Team HRC at Loket to keep momentum heading into European summer stretch

Team HRC has arrived in Loket, Czech Republic, the venue hosting the fourteenth round of the 2018 MXGP World Championship. Returning to Europe from two successful back-to-back events in Indonesia, the Milan-based squad now targets more strong results with its riders Tim Gajser, Calvin Vlaanderen (MX2) and Todd Waters.

The 1.586km (0.98mile) hard-pack track located in the north-western part of the country – close to the border with Germany – is among Tim Gajser’s favourites: the Slovenian rider was on the podium in the two editions of the Czech round he contested in the MXGP class, with a second place in 2016 that was followed by a first-moto win and a third overall last year. Fresh from the second place in Semarang that helped him move up to fourth in the standings, Tim now hopes to bring his Honda CRF450RW even closer to the championship’s top-three.

Calvin Vlaanderen is a man on a mission, after what was a remarkable and memorable Indonesian trip for the 22-year-old rider from Cape Town, who is looking as comfortable as ever aboard the all-new Honda CRF250RW. Calvin came very close to winning the Dutch Masters of Motocross last weekend after scoring the overall victory in the last of four events for the national series, and he is now ready to keep his podium streak alive heading into the last third of the season.

Todd Waters is fully recovered from the stomach bug that affected his performance during the Southeast Asia trip; the 27-year-old Australian will try to aim at the top-ten in his quest to return to former MXGP racing form at a track he knows from previous experiences.

MXGP is back to the traditional European timetable, with the free practice sessions getting underway this Saturday at 11:30 (MX2) and 12:00 (MXGP) local time (GMT +2). MXGP gates will drop on Sunday at 14:15 and 17:10, with the two motos of the premier class being preceded, as usual, by the MX2 counterparts at 13:15 and 16:10.