Gajser takes Chinese GP qualification holeshot

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser showed his speed throughout qualification day at the brand new Chinese GP, posting the fastest laptimes in free practice and timed practice and even grabbing the qualification race holeshot. Unfortunately a mistake whilst leading dropped him down the field and he eventually was able to come back to 11^th place, just in front of teammate Brian Bogers who started off strongly at this track in Shanghai, China.

It was a real shame for Gajser who was looking extremely fast in every session, looking immediately at home on what is a brand new track for everyone. Now, he has 11^th gate pick for the main motos tomorrow but with the speed he has shown, with two more good starts he still has a very good chance of ending this championship-winning 2019 campaign on a high note.

For Bogers, he’ll be hoping for a couple more good starts and then his aim is to keep the pace up for the whole of both motos in what will be testing conditions with the extremely hot and humid weather forecast. Still, the loose, loamy, sandy circuit in Shanghai is one that he favours and he’ll also be looking to finish off this season in a positive fashion.

Gajser and Bogers start off Sunday 15^th September with a warm up at 10:45am before their motos get underway at 13:15 and 16:10 in what should be another hot day of action at the first ever MXGP of China.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

I like the track, it is nice with good soil and they ripped it really deep so we had quite a few lines to select from in our race. I was the fastest in free practice and in timed practice so it was starting off to be a good day. Even in the qualification race I got the holeshot and was riding well, leading the race. I just made a small mistake with the rear tyre and I slipped off the track and that took time to get back on. Obviously I was very disappointed, because I felt like I had the speed to win but I didn’t give up as I know the gate pick is important and I ended up 11th. It’s not perfect but tomorrow is a new day and I will just try and have fun, like I’ve been doing all the season and hopefully it will work out. A huge thanks to the team for all the help, the bike is riding really well, I just have to do my thing.

Brian Bogers ¹⁸⁹

It is hot here in China but the track is nice, it is really soft because of all the rain and because they watered it a lot but it’s good as we are even using a scoop tyre and that’s something I’m really happy with. In the qualifying race I had a good start and the first two laps my speed was good and I passed some riders. Unfortunately I lost my rhythm towards the end of the race and finished 12th but my aim is to go out there and get a good start and try to keep the high level all moto long.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

It was great to see Tim riding so well in the early part of the day. It’s always tough coming to a brand new track but to see him posting fastest times in practice means that he and everyone on Team HRC is doing a good job and able to adapt to the different conditions. Unfortunately he made a couple of mistakes in the qualification race but we are still hopeful he can do well tomorrow and show everyone why he was crowned 2019 MXGP world champion. Even for Brian, he has showed in these last couple of rounds that his early-race speed is good and that he is able to battle with the top 10 riders, we just need him to keep it going and that will be a great way to finish off the season.

MXGP 2019 Saturday, September 14th 2019

Qualifying Round 18 MXGP of China China