Maggiora up next as Team HRC look to build upon Turkiye success

After Tim Gajser’s victory at the MXGP of Turkiye last time out, Team HRC head ‘home’ for a GP at the prestigious Maggiora circuit, just a few miles from the team’s workshop facility near Milan, Italy.

The win in Afyon meant that both Gajser and teammate Ruben Fernandez have won onboard their Honda CRF450Rs this year, with Fernandez taking the overall at the MXGP of Patagonia-Argentina at the beginning of the season. And now, with just two rounds remaining, both riders will be looking to try and add to that tally when the gate-drops in Italy this weekend.

Gajser won the GP at this track last year, coming through the field in both motos to go one-one and cap off an impressive seven race win-streak that he was on in the early stages of 2022, which eventually saw him win the MXGP championship. This time around though, he wants to finish the season on the top step of the podium, with the Turkiye win raising those expectations at a track that he also won at in the MX2 class in 2015.

Teammate Fernandez is also heading to Italy in a much better frame of mind, after putting in a solid fourth place in moto two in Turkey. It was the Spaniard’s best result for a few rounds and gives him belief that he is getting back to the form that saw him stand on the podium three times in the first half of the championship.

With it being close the Team HRC headquarters, and also one of the closest rounds for Gajser’s sizeable fanclub, there is expected to be a lot of interest around the circuit for the Honda riders and with both of them up near the sharp end of the field last time out, there could be a lot to celebrate at the end of what is surely going to be another historic weekend at this majestic race-track.