Gajser returns to Sweden podium as Evans puts in best moto of the season

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser made a welcome to the podium after his four-two moto scores gave him second overall, in another good weekend for his championship standings. Qualification race winner Mitch Evans also had his best race result of the year with a fourth in race two, keeping pace with the three riders in front of him and putting in the fastest lap of the race onboard his Honda CR450R.

Yesterday, the pair went one-two in a dominating display of riding for Team HRC, but unfortunately they weren’t able to make the best use of their gate-picks in race one as they both struggled out of the gate. Within a few turns, the pair were just outside the top five, but as Evans tried to make another pass, he made a slight error and had to remount his bike. With the pack still close together, this meant that he was near the back of the field when he headed off again and with a lot of work ahead of him.

For Gajser, he managed to get into fourth by the end of the first lap and despite trying many different lines, he was unable to make any passes to improve his position, crossing the line still in fourth place. Behind him, Evans was the only rider who was making moves, crossing the line in 27^th on lap one, but making his way up to 10^th place by the end of the moto. It was a monumental effort from the Australian and although he was disappointed with the mistake, it was a great ride and gave him confidence he could still get a good result in race two.

Knowing the start was crucial, both Honda CR450R riders got much better jumps and were right in the thick of the action in the first few corners. Both Gajser and Evans made some nice moves to get into second and fourth respectively by the end of lap one, and with everyone separated by just a few seconds, there was potential for the results to get even better. However, like race one, the top five were all running laptimes so close to each other than passing was almost impossible, and although Evans did post the fastest laptime, neither rider could make a pass and they finished where they started, in second and fourth.

With four-two results, this meant Gajser was second overall, and still leading the MXGP championship by 115-points, with just three rounds remaining. This means the #243 needs just 35-points in the next six motos to be crowned world champion for the fifth time in his career, all under the Team HRC awning.

Evans, who moved into 10^th place in the championship, can also get excited for Finland next weekend as the fourth in race two was his best so far this year. This should give him a lot of confidence as the rider’s head to Hyvinkaa, a track that hasn’t seen MXGP action since 2014. This will mean that he’ll have as much experience as most of his competitors, and with a big boost of confidence from the three races this weekend, he’ll definitely be aiming for a podium position.

In what is the second of three back-to-back rounds, the track in Hyvinkaa should provide a much different challenge for the Team HRC duo than this rutted but narrow Uddevalla circuit, with the deep-sand circuit hopefully making passing a bit more possible. The weather forecast right now is looking promising and everyone will be hoping that the MXGP results also go to plan when the gate drops on August 14^th.