Gajser second in St Jean D’Angely as he looks for more victories
Fresh off his fifth MXGP championship title, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in an excellent ride in the MXGP of Charente-Maritime qualification race, finishing second and giving himself a great opportunity to add to his eight GP victories so far this season.
From the very first session, Gajser and teammate Mitch Evans have shown they will be threats for the win in tomorrow’s motos as the pair were in the top three of both the free and timed practice at this hard-pack St Jean D’Angely track in France. Both even rounded the first lap of the qualification inside the top three and with passing extremely difficult, they were heading for strong finishes.
Unfortunately, Evans slide out on one of the off-camber sections on lap two and by the time he re-joined the race, he was down in 10th place. He did manage to pass two riders, to get up to eighth place, but that was where he received the chequered flag and will now hope to get out of the gate well in tomorrow’s motos.
Gajser rode a solid race, staying in second place for the rest of the moto, pressuring the leader for a bit before settling for second place. It was a composed performance from the #243 and with two good starts, he can easily add to his 13 moto wins and eight overalls, of what has already been another extremely successful title-winning campaign.
With the weather looking good for Sunday, expect a massive French crowd to be cheering on the riders, and Gajser and Evans will be hoping to be on the receiving end of their plaudits as they target victory in this penultimate MXGP round of the year.
Tim Gajser 243
It was a solid day with second in free practice, second in timed practice and then second again in the qualification race. I felt a lot better heading into this weekend with the championship pressure off, so I’m just going out there and enjoying myself and I think the results will show that tomorrow. It was a good crowd already and I think it will be even bigger for the races, so I’m excited to go out there and perform in front of them.
Mitch Evans 43
Another mistake cost me the chance of a good gate-pick for tomorrow’s races, as I was running in second when it happened. When I picked it up, I was in 10th place and although I was able to make a couple of passes and ended up eighth, it was still not the result my speed deserved. All day I was riding well and I know that if I can get out the gate well, I have the speed to podium, I just need to make it happen.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
It was great to see both riders in the top three in free and timed practice, really showing the speed of the Honda CRF450R. Even in the qualification race, Mitch and Tim were in the top three after a couple of corners and both looking really positive. Unfortunately, Mitch made that small mistake and that dropped him down the field, but we are excited about how both guys can finish in the races tomorrow and we’ll be working hard to help them achieve those podium spots.
Qualification Race
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Febvre Romain | FRA | 24:30.039 | |||
| 2 | Gajser Tim | 243 | SLO | Team HRC - MXGP | Honda | 0:03.129 |
| 3 | Seewer Jeremy | 91 | SWI | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha | 0:10.603 |
| 4 | Vlaanderen Calvin | 10 | NDL | Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing | Yamaha | 0:30.878 |
| 5 | Coldenhoff Glenn | 259 | NDL | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha | 0:35.319 |
| 6 | Kullas Harri | FIN | 0:36.628 | |||
| 7 | Jonass Pauls | LAT | 0:44.101 | |||
| 8 | Evans Mitch | 43 | AUS | Team HRC - MXGP | Honda | 0:45.721 |
| 9 | Prado Garcia Jorge | 61 | SPA | Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing | GasGas | 0:47.299 |
| 10 | Forato Alberto | 303 | ITA | SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery | GasGas | 0:48.055 |
| 11 | Renaux Maxime | 959 | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha | 0:49.612 |
| 12 | Beaton Jed | 14 | AUS | F&H Racing Team | Kawasaki | 0:50.796 |
