Team HRC’s Tim Gajser still leads the 2022 Motocross World Championship by 79 points after the hottest and toughest MXGP of year at the Riola Sardo track in Sardinia, Italy. The deep sand track is a difficult enough challenge on its own but with temperatures approaching 30C, it was a real struggle for a lot of the best motocross riders on the planet.
Things were made even more difficult for the Slovenian as he came into the event having not eaten food for the previous couple of days due to an upset stomach. Thanks to the work of the team providing the best medical care possible, he was able compete at a high level for most of race one, but it did mean that he wasn’t able to continue his winning-streak that saw him win the last seven motos and take six overall victories out of seven GPs so far this year.
A holeshot in race one made his life a lot easier, as his Honda CRF450R powered him into the lead and gave him a clean track to try and navigate. Despite pressure the entire race, it looked like the #243 would hold onto the lead and take one of his toughest wins of the season, but with a couple of laps remaining, his illness caught up to him and he had to relinquish first position. Still, a second place was more than he expected coming into the weekend and actually extended his points advantage in the championship.
Race two didn’t get off to such a good start but he was still able to work his way into sixth by the time they crossed the line for the first lap. Settling into a good pace, he knew what he needed to do in order to finish with good results, however a crash halfway through the moto ruined those chances as he re-mounted down the field. Despite that disappointment, he kept it steady for the rest of the moto and crossed the line in 12th place, knowing that he’d been able to salvage a good haul of points given his condition.
Things were equally as tough for teammate Mitch Evans whose final results definitely don’t reflect the speed the Australian was able to show this weekend. In race one, the #43 was the fastest rider on the track at one stage of the moto, passing riders and moving towards his first top five finish of the season. However, the high temperatures took their toll and with just a few laps remaining, Evans dropped down the field and crossed the line just out of the points.
Looking to make amends in race two, he stormed out the gate and looked like he’d be fighting for a holeshot. Unfortunately, as he looked to sweep around the outside of the turn, he hit a soft spot of sand and buried his front-end. In the aftermath of the crash, another rider ripped off his front brake and he had to pull into the pits to try and fix the bike. By the time he re-joined the race, he was well down the field, but he still was able to do a couple of really fast laps before pulling out to fight another day.
The season now has a weekend off, giving Gajser and Evans a chance to recover, recuperate and prepare themselves for the ninth round of the championship in Spain on May 29, where both riders will be looking for redemption. For Gajser that’ll be looking to get back to winning ways and extending his impressive 79-point gap at the top of series, while Evans will be hoping to put together the complete package at the track and get the points-haul his speed deserves.
Tim Gajser 243
Obviously, these aren’t the results I wanted coming into the weekend, but leading up to the race I knew it would be a struggle. I hadn’t been feeling well at all, and I knew that with the high temperatures and the difficulty of the surface, I would need to be at my best to be able to compete in this MXGP class. In race one, I got my second holeshot of the year and controlled the majority of the race. It was just the final two laps I ran out of energy and had to settle for second. Unfortunately, in race two, I didn’t get as good a start and although I was feeling like I could run the pace and move through the field, I crashed whilst I was in sixth and that really hurt my momentum as I re-joined the race in 12th. I kept running, and finished the moto there, only dropping a couple of points in the championship battle but I am a little disappointed how it turned out overall.
I would like to say thank you to my girlfriend Spela, who missed her first event in six years as she was too sick to travel, I really appreciate everything she does and I missed her a lot. Also, a big thank you to Giulia and Filippo and the whole of Team HRC who helped get me through these two races, it wasn’t easy and without everyone’s work, my results would have been worse. Now, I just need to get myself fit and healthy again and get back to my previous form.
Race 1
1 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 25 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 35:24.028
2 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 22 Team HRC - MXGP 0:06.989
3 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 20 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing 0:11.426
4 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:16.782
5 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 16 Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team 0:23.969
6 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 15 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:28.515
7 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 14 Riley Racing 0:30.825
8 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 13 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:34.304
9 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 12 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 0:40.083
10 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 11 Beta SDM Corse MX Team 0:42.328
11 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 10 Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii 0:46.703
12 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 9 JK Racing Yamaha Active 0:48.623
13 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 8 JM Honda Racing 0:51.155
14 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 7 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery 0:51.937
15 Tixier Jordi 911 FRA 6 JT911 KTM Racing Team 1:01.239
16 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 5 Honda 114 Motorsports 1:24.600
17 Watson Ben 919 GBR 4 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1:29.550
18 Jasikonis Arminas 27 LTU 3 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:49.322
19 Charlier Christophe 23 FRA 2 Wildcard Rider 1:50.672
20 Sihvonen Miro 147 FIN 1 JWR Honda Racing 1:59.712
Race 2
1 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 25 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 35:06.004
2 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 22 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:16.425
3 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 20 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing 0:23.517
4 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:25.665
5 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 16 Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team 0:26.262
6 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 15 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:29.680
7 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 14 Honda 114 Motorsports 0:46.106
8 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 13 Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii 0:50.016
9 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 12 Beta SDM Corse MX Team 0:55.493
10 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 11 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 0:57.133
11 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 10 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery 0:58.716
12 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 9 Team HRC - MXGP 1:12.255
13 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 8 JK Racing Yamaha Active 1:35.240
14 Tixier Jordi 911 FRA 7 JT911 KTM Racing Team 1:58.839
15 Charlier Christophe 23 FRA 6 Wildcard Rider 1 Lap
16 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 5 Sahkar KTM Racing 1 Lap
17 Sihvonen Miro 147 FIN 4 JWR Honda Racing 1 Lap
18 Watson Ben 919 GBR 3 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1 Lap
19 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 2 JM Honda Racing 1 Lap
20 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 1 Riley Racing 12 Laps
Rider Standings
1 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 367 Team HRC - MXGP
2 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 288 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
3 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 264 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
4 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 260 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing
5 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 234 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
6 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 213 Honda 114 Motorsports
7 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 205 Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team
8 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 189 Beta SDM Corse MX Team
9 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 178 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
10 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 172 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team
Honda