One of the most intriguing moves of the MXGP silly season was long-time Red Bull KTM leader Jeffrey Herlings defecting to the Honda HRC Petronas program, signalling a major shift as the five-time world champion enters the latter stages of his career. In this Five Questions feature, the 31-year-old Herlings outlines this newfound transition and what we can expect in 2026.

Image: Supplied.

Jeffrey, obviously, you’ve only been with the team since January 1. How difficult has it been to have this short timeline and is the aim to be ready for Argentina or is it sort of more to be aiming to win a little later?

I mean, the team might have time, but I don’t, because I don’t have 10 years more of racing in me, so I need to deliver, and I need to deliver quickly. Obviously, as you said, because I was just starting on January 1 and we’re only in February, [I] had a very short notice to get my clothing set up, to get my helmet, boots set up, to get my bike set up, to get everything set up. I just had like five, six weeks until now, and so we’re still learning, discovering, but I think we’re already on a good base, also on the bike. I think there’s a lot of potential, a lot of possibilities on the new bike. It’s kind of a prototype, it’s a new bike, it just came out, so for sure like I said there’s a lot of potential, but I need to deliver, I need to deliver quick, I’m aware of that, so yeah I don’t have time to keep waiting through the season – I need a few races to get myself warmed up. I could see last weekend, once again, I didn’t have the intensity, but hopefully by [Argentina] I’ll be good to go, and then hopefully we can start fighting for victories quickly.

Having seen you on the Honda in videos, it looks like you’ve taken a liking to the bike. Is there any moment you wish maybe changed teams sooner to experience new machinery at a different point in your career?

It’s always hard to say. My time at KTM was good as well, you know, I’ve accomplished a lot with them, so no negatives to them. For sure, we had ups, we had our downs, but I look back at a good memory with them. But it’s always been my dream to race for Honda HRC. I remember back in the days we were already negotiating, I was really close to signing with Honda in 2016 already, and then for me, there was only one option if I were to leave KTM – it would be for Honda. It’s been my childhood dream, and now that I’m on the bike, I’m really surprised how good it is. I do get on a new prototype bike, so you know [it] would have been easier if I had stood on the other bike, the previous one, because they had so much experience and years of development in it already. So now it’s in its infancy, the new bike which I’m riding, so it also gives me a lot of hope that there’s so much potential left in the bike. But yeah, you know, coming to the team now, I know it’s the latest stage in my career, but I have no regrets about not coming earlier because, as I said, I had a great time at the other team as well. But it’s a blessing, and yeah, a thing I should I never wanted to miss is to go to Honda HRC, so I’m very happy I made this decision.

The last couple of seasons were marred by serious injuries before the season started. How did you approach this year to hopefully avoid that situation again?

Obviously, the first race hasn’t started in the MXGP series, but I mean motocross is a risky sport, there’s a lot of risk involved, so injuries are part of the sport. Last year, I missed the start of the season – it was the first two races, and then I got back racing with just a couple of days on the bike, and I really had to build myself back into it because the first races were a big struggle as I was six months out with an ACL injury. But for now, I’m feeling good, I’m feeling fit. I do feel the lack of racing, as I saw in Mantova, just the intensity wasn’t there, but that’s why I do these races to warm up and get ready for the first GP. As I said, I don’t have many chances left, so every chance I have, I need to take it with both hands, and yeah, just really feeling good and fit right now.

Image: Supplied.

This year, it feels like the veterans versus the rookies in the class. Does this make it exciting for you?

I mean, it feels to me like it’s just the same guys over and over again, so I don’t see any big changes yet. There are a couple of guys coming up, but I think it will be the same guys who’ve been fighting for the championship this year, as it has been the last couple of years. Just the party will be a bit bigger because there are two or three more new riders getting involved. But yeah, definitely looking forward to it, I feel like I can still do it, if not, I wouldn’t have even started, you know? Like, if I look at the last few races last year when I was healthy, I won most of them and got like five podiums straight and won three out of the last five races, I think, so definitely super excited. This is a completely new adventure, a big new motivation, you know, after 17 years working with one team, then going into a new team for the last two or three years of your career makes things quite exciting and just brings a hell of a lot of new motivation. So yeah, definitely nice to race with the rookies, but at the end of the day, this championship is so long with 60 motos, so it’s about consistency. You saw in the past, you saw last year with [Romain] Febvre just being there every single weekend, being consistent. I think that’s the thing that will bring you a championship.

In America, Jorge Prado went from KTM to Kawasaki. Was that worrying for you, seeing someone of his talents struggling to cope with the change of bike, or did it provide a sort of motivation that you wanted to show that it is possible?

The change from KTM to Kawasaki is a different thing from the change from a KTM to a Honda. I think a Honda is a more proven bike, you saw even in the US with Jett [Lawrence], you saw in Europe with Tim [Gajser], so I think it’s different. Obviously, it gave me some time to think about it, because I never tested before I signed up with Honda HRC. So, I never tested the bike, and it was kind of a gamble, you know, so I never knew maybe it was not going to fit, maybe it was going to fit much better than my KTM. I didn’t know, but right now, as I’m on the Honda, I have no regrets. As I said, it’s a brand-new bike, and how good it is already, I think there’s much more potential in the bike, and yeah, definitely looking forward to this year’s racing.