Gajser sweeps into championship lead with another race win

Tim Gajser now leads the 2020 MXGP championship after taking his seventh moto victory of the season at the ninth round in Mantova, Italy. The Team HRC rider controlled the second race from the midpoint onwards, to give him the maximum 25 points and move him five clear in the battle to be crowned champion. It was another display of speed and style from the Honda CRF450RW rider and further evidence of just how well the new machine performs on all different terrain.

Teammate Mitch Evans rebounded from a difficult first moto, to come out and record another top 10 result in the second race. This was the Australian’s eighth top 10 in the last nine motos and a clear sign of where he belongs in this strong MXGP class.

For Gajser though, it was the perfect ending to what had been an up and down day. The #243 had qualified quickest once again, posting a laptime right at the end of the session that no one else could match. This gave him first gate pick, which unfortunately he wasn’t able to capitalise on in the first race when a bad start left him down the field. He made a lot of quick passes on lap one before settling into the pace and picking off riders throughout the race. He eventually finished in eighth place, which was still enough to keep the pressure on at the top of the championship. In race two, a much better start saw him round the first lap in third place, and after pacing the top two for the opening five laps, two passes in two laps saw him move into first place where he then begun stretching out a comfortable lead. The Slovenian crossed the line, eventually winning by 14 seconds and with the maximum points scored for the seventh time, he now leads the championship by five points with nine rounds left to race.

While Evans has won at Mantova before, he wasn’t able to repeat that form today as he struggled to get out of the gate in both races. On a track that was tough to pass on, and with a lot of riders all very evenly matched, he was still able to move forward in both motos and get a solid ninth in race two.

Like the Latvia and Faenza GPs, this week will also see two more rounds held at the Mantova facility with the MXGP class riding again on Wednesday, before the finishing off the triple header next Sunday. The forecast seems to be changing all the time but the sandy conditions will always provide a stiff challenge for the riders, but one which Evans, and the new red-plate wearing Gajser will be looking forward to.