Gajser maintains 125-point lead after round 13 in the Czech Republic

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser leaves Loket with his massive points lead the same as when he entered the Czech Republic, with a five-moto advantage over his nearest rivals. The Slovenian went two-three for third overall and is still 125-points clear with the season now over two-thirds completed. Teammate Mitch Evans continued his strong form, with two finishes just outside the top five to give him seventh overall as he closes in on the championship top 10.

In hot, sunny and dry conditions, the Loket track was at its roughest and toughest, causing riders problems as they tried to keep their 450cc machines under control. For Gajser, he was able to make solid starts in both races onboard his Honda CRF450R and was inside the top three in both motos on lap one. In the first race, with passing once again difficult, he was in second early-on, before dropping back to third for a few laps. As the track got harder, he made a push once again and moved into second place, setting his sights on the leader. Unfortunately, he was never really able to put in the laptimes that he wanted and had to cross the line in second place. A victory in race two would have still given him the overall, but he never really felt comfortable to ride the pace of the leaders and instead settled for third, knowing that another round had been completed and he was still in command of this 2022 MXGP World Championship.

After his season-best performance in Indonesia, Evans came in looking to continue his good form and keep pushing towards the podium positions. After a second in timed practice, things were certainly trending in that direction and a sixth in race one gave him another opportunity to get his best points tally of the season. A great first lap put the Australian in fifth position, and despite pressure from behind, he maintained his pace and looked well on course to match those results from the previous round. Unfortunately, near the end of the race, the hard, bumpy track took its toll on his hands and blisters caused him to drop a couple of places. Seventh was still a great result and there were a lot of positives to take away from his first motos at the Czech facility, and he’ll be looking forward to another new experience when he takes on the deep sands of Lommel next weekend.

In what will be the 14^th round of this championship, the riders will head to Belgium straight away to prepare themselves for what is known as the toughest test in motocross. Gajser has won there on a couple of occasions before and he’ll be looking for the top step again next weekend, while Evans will be hoping that all the work he’s done this season will pay-off, and he can keep up the momentum that has seen him challenging the top five. While the heatwave that will hit northern Europe should be over, it is still expected to be good weather for when the riders hit the track on July 23-24.