Incredible Gajser wows French crowd to win GP number nine

In what is already an amazing season for the five-time world champion, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put on an incredible last-lap display to pass two riders and take his 14^th race win, and his ninth overall of the season with his two-one moto scores.

On this tricky St Jean D’Angely track in France, Gajser was one of the few riders to be able to make any moves whatsoever, working with two solid starts to make his way into the top five on the first lap. In the first moto he quickly got into third place with teammate Mitch Evans hot on his heels.  The recently crowned champion took a few laps to find his spot to pass and then made it stick on lap four, giving himself plenty of time to try and pass the leader. Unfortunately, despite posting the fastest lap of the race, he couldn’t find a way through and had to settle for P2, less than a second behind the winner.

In race two, the #243 was only fifth after lap one, but within a lap he was into fourth. Knowing that only a win would guarantee his ninth overall of the season he put his head down and tried to make that happen. At just over the halfway mark, he moved into third but he still knew that two more passes was the only way to take the top step of the podium. As the clock ticked down and the one lap board came out, the Slovenian decided this was the moment to cement himself even further in the record books and remind everyone that he has been the best motocross rider of 2022. After sector one, he swept into second place, with the massive French crowd cheering his every move. However, he knew that the job was only half done, so he did a huge jump down the hill to blitz the unprepared leader and take the number one spot. As he crossed the line, the emotion came out, and after winning his fourth MXGP title in Finland, this was further proof that the #243’s speed is unmatchable.

For Evans, the fourth place he held for the majority of moto one was the best he position he had. A mistake near the end of the race meant that he dropped down to down to seventh and with it, meant any realistic chance of a much-deserved podium was gone. Still, the Australian still wanted to try his best in race two and rounding lap one in seventh still gave him a platform to perform. However, things didn’t go his way once again and instead he finished the moto in 11^th place.

The 2022 world championship now just has one round left to race in Afyon, Turkey on September 3-4. Gajser likes the track and will look to add to his impressive 14 race wins and nine overalls, while Evans will hope to end the season on the podium, which is nothing less than he deserves after a season filled with impressive performances.