Gajser extends championship lead after Lombok qualifying second-place

MXGP
Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in a strong second-place ride to increase his lead in the 2024 MXGP World Championship to 24-points after the MXGP of Lombok qualification race. The Honda CRF450R rider grabbed a great holeshot and lead the majority of the race before relinquishing the lead three laps from the end to earn a well-deserved second place.

Already, the Slovenian looked much more comfortable on this reversed-layout at the Mataram circuit, with other track alterations also being met by universal approval from the riders. The mid-week rain also seemed to help conditions when they first took the terrain, when Gajser got to grips during the practice sessions.

A second-place in timed practice gave him second gate-pick and he used that to maximum advantage by grabbing another holeshot, crossing the line well clear of the rest of the chasing pack before quickly trying to break away. At the mid-point of the race, the #243 was looking comfortable but like last week, the surface was proving difficult to race on, and although he tried to maintain the gap as best he could, he soon came under pressure from behind. With three laps remaining, he was forced back to second, but it was still a good result for the championship, as his lead increased by two points.

Once again, he’ll have second gate-pick in tomorrow’s GP-scoring motos and given how well he has been starting recently, he will be approaching these races with belief that he can challenge for the GP overall.

MX2
Ferruccio Zanchi fought back to finish 15^th in the MXGP of Lombok qualification race, after a first lap crash whilst in sixth place dropped him right to the back of the pack. It was a disappointing incident to what looked like a promising race for the youngster, but he put his head down once again and made up a number of positions before the chequered flag.

Last week, he proved he can still get a good start from the outside gate-picks and he’ll need to be utilising all the power of the Honda CRF250R in order to be battling it out for the top 10 spots, which is where his speed for the rest of the moto placed him. That’ll be his immediate focus for the races tomorrow, but he’ll also want to be able to negotiate the first few laps cleanly in order to give him a real chance of moving towards the top five positions.

1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:15.060; 2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:04.688; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:09.780; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:13.874; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:23.028; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:24.989; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:37.138; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:37.833; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:46.960; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:48.652;… 15. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:16.408