| 13 | Van Horebeek Jeremy | 89 | BEL | Beta SDM Corse MX Team | Beta | 0:51.631 |
| 14 | van Doninck Brent | 32 | BEL | Riley Racing | Yamaha | 0:53.709 |
| 15 | Bogers Brian | 189 | NDL | Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team | Husqvarna | 0:55.036 |
| 16 | Watson Ben | 919 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP | Kawasaki | 0:58.951 |
| 17 | Jacobi Henry | 29 | GER | JM Honda Racing | Honda | 1:08.954 |
| 18 | Fernandez Ruben | 70 | SPA | Honda 114 Motorsports | Honda | 1:10.331 |
| 19 | Koch Tom | 226 | GER | KTM Kozak Team | KTM | 1:10.981 |
| 20 | Guadagnini Mattia | ITA | 1:11.507 |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gajser Tim | 243 | SLO | 674 | Team HRC - MXGP | Honda |
| 2 | Seewer Jeremy | 91 | SWI | 570 | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha |
| 3 | Coldenhoff Glenn | 259 | NDL | 525 | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha |
| 4 | Prado Garcia Jorge | 61 | SPA | 517 | Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing | GasGas |
| 5 | Renaux Maxime | 959 | FRA | 506 | Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team | Yamaha |
| 6 | Bogers Brian | 189 | NDL | 391 | Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team | Husqvarna |
| 7 | Fernandez Ruben | 70 | SPA | 359 | Honda 114 Motorsports | Honda |
| 8 | Vlaanderen Calvin | 10 | NDL | 351 | Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing | Yamaha |
| 9 | Jonass Pauls | LAT | 325 | |||
| 10 | Evans Mitch | 43 | AUS | 272 | Team HRC - MXGP | Honda |
| 11 | Van Horebeek Jeremy | 89 | BEL | 265 | Beta SDM Corse MX Team | Beta |
| 12 | Watson Ben | 919 | GBR | 252 | Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP | Kawasaki |
| 13 | van Doninck Brent | 32 | BEL | 238 | Riley Racing | Yamaha |
| 14 | Forato Alberto | 303 | ITA | 227 | SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery | GasGas |
| 15 | Jacobi Henry | 29 | GER | 208 | JM Honda Racing | Honda |
| 16 | Tixier Jordi | 911 | FRA | 197 | JT911 KTM Racing Team | KTM |
| 17 | Febvre Romain | FRA | 176 | |||
| 18 | Beaton Jed | 14 | AUS | 176 | F&H Racing Team | Kawasaki |
| 19 | Guadagnini Mattia | ITA | 154 | |||
| 20 | Östlund Alvin | 161 | SWE | 107 | JK Racing Yamaha Active | Yamaha |
| 21 | Koch Tom | 226 | GER | 80 | KTM Kozak Team | KTM |
| 22 | Kjer Olsen Thomas | 19 | DEN | 73 | Team Diga-Procross | KTM |
| 23 | Guillod Valentin | 92 | SWI | 73 | iXS MXGP Team | Yamaha |
| 24 | Monticelli Ivo | ITA | 50 | |||
| 25 | Paturel Benoit | FRA | 38 | |||
| 26 | Roosiorg Hardi | 75 | EST | 32 | Sahkar KTM Racing | KTM |
| 27 | Lapucci Nicholas | ITA | 31 | |||
| 28 | Lupino Alessandro | 77 | ITA | 18 | Beta SDM Corse MX Team | Beta |
| 29 | Sihvonen Miro | FIN | 18 | |||
| 30 | Charlier Christophe | 23 | FRA | 17 | Wildcard Rider | Yamaha |
| 31 | Kullas Harri | FIN | 15 | |||
| 32 | Zaragoza Jorge | 99 | SPA | 12 | Wildcard Rider | Honda |
| 33 | Rolando Nicolas | 144 | URU | 10 | Wildcard Rider | Suzuki |
| 34 | Genot Cyril | 105 | BEL | 9 | Honda SR Motoblouz | Honda |
| 35 | Haavisto Jere | FIN | 9 | |||
| 36 | Villaronga Sergio | CHI | 6 | |||
| 37 | Philippaerts David | 15 | ITA | 6 | Wildcard Rider | Kawasaki |
| 38 | Arco Dario | ARG | 6 | |||
| 39 | Leok Tanel | EST | 6 | |||
| 40 | Jasikonis Arminas | 27 | LTU | 6 | Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing | Yamaha |
| 41 | Brumann Kevin | 87 | SWI | 6 | hostettler Yamaha Racing | Yamaha |
| 42 | Martin Humberto | VEN | 5 | |||
| 43 | Toro Lautaro | ARG | 4 | |||
| 44 | Trossero Marcos Gabriel | ARG | 4 | |||
| 45 | Carrasco Agustin | ARG | 4 | |||
| 46 | Zonta Filippo | 200 | ITA | 4 | Wildcard Rider | GasGas |
| 47 | Sterry Adam | GBR | 3 | |||
| 48 | Galletta Pablo | 117 | ARG | 3 | Wildcard Rider | Yamaha |
| 49 | Locurcio Lorenzo | VEN | 2 | |||
| 50 | Tropepe Giuseppe | ITA | 1 | |||
| 51 | Cabarcos Francisco | 112 | ARG | 1 | Wildcard Rider | Suzuki |
| 52 | Drdaj Dusan | 188 | CZE | 1 | Wildcard Rider | GasGas |
| 53 | Van der Mierden Sven | NDL | 1 |
Location Information
84 Rue de Poursay, 17400 Mazeray, France - View in Google Maps
