Team HRC riders Tim Gajser and Ferruccio Zanchi head north to Uddevalla, Sweden for the 15th round of the 2024 MXGP World Championship, which is the first of three rounds in a row as the end of the season approaches very quickly. Following on in the next two weekends will be the Netherlands and Switzerland, before the series finishes in Turkiye, China and Spain.
Last time, it was the deep sands of Lommel, but the Uddevalla track is completely different with the hillside venue providing a much rockier terrain for the riders to negotiate. It hasn’t always allowed for the best racing in the past as rain meant that one fast-line developed, but hopefully this year they will work on the track and try to give the thousands of fans some great action around the circuit.
Hoping to be the cause of the cheering will be five-time world champion, Gajser, who still leads the series by 24 points. He knows that this is a track that he can perform well at, and that he needs to put in three strong races to maintain that gap at the top of the championship for the remaining rounds. It won’t be easy of course, but he has performed well in similar conditions and with him utilising the power of the Honda CRF450R and powering out of the gate well in recent rounds, he’ll be confident when they line-up on Saturday and Sunday.
Zanchi will also be feeling good about his chances after a standout performance in Belgium last time out. Running inside the top three for 90% of the race, he only let slip a potential podium finish on the very last lap and while he was obviously disappointed to have done so, he also knew that it was still an excellent ride. With a weekend off to reflect on that, he’ll be heading to Sweden looking to finish off the job and get himself a much-deserved top five placing and really set himself for a strong ending to his rookie MX2 campaign.
Unfortunately it seems like there will be heavy rain in the build-up to the weekend’s action, but once that clears, the conditions should be good for raceday, in what is a highly anticipated round of the world motocross championships.
Tim Gajser: ”I’ve won at Uddevalla before, but it has been a few years. Lommel didn’t go so well last time out, but before that I won in Loket so it just goes to show how quickly things can change. Now, I’m focused on Sweden and making sure I ride at the level I know I can ride and if I do that, I’m sure I’ll be back on the box once again.”
Ferruccio Zanchi: ”I felt like my riding was really good in Lommel and if it wasn’t for that mistake in the first race, I’d have got a third-placed finish. Uddevalla is a completely different test though, with a rocky, hard-pack surface so I’ll need to adapt my riding for it. I’m excited to get back to racing, after this weekend off and I’m hoping to put in some good races before the end of the season.”
Marcus Pereira de Freitas: ”It was good to have a weekend break between all these races because the end of the season will come really quickly now. This triple-header of Sweden, Netherlands and Switzerland are coming up next and are completely different challenges, so the whole team have to be prepared for everything. We know Sweden is hard to pass at, so the starts will be more crucial than usual, but thankfully Tim has been good at them recently and Ferruccio showed in Lommel he can get out of the gate well too. That will be our focus, but of course we will be working hard at every aspect to make sure both riders are as prepared as they can be.”
Photocredits – ShotbyBavo
