MXGP
Team HRC’s Tim Gajser was victorious in the MXGP of Czech Republic qualification race, leading from practically start to finish as he increased his lead at the top of the 2024 MXGP world championship to 35 points.
Posting fast times in free practice, and timed practice, Gajser knew that the start would be critical on this Loket circuit and he was able to power his Honda CRF450R around the first turn, just narrowly missing out on the holeshot. Putting pressure on the leader for the first half of the first lap, he quickly moved into the lead and from then on, he controlled the race and took a strong race win for the maximum 10 points. It was a great ride in difficult circumstances as his championship rivals were directly behind him, but the #243 never wavered and was eventually able to take the chequered flag with a five second buffer.
With gate-pick not being so critical on this circuit, the Slovenian rider knows he’ll have to repeat those good starts if he wants to win his first ever GP here tomorrow, but given how well that has been going in the past couple of rounds, this could be statement weekend for the five-time world champion.
MX2
Ferruccio Zanchi put in a really impressive charge through this competitive MX2 class, to work his way from 17th up into the points, eventually finishing 10th. He didn’t get the best jump out the gate, and on a track that is known to be difficult to pass on, it seemed he faced an uphill battle to work his way forward, however the youngster never gave up and just picked off riders in a consistent manner to gain the one point. Knowing he has what it takes to make the moves, the aim now is to get a better start on lap one and give himself the opportunity to move forward inside the top 10 and really score some decent points in the GP-scoring motos.
- Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:44.517; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.050; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:01.884; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:06.720; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.056; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:32.161; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.942; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:36.346; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:46.141; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:48.204;
Tim Gajser 243
t was really nice to get the win here today and take maximum points. Gate-pick isn’t so important at this track but winning here isn’t easy so it feels good to get the victory and now the aim is to repeat that for tomorrow. Once again, my start was a good one and put me position to capitalise on any mistakes and that’s exactly what I was able to do and every point is critical at this stage of the championship so I want to try and do the same thing tomorrow, and take my first ever GP overall here.
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
I was happy with how I rode today, and I made a lot of passes in the qualification race to score a point. It wasn’t easy to make the moves, but I felt good and I think if I can get a better start tomorrow, I will be in a much better prepared to score some good points. I had some things I wanted to improve after Indonesia and I think today was a positive step, but now I need to go out and do it again for the GP races.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
We know that Loket hasn’t always been good for Tim in the past, but he showed today that he didn’t let it affect him and rode a really strong race. To lead every lap with pressure from behind isn’t easy, but that’s what he was able to do and getting 10pts is a nice result for today. Now, he needs to focus on doing the same thing tomorrow, which is definitely possible given how he is riding, and we will try everything we can to help him achieve it.
Ferro also put in a good performance to come from around 17th place all the way through to 10th on a track that wasn’t easy to pass on. He just kept pushing and pushing and while others struggled to stay consistent, he just kept the laptimes steady and didn’t make any mistakes. We will work on trying to get a good start for tomorrow and if he can do that, we think it’ll be a good day for him.
@shotbybavo
