For the third time in his highly-successful career, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser has won the MXGP of Latvia on board his Honda CRF450RW. In what were two vastly different motos due to the weather conditions, the #243 stayed solid and consistent, going two-two for first overall, and more than doubling his MXGP championship points lead in the process.
The sandy Kegums track is always a tricky proposition for the riders with the soft top layer making way for a firm base, but all day long Gajser showed he was a match for all conditions. Qualifying took place in bright sunshine, and after getting first gate-pick last week in Lommel, he backed it up by getting the second-choice time this weekend. This gave him the platform to get out of the gate and challenge round the first bend and that’s exactly what he did in both races, crossing the holeshot line in about fifth place each moto.
In the first moto, the weather remained sunny and after his good start, a couple of quick passes moved the Slovenian into second position. Despite a good pace, he wasn’t able to make any moves on the leader and instead had to settle for a solid second place, safe in the knowledge that another good moto would give him the chance of the overall.
About 30 minutes before the second gatedrop, the rain started falling and it didn’t let up until the chequered flag was waved, giving the riders a slightly trickier Kegums than they are used to. Once again though, Gajser rounded the first corner in good position and while those in front made early mistakes, he remained solid, moving through into third place and putting pressure on the leading duo. As the laps ticked off, the Honda rider remained in third place, which would have seen him third overall. However, on the last lap, another rider in front made a mistake giving Gajser two more points which saw him jump up to the top of the podium.
It was a fantastic moment for Tim and everyone in Team HRC, and was just-reward for all the hard work they’ve put in this season already. It was also a good confidence boost heading into this mini-summer break where the next round is a double-header in Turkey on September 5th and 8th. Gajser has now won three of the seven rounds so far, and sits 13 points clear at the top of the MXGP world championship.
Tim Gajser
I’m super-happy with how this weekend has gone, winning the overall after two tough races. I wanted to try and cut out the mistakes from the previous couple of rounds, and I knew if I did that I would do well, so it was good to see that it paid off already. Obviously winning is a massive boost before these three weekends’ off so I will enjoy this moment before getting back to work and preparing myself for the second half of the season. A big thanks to everyone in Team HRC for all their work and I can’t wait for Turkey, which is a track I really enjoy racing.
Race 1
1 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35:16.523
2 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 22 Team HRC - MXGP 0:07.703
3 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 20 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:11.783
4 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:15.598
5 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 16 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:16.934
6 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 15 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 0:18.641
7 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 14 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:38.794
8 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 13 MRT Racing Team KTM 0:49.702
9 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 12 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:51.833
10 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 11 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 1:05.516
11 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 10 JM Honda Racing 1:10.743
12 Tixier Jordi 911 FRA 9 JT911 KTM Racing Team 1:12.959
13 Watson Ben 919 GBR 8 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:16.173
14 Strijbos Kevin 22 BEL 7 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:19.543
15 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 6 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:25.389
16 Monticelli Ivo 128 ITA 5 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 1:28.502
17 Koch Tom 226 GER 4 KTM Sarholz 1:32.509
18 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 3 Beta SDM Corse MX Team 1:39.876
19 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 2 Yamaha SM Action - M.C. Migliori 1:42.842
20 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 1 JK Racing Yamaha Active 1:56.599
Race 2
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 36:22.889
2 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 22 Team HRC - MXGP 0:07.092
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 20 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:15.563
4 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 18 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:26.606
5 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 16 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 0:45.399
6 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 15 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:54.203
7 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 14 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:58.321
8 Kjer Olsen Thomas 19 DEN 13 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 1:00.486
9 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 12 MRT Racing Team KTM 1:08.843
10 Watson Ben 919 GBR 11 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1:10.292
11 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 10 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:19.709
12 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 9 Yamaha SM Action - M.C. Migliori 1:24.237
13 Koch Tom 226 GER 8 KTM Sarholz 1:31.632
14 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 7 JM Honda Racing 1:45.077
15 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 6 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team 1:53.927
16 Strijbos Kevin 22 BEL 5 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:56.364
17 Locurcio Lorenzo 183 VEN 4 JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team 1:58.873
18 Monticelli Ivo 128 ITA 3 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 2:00.290
19 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 2 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 2:01.756
20 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 1 Wildcard Rider 1 Lap
Riders standings
1 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 270 Team HRC - MXGP
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 257 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing
3 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 255 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
4 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 252 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
5 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 227 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
6 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 206 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
7 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 180 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team
8 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 177 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
9 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 134 MRT Racing Team KTM
10 Watson Ben 919 GBR 130 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
11 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 105 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
12 Kjer Olsen Thomas 19 DEN 98 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
13 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 98 Beta SDM Corse MX Team
14 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 90 Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team
15 Jacobi Henry 29 GER 66 JM Honda Racing
16 Simpson Shaun 24 GBR 62 SS24 KTM MXGP
17 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 60 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
18 Strijbos Kevin 22 BEL 59 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
19 Monticelli Ivo 128 ITA 54 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing
20 Jasikonis Arminas 27 LTU 48 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
21 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 42 JK Racing Yamaha Active
22 Tonus Arnaud 4 SWI 36 hostettler Yamaha Racing
23 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 33 Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee
24 Tixier Jordi 911 FRA 33 JT911 KTM Racing Team
25 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 32 Yamaha SM Action - M.C. Migliori
26 Locurcio Lorenzo 183 VEN 22 JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team
27 Koch Tom 226 GER 21 KTM Sarholz
28 Genot Cyril 105 BEL 15 Wildcard Rider
29 Brylyakov Vsevolod 18 RUS 7 JWR Honda Racing
30 Bobryshev Evgeny 777 RUS 6 PAR Homes RFX Husqvarna
Honda HRC