Gajser and Fernandez qualify third and fourth at British GP

With the sun close to setting, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser and Ruben Fernandez both put in good rides to finish third and fourth respectively in the MXGP of Great Britain qualification race, putting them in a strong position for the two GP-scoring motos tomorrow.

After going two-four in free practice, Gajser then stormed to first in timed practice, with a laptime 0.8 seconds faster than second, giving him first gate-pick for the afternoon qualifying race. Fernandez also kept up his momentum with a fifth, allowing the pair to have inside slots for the all-important start.

Despite not getting out the gate as well as they would have liked, both riders quickly moved to the front of the field in the first few turns, crossing the line for the first lap in third and fourth position. Gajser was able to set the fastest lap of the race as he closed right up to the two riders in front, but with the shadows lengthening, he decided to make sure he kept his third place and backed off towards the end of the race. Behind him, Fernandez kept things smooth and consistent in all the deep ruts, never coming under any serious pressure from the riders behind as he received the chequered flag in fourth.

While both the #243 and #70 would have loved to be a couple of positions higher, it was still a very strong race and showed that they will be once again challenging for the podium spots on the pristine Matterley Basin circuit, which is hosting this final round of the 2023 MXGP World Championship series.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

It was a good race, but the track was tough with the deep ruts and the low sun causing a lot of shadows. I didn’t get the best start but I was able to quickly move to the front and I was right with the front two for the whole moto, however it was difficult to make any passes and I just tried to stay consistent and put pressure on them and even managed to set the fastest lap. Third is okay though and sets me up well for the races tomorrow.

Ruben Fernandez ⁷⁰

It was a good, solid day in all the sessions and I can’t complain at fourth in the qualification race. I’d have liked to be a bit closer to the front three but overall, my riding was good and I can look forward to tomorrow knowing that I have a good chance at finishing the season on the podium. It seems like the forecast is okay so I think conditions will be similar, which aren’t going to be easy, especially in the second moto, but I still enjoy riding this track.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

We expected Tim and Ruben to be near the front coming into today and both proved they are going to be challenging for the podium spots tomorrow. Tim was nearly a second quicker than anyone in timed practice, which was excellent and that gave him first gate pick for the qualification race. Ruben was strong in fifth and that allowed them to both get around the first corner is good positions, which they then quickly improved upon. Finishing third and fourth gives them both a good opportunity to have perfect season finale.

MXGP 2023 Saturday, September 23rd 2023

Qualifying Round 19 MXGP of Great Britain Great Britain

Qualification Race

Cloudy

Air Temp

15°C

Track Cond

Loam

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Prado Garcia Jorge	61	SPA	10	Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing	GasGas	25:48.553
2	Febvre Romain	3	FRA	9	Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP	Kawasaki	0:02.307
3	Gajser Tim	243	SLO	8	Team HRC - MXGP	Honda	0:07.196
4	Fernandez Ruben	70	SPA	7	Team HRC - MXGP	Honda	0:28.255
5	Guillod Valentin	92	SWI	6	Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	0:30.429
6	Vlaanderen Calvin	10	NDL	5	Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha	0:30.922
7	Coldenhoff Glenn	959	NDL	4	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	0:32.383
8	Paturel Benoit	6	FRA	3	De Baets Yamaha MX-Team	Yamaha	0:50.620
9	Jonass Pauls	41	LAT	2	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	Honda	0:53.349
10	Lupino Alessandro	77	ITA	1	MRT Racing Team Beta	Beta	0:58.350
11	Seewer Jeremy	91	SWI	0	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	1:02.116
12	Koch Tom	226	GER	0	KTM Kosak Team	KTM	1:03.778
13	Watson Ben	919	GBR	0	MRT Racing Team Beta	Beta	1:08.657
14	Guadagnini Mattia	101	ITA	0	Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing	GasGas	1:15.752
15	Spies Maximillian	71	GER	0	KTM Kosak Team	KTM	1:21.746
16	Tondel Cornelius		NOR	0			1:23.287
17	Bogers Brian	189	NDL	0	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	Honda	1:35.926
18	Renaux Maxime	959	FRA	0	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	1:37.333
19	Monticelli Ivo		ITA	0			1:38.258
20	Sterry Adam	811	GBR	0	Wildcard Rider	KTM	1:40.078

