Gajser starts 2017 season on the podium in Qatar
Tim Gajser took second place in the first GP of the season on his #243 CRF450RW in the most competitive MXGP class for the last few years.
Both Gajser and Bobryshev had a solid first race of the season taking second and seventh in the world championship standings to maintain Team HRC’s 100 per cent podium record at the Qatari venue since 2014.
Gajser, who has been fighting off an illness all weekend, found he had a battle on his hands in the first race as he fought for the podium between teammate Evgeny Bobryshev and Clement Desalle. It was the second race where he looked more comfortable and was able to take an early lead within the first few corners, pulling a gap between himself and Cairoli. In the last lap of the race Gajser’s energy waned and he sensibly surrendered his first-place finish to Cairoli. With a full season ahead, this is a positive start to the reigning world champions season despite the challenges he faced.
Bobryshev started well in the first race and quickly got himself into second place and was running strongly, looking comfortable in the lead group. A couple of mistakes in the last few laps of the race cost the Russian a podium finish as he settled into fourth place. In the second race Bobryshev didn’t have the same jump out of the start meaning he had his work cut out to get back through the pack from eleventh. With the track becoming harder to ride and the lines limited, Bobreyshev had to settle for a seventh-place finish but took fourth overall in the GP, to lie fourth in the World Championship standings.
Tim Gajser 243
Yeah I am actually really happy overall with the weekend. It didn’t start the best as I have been really sick all weekend but I was able to achieve two good races despite this. The first race I didn’t have the best start and I had to battle with Bobryshev and Desalle all race. It was tough to pass because there was only actually one fast line and the other lines were not the same speed. In the second race, I had a better start, I was leading and I pulled a gap between myself and Cairoli. Then, in the last two laps I was destroyed and I couldn’t give anymore but I am happy to start the season with second overall this weekend.
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
Today was positive for my overall result in the championship but looking at the races I didn’t feel I did as well as I could have. In the first race, I made a mistake and dropped the bike in the corner before the start as I didn’t feel comfortable with my riding. In the second race, I had a really bad start and I struggled with the track but I know I had good speed as we changed a little bit on the bike for the second race. The changes were much better for my riding style in these conditions and I knew I was faster in the second section of the track. The track was really tough to pass; I feel that last year it was much better prepared. I was trying to change my line and I just couldn’t gain anything by doing this.
Roger Harvey
This is a solid start to the season with both riders having a pretty strong day considering some of the circumstances. Bobryshev especially had a good race in the first one. Tim has been suffering this week with feeling under the weather and quite honestly we questioned whether he would even race but he did and coming away with this race with this position is quite a bonus for us. Now we just have to build on this in Indonesia next week which is new for all of us.
Race 1
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Race 2
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Rider standings
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Location Information
Losail International Circuit, Al Daayen, Qatar - View in Google Maps
