Gajser shows his sand skills in Sardinia as v/d Moosdijk battles hard

Team HRC duo of Tim Gajser and new-recruit Roan van de Moosdijk had to be at their absolute best in the extremely tough conditions of the Riola Sardo track in Sardinia. Known for being a brutally hard, deep sand track, things got even harder for the riders as the sun came out in full force and gave a lot of the guys their first taste of warm temperatures since last summer.

As one would expect from a five-time world champion, Gajser was able to rise above all those difficulties, posting the fastest time in free practice and then the fastest laptime of the qualification race, as he powered his way to second place. It was a strong display from the Honda CRF450R rider who finally got a chance to show everyone his sand-riding prowess, at a track that hasn’t been good to him in the past. This sets him up nicely for tomorrow’s two GP-scoring motos where he’ll be aiming for his first GP victory of the season and a chance to close up the points gap at the top of the MXGP championship.

It was a much harder proposition for v/d Moosdijk, who only joined the team as a replacement for the injured Ruben Fernandez this week, and who missed a lot of the off-season through injury. A 12^th place in the timed practice session gave everyone a glimpse of his early potential, and then in the first half of the qualification race he was also battling just outside the top 10. However, as the temperatures and track conditions took their toll, the Dutch youngster, who was also making his full MXGP debut dropped down to finish 16^th. Things won’t get any easier tomorrow with temperatures expected to be the same and conditions getting rougher, but it is clear that the more he is able to ride his new machine, the higher up the field he will be and the faster his true capabilities will be revealed.

Both riders will have a warm-up session in the morning, before their two motos begin at 14:15 and 17:10 local time, where the pair will be hoping to overcome all the challenges and put in some strong performances at this third round of the 2024 World Motocross Championship.