Image: Ray Archer.

Red Bull KTM rider Jeffrey Herlings could step up to the premier MXGP category as soon as next year, an interview with European publication Motocross Illustrated has revealed.

At just 19, Herlings has won the last two MX2 championships aboard the KTM 250 SX-F, but has come under increasing pressure from fans to step up to MXGP alongside Italy’s seven-time world champion Antonio Cairoli.

“I am happy in MX2, but I don’t want to always stay in MX2,” Herlings commented. “I am only 19, I am young to move up to MXGP, and if I move to MXGP next year I will only be 20 and I will be really young.

“If I stay people will say I am scared of Cairoli, and I am not scared of Cairoli. What is best for me to do? Because I am so young, when you want to beat Cairoli you need a lot of experience and he isn’t an easy guy to beat.”

If Herlings clinches a third consecutive MX2 title in 2014, he would equal Gaston Rahier, Harry Everts and Alessio Chiodi in winning three-straight titles. A fourth in 2015 would make him the most successful of all time.

“I mean to win three in a row would be cool, and winning four would be awesome, but let us try and get the third one first,” he added. “We have two at the moment and then [we will] check out what we do for next year.

“In a couple of months we will make a decision, but it isn’t just my decision, but also the decision of Red Bull KTM.”