like that.”

Enlarge With one hundred MX2 race wins to his name, what is there left for Jeffrey on the 250F? Sean Ogden

The intense travel schedule should not be too much of an issue for him, however, as he tackled something similar between the Qatari and Thai fixtures. That obviously did not hinder him then, where temperatures soared considerably higher than they are expected to this weekend, as he was just as dominant as what we have seen at other events. Those are his plans for the immediate future, but what about the months that follow or, more specifically, next year?

Will Jeffrey Herlings make the step up to the bigger 450F and tackle MXGP? That is a question that has been pondered countless times over the last three years, but we are still no closer to an answer. The speculation has started earlier than usual this season, but Herlings has also chucked fuel on the fire at points. When questioned about his future plans, the Dutchman was quick to avoid any kind of commitment.

“We haven’t really made that decision yet. I still have a contract with Red Bull KTM for 2017, and that is a decision we will make together as a team. We planned to go up to MXGP two years ago, but then I broke my femur. Last year we said ‘okay, let’s hopefully get this championship’. We were again one hundred and forty or fifty points in front, but I got injured and Tim won the championship.”

“I don’t want to plan anything right now,” he continued. “Maybe I’ll mess up again and regret not winning the MX2 championship? Nothing is decided, but we’ll make that decision towards the end of the season. At that point we’ll check what’s best for me and what the best thing to do for KTM is.”

Although Jeffrey says the above when questioned publically, he told us exclusively that there is a part of him that regrets not making the jump up prior to this year. “When I see MXGP on days like today, I maybe have some regrets that I’m not racing those guys,” he commented following the Qatari MXGP opener last month. “I maybe have some small regrets, but I didn’t know when I was going to be back on the bike.” Herlings felt that way, as some of his former rivals were already enjoying the spoils of victory in the premier class. That hasn’t changed in the races that have followed, so you have to think those thoughts still linger.

You would think that, barring disaster, he will indeed vacate the class that he rules at the end of the year. But, then again, we would have said exactly the same the past three years. Time will tell, but there is no doubt that an overwhelming amount of fans worldwide are in favour of a change.

Words: Lewis Phillips | Image: Sean Ogden