The beautiful hillside venue of St Jean D’Angely in southwest France welcomes Team HRC this weekend for what is the third race in a row, and the seventh round of this highly competitive 2024 World Motocross Championship.
Off the back of the MXGP of Galicia, where Tim Gajser’s podium-streak came to an end, the Slovenian will be hoping for much better fortune in France, at a track that he won at in 2022 and in 2019. Speed certainly hasn’t been a problem for the #243, so now it is just putting it all together across the three motos of the weekend, and if he is able to do that, he stands a really good chance of getting back the much-coveted red-plate.
In MX2, Galicia saw the return of Ferruccio Zanchi, who had missed the previous three GPs through injury. The youngster rode extremely well on the loamy Lugo track and he’s raring to head to St Jean, which is a track he’s yet to race on. Starts were particularly impressive and he’ll be hoping for more of the same at the rocky St Jean track, where passing is always at a premium.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the weather forecast isn’t looking too great for the weekend, but being a regularly host of Grand Prix action, the track crew will be fully prepared and know exactly what will need to be done, should the rain start to fall. But rain or shine, both Gajser and Zanchi will be looking forward to the gate-drops and the continuation of their 2024 campaigns.
Tim Gajser: I’m excited to go to St Jean again. With the way that France does its GPs in rotation, it is good that we don’t go to the same track all the time and after a year off, I’m sure this weekend will be another good one. I’ve won there in the past and I know the track well, and hopefully the weather won’t affect it too badly as I’ve heard the forecast hasn’t been great leading up to the race and it isn’t so good over the weekend either. Still, we showed in Portugal we can cope with whatever happens so now the aim is to get back on the podium and enjoy the action.
Ferruccio Zanchi: I was happy with how Galicia went on my first-time back racing after missing a few rounds. It was nice and solid, and it was good to have a couple of really good starts over the weekend. My aim now is to finish a little bit closer to the front of the field each race, which I think is possible the more bike time I get and the more comfortable I feel. I haven’t actually raced at St Jean D’Angely before, but I’ve done well on other French tracks so I’m excited to see how this weekend goes.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas: The third of the triple-headers is now upon us and I must say a big thanks to all of the team members who have worked so hard these past couple of weeks in some very difficult conditions. France will be another testing weekend, but we are all focused on getting the right results and I think we are all looking forward to making it happen. Tim rode fantastically well in Lugo and it was great to have Ferro back with the team and putting in some great moments and now we’re going to be aiming for more in St Jean D’Angely.
