Gajser takes MX1 title, as Lata and Zanchi battle for MX2 honours
Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser won the second round of the Internazionali d’Italia – held at the Montevarchi track – going two-one, and winning the championship title in process by scoring 97 out of 100 possible points.
In the first race, the #243 got a good jump out of the gate by wasn’t involved in some bar-banging around the first corner that dropped him down the field a bit. He soon got to work though and within four laps was leading the moto. Unfortunately, a slight mistake near the end allowed the second-placed rider through and although he fought back to try and retake the lead, he came across in second.
Moto two went a lot smoother as another good start saw him battling for the lead right away. He quickly took the position on the first lap and never looked back, pulling out a 30 second margin over second place, in another dominating performance. That made it three moto wins out of four and some good practice as he prepares for the 2025 MXGP Championship, which starts on March 1-2 in Cordoba, Argentina.
Teammate Ruben Fernandez was back at home training this weekend, as he plans to ride the Spanish championship next week for his second warm-up race before heading to South America.
MX1 Race 1
1. Lucas Coenen
2. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
3. Mattia Guadagnini
4. Isak Gifting
5. Andrea Bonacorsi
MX1 Race 2
1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Isak Gifting
3. Andrea Bonacorsi
4. Mattia Guadagnini
5. Glenn Coldenhoff
MX1 Overall
1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Isak Gifting
3. Mattia Guadagnini
4. Lucas Coenen
5. Andrea Bonacorsi
MX1 Championship
1. Tim Gajser (Honda HRC)
2. Lucas Coenen
3. Andrea Bonacorsi
4. Isak Gifting
5. Mattia Guadagnini
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In the MX2 class, Ferruccio Zanchi got himself onto the third step of the podium after his four-three moto results, and Valerio Lata was then able to step up for third place in the championship after he combined his excellent Mantova results with his three-seven scores at this Montevarchi circuit.
For both riders, it was an excellent confidence booster before the season, in what was a competitive couple of rounds of the Internazionali d’Italia. Although they both made a few mistakes, they will head to Argentina excited to start off strongly in South America, confident that their Honda CRF250Rs will give them an excellent chance of challenging up the front of this MX2 championship.
MX2 Race 1
1. Simon Langenfelder
2. Andrea Adamo
3. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
4. Ferruccio Zanchi (Honda HRC)
5. Cas Valk
MX2 Race 2
1. Simon Langenfelder
2. Andrea Adamo
3. Ferruccio Zanchi (Honda HRC)
4. Sacha Coenen
5. Cas Valk
6. Julius Mikula
7. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
MX2 Overall
1. Simon Langenfelder
2. Andrea Adamo
3. Ferruccio Zanchi (Honda HRC)
4. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
5. Sacha Coenen
MX2 Championship
1. Andrea Adamo
2. Simon Langenfelder
3. Valerio Lata (Honda HRC)
4. Cas Valk
5. Sacha Coenen
6. Julius Mikula
7. Ferruccio Zanchi (Honda HRC)
Tim Gajser 243
It was a good day overall, and I’m glad we came here to race. In the first moto I got a bit of arm-pump, which isn’t totally unusual, but I wasn’t feeling so great and that affected me a bit towards the end. Then in the second race we made some adjustments and things were a lot better and this gives me confidence that everyone is still motivated to win after the off-season. I’m excited to head to Argentina and get the first MXGP round started!
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
It was nice to get on the podium and have a good day of racing near to where I grew up. I felt strong and just kept pushing in both races. I made a couple of mistakes, but it was good to battle in completely different conditions than last week and it was good to have a couple more starts under my belt. However, I am looking forward to racing in Argentina and getting this world championship underway.
Valerio Lata 18
I wasn’t completely at my best today, but I think it was an okay round, and I was still able to finish third in the championship, so that is a nice feeling, in what are the early stages with this team. We’ve worked hard over the winter to get to this position and it is good to get some rewards already. Now though, the important work begins with the world championships and I need to make sure my preparation for Argentina goes well because it will be my first trip travelling such a long way to go race.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
It was a good weekend, and a good couple of events for everyone at Honda HRC. There were a lot of positives to take away, and some things which we now know we need to work on. Having these gate-drops is vital to get the riders into race-mode for the world championships and I feel each of them performed at the level we need them to be at, at this point in time. Tim looks fast and comfortable, Valerio has adapted to the Honda really quickly and is doing excellently and Ferro is going to be strong all season long if he can keep riding like this. Now it’s time to get everything ready for Argentina and the long trip to South America.
