Top-seven result for Gajser at Lommel

Tim Gajser claimed a seventh-place finish at the end of the MXGP of Belgium, which drew to a close today at Lommel. Despite an up-and-down overall performance, the Team HRC rider has chipped away his gap to third place and he is now only 25 points away from Clement Desalle. Gajser’s team mate Todd Waters was 26^th and 21^st in the two Belgian motos.

Gajser was fourth on the first two laps of the race and then was able to make a move on Febvre for third, but a small mistake cost him the position as the Frenchman re-passed him. On lap ten, the young Slovenian rider was delyaed by a backmarker, which enabled Max Anstie to use a different line and overtake him almost effortlessly. Gajser then crashed unhurt and dropped down to seventh place, his position at the finish line.

The two-time World Champion enjoyed a great jump out of the gate in the second moto but was unable to maintain his second position throughout the opening lap as he slipped down to fifth place. He then swapped positions with Romain Febvre a couple of times before losing touch with the Frenchman and then being overtaken by Jeremy Seewer.

Todd Waters had an encouraging comeback in the second half of the final moto as he recovered more than ten positions to finish just outside the top-20. In the first moto, the Australian rider crashed in the early stages and despite all the efforts, he could not finish any higher than 26^th.

The next round on the MXGP calendar will take place in a fortnight’s time at Frauenfeld’s motocross track in Switzerland.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

It was a difficult weekend and I’m glad it’s done! The good thing about it was definitely the starts, as I was up there in all the motos. The first 15-20 minutes of both motos were OK, but I made too many mistakes. After I crashed in race one it was hard to get up to speed again, and in general I felt like I was fighting against the track. Nevertheless, we scored some important points and got closer to third place in the standings, so we now look forward to be back at a hard-pack track in Switzerland. Thank you to the team for their amazing job, as usual.

Todd Waters ⁴²

I surely didn’t make my life easy by crashing early on in both motos! In the second one, however, I was able to find a decent pace and pass Strijbos for twenty-first position before the finish line. Obviously we are not happy with the result itself, but I feel we have made a step forward so we look forward to Switzerland, where I’ll be racing for the first time.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

We never really had good fortunes in Lommel in the past and this year has been no different. Seventh place for Tim is not too bad of a result considering this is probably his least favourite track on the calendar. His ride was imprecise but the speed was there, and we’re happy he’s fully fit despite the crashes. Todd had another difficult weekend but he showed some signs of improvement in the second part of the final moto, so hopefully this is a sign of good things to come for the next round! Even though we did not get on the podium this time out, the team has done a marvellous job as usual so the biggest thank you goes to them.

MXGP 2018 Sunday, August 5th 2018

Race Round 15 MXGP of Belgium Belgium