MXGP
Team HRC’s Tim Gajser fought through the pack to finish fifth in the MXGP of the Netherlands qualification race, held at the sand track of Arnhem. After a second-place in timed practice, the Slovenian was in high hopes heading into the qualification race, but he wasn’t able to get a good enough start around the tight left-hander and instead had to come through from outside the top 10.
Motivated to show everyone his sand skills, the Honda CRF450R rider immediately looked more comfortable than the last time on the soft-stuff in Lommel, Belgium and put in some really fast laps in free and timed practice. One of those was good enough for second gate-pick heading into the qualification race, with the hope to challenge at the front of the field and keep his good run of Saturday results going.
Unfortunately, after fighting up to ninth by the time they rounded the first lap, he gave himself too much to do to get up to the leaders and although he overtook some high-quality riders, he had to settle for fifth by the time he received the chequered flag. It was still a decent result for the championship and he still leads the series by 15 points, but he’ll be hoping to be closer to the podium positions tomorrow when the GP-scoring motos take place.
MX2
After an excellent eighth in timed practice, Team HRC’s Ferruccio Zanchi was victim to some first lap craziness which dropped him well down the field on the first lap. As the young Italian tried to get himself into the top 20, he unfortunately had a crash that ended his involvement in the race and as such, he’ll be lining up in last position for the two races tomorrow.
It isn’t an ideal situation, but he is motivated to see what he can achieve given the difficulty he faces in the first few corners.
- Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 25:07.407; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:21.785; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:23.132; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:30.792; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:31.808; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:34.441; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:42.345; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:44.593; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:55.567; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:59.560; … 36. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), -9 lap(s);
Tim Gajser 243
It was an okay result, considering where I started. I felt like I found some rhythm near the end of the race, but I was out of touch of those in front so I didn’t want to push too much today. I know my start can be a lot better and if I can get out front with those guys, I’m sure I can have a good battle and fight for another podium performance.
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
Definitely not a good day for me, but sometimes it can happen and I know that these MX2 starts have had a lot of similar incidents this year, so I need to try and avoid them. After that, I made quite a lot of passes but then I had a crash and I didn’t think it was wise to continue. I’ll be right on the outside for the start so that will be a challenge but I am still confident with my riding and we’ll see how far up I can get up to tomorrow.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
We knew this would be an important round and it was good to see that Tim looked a lot better when he took to the track in the morning. His lap in timed practice was very impressive and we had high hopes that he could challenge at the front of the field in the qualification race. Unfortunately, he got squeezed out at the start and from then it was just about how high he could get. Fifth was still a good recovery and we didn’t lose too many points in the championship but obviously, we’ll be after more in the two longer races.
Ferruccio had some bad luck getting caught up in that big pile-up in the second turn and he was coming through the field, but sometimes when you’re pushing like that surrounded by riders it can be easier to make a mistake. Still, tomorrow is a new day and he enjoys riding the track so we’re excited to see what he can achieve.
Honda: @shotbybavo