MXGP 2023 Saturday, September 23rd 2023

Rider standings

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Points	Team	Constructor
1	Prado Garcia Jorge	61	SPA	900	Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing	GasGas
2	Febvre Romain	3	FRA	816	Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP	Kawasaki
3	Seewer Jeremy	91	SWI	719	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha
4	Coldenhoff Glenn	959	NDL	659	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha
5	Fernandez Ruben	70	SPA	619	Team HRC - MXGP	Honda
6	Vlaanderen Calvin	10	NDL	570	Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha
7	Forato Alberto	303	ITA	490	SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery	KTM
8	Herlings Jeffrey	84	NDL	455	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
9	Guillod Valentin	92	SWI	340	Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda
10	Renaux Maxime	959	FRA	314	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha
11	Paturel Benoit	6	FRA	266	De Baets Yamaha MX-Team	Yamaha
12	Guadagnini Mattia	101	ITA	249	Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing	GasGas
13	Gajser Tim	243	SLO	247	Team HRC - MXGP	Honda
14	Watson Ben	919	GBR	234	MRT Racing Team Beta	Beta
15	Evans Mitch	43	AUS	233	Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP	Kawasaki
16	Bogers Brian	189	NDL	227	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	Honda
17	Östlund Alvin	161	SWE	211	JWR Honda Racing	Honda
18	Lupino Alessandro	77	ITA	168	MRT Racing Team Beta	Beta
19	Koch Tom	226	GER	162	KTM Kosak Team	KTM
20	Jonass Pauls	41	LAT	158	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	Honda
21	Spies Maximillian	71	GER	117	KTM Kosak Team	KTM
22	van Doninck Brent	32	BEL	113	JM Honda Racing	Honda
23	Van Horebeek Jeremy	89	BEL	110	Standing Construct Honda MXGP	Honda
24	Petrov Petar		BUL	53
25	Roosiorg Hardi	75	EST	52	JWR Honda Racing	Honda
26	Haavisto Jere		FIN	51
27	Brumann Kevin	87	SWI	43	JK Racing Yamaha Active	Yamaha
28	Jacobi Henry		GER	29
29	Rubini Stephen	38	FRA	27	Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda
30	Stewart Lewis		AUS	25
31	Murray Nicholas	167	AUS	21	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
32	Kullas Harri		FIN	20
33	Monticelli Ivo		ITA	19
34	Maksum Hilman		IDN	17
35	Koch Tim	86	GER	15	Wildcard Rider	Suzuki
36	Gerhardsson Albin	52	SWE	15	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
37	Sterry Adam	811	GBR	13	Wildcard Rider	KTM
38	Kerhoas Lionel	988	FRA	12	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
39	Ivanov Michael	97	BUL	11	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
40	Leok Tanel		EST	10
41	Goupillon Pierre	57	FRA	10	Wildcard Rider	KTM
42	Krestinov Gert		EST	10
43	Dickinson Ashton	115	GBR	9	Wildcard Rider	KTM
44	Tonus Arnaud		SWI	8
45	Sileika Tomass	637	LAT	7	Wildcard Rider	GasGas
46	Jost Simon	53	SLK	6	Wildcard Rider	KTM
47	Sihvonen Miro		FIN	6
48	Purdon Tristan	141	RSA	6	Wildcard Rider	KTM
49	Scheu Mark	991	GER	5	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
50	Lusbo Andero		EST	5
51	Poli Joaquin	179	ARG	5	Wildcard Rider	Kawasaki
52	Mewse Conrad	426	GBR	4	Wildcard Rider	Honda
53	Karlsson Danne	692	SWE	4	Wildcard Rider	GasGas
54	Alberto Paulo		POR	4
55	Tondel Cornelius		NOR	3
56	Kohut Tomas	45	CZE	3	Wildcard Rider	KTM
57	Jazdauskas Domantas	181	LTU	2	Wildcard Rider	KTM
58	Nava Giulio	848	ITA	2	Wildcard Rider	Yamaha
59	Malaval Adrien		FRA	2
60	Joergensen Mathias	221	DEN	2	Wildcard Rider	Yamaha
61	De Waal Micha-Boy		NDL	2
62	Conijn Marcel		NDL	2
63	Koch Nico	260	GER	2	Wildcard Rider	KTM
64	Croci Simone	771	ITA	2	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
65	Poli Agustin	98	ARG	1	Wildcard Rider	Kawasaki
66	Van der Mierden Sven		NDL	1
67	De Bortoli Davide		ITA	1
68	Ubach Simeo	724	SPA	1	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
69	Van Berkel Lars	107	NDL	1	Wildcard Rider	Honda
70	Jasikonis Arminas	2	LTU	1	Wildcard Rider	GasGas
71	Clochet Jimmy	520	FRA	0	Wildcard Rider	Honda
72	Sandner Michael	766	AUT	0	Wildcard Rider	KTM
73	Outeiro Luis	147	POR	0	Wildcard Rider	Yamaha