Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in an absolutely dominating performance at the muddy Maggiora circuit to take the qualification win – his third in a row – and extend his lead at the top of the 2024 MXGP Championship to nine points.
Words | Press release
Earlier in the day, he posted a laptime over four seconds quicker than second-place in timed practice, giving himself first gate-pick for the qualification race and he used that to maximum advantage by taking the holeshot and checking out from the rest of this talented MXGP class
By the end of the first full lap, he was already 10 seconds ahead, and after four laps it had increased to 23 seconds. Knowing that victory was sealed, he seemingly cruised the remaining seven laps, but still increased his lead to 33 seconds by the time he received the chequered flag.
On a track that had received a lot of rain the morning, it was the most impressive display of the year and he negotiated the ruts and slippery corners with complete control.
More rain has since fallen after the race, but the Slovenian will be excited by whatever conditions he finds when he wakes up tomorrow morning, as he is looking completely in synch with his Honda CRF450R and will be hoping to capitalise on a circuit that he really enjoys riding.
Tim Gajser: “Almost a perfect day, and I really felt good today. The bike was working perfectly out there, so massive credit to everyone who keeps working hard in what has been a really tough run of races, with a lot of bad weather. Even today, we had a lot of rain and the conditions changed in every session but I was still able to perform at a really good level. Winning the qualification race is always a big boost, but to win by over 30 seconds is something I can be very happy with. Of course, I need to back this up tomorrow and that’ll be my plan when hopefully the weather will be better.”
HIGHLIGHTS
