Both Team HRC riders Ruben Fernandez and Tim Gajser will make the trip to the Scandinavian country of Sweden for the 15th round of the 2023 MXGP World Championship after having a weekend-off to recover and prepare for the picturesque Uddevalla track near Gothenburg.

After a big incident in the first moto in Finland, that meant the Spaniard ‘Did Not Start’ the second race, Fernandez has used the available time just to recuperate from all the bumps and bruises he received after going over the handlebars on the landing of a jump at Vantaa track, whilst running an impressive fifth. It was a big shame for the #70 as he had been showing good speed in the race, but now he’ll be heading to Sweden trying to do the best he can in what will be challenging conditions.

Alongside him for the fourth race in a row will be Gajser who is gradually working his way up to the front of this competitive MXGP class, after going six-six for sixth in Finland last time out. The Uddevalla track is a bit more to his liking so the Slovenian will be hoping he can continue his upward trend and put his Honda CRF450R nearer to the podium as the season enters its final quarter.

With Lommel and Vantaa proceeding it, and Arnhem following on next weekend, this will be the only hard-pack track the series visits this month, giving everyone on the team slightly different settings to work with as they prepare for the rocky terrain. While the forecast isn’t great leading into the weekend, the weather does look like it should be okay by the time the riders hit the track on Saturday morning where once more there will two support classes mixed into the weekend schedule.

Ruben Fernandez 70

Finland was a tough one, that’s for sure. I was riding well in the first moto and then went over the handlebars on a jump and landed hard. I got pretty banged up, but thankfully nothing was too serious, so I’ve just spent this weekend off just resting and recovering and trying to make sure I’m feeling as good as possible for Uddevalla. I haven’t had the best results there in the past but this is a chance to change things and I will do my best to make that happen.

Tim Gajser 243

Solid, if not spectacular results in Finland, but another step on the ladder to getting back to the front of the field. Unfortunately we’ve had a lot of rain here in Slovenia this past week or so, and there has been a lot of flooding, so I hope those who have been affected are okay. Obviously this has meant that I haven’t been able to train as much as I’d have wanted, but I am still heading to Sweden in a positive frame of mind and excited to do another race this year.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

Honestly, we are all just really glad that Ruben is okay after Vantaa. It is never nice seeing any rider on the ground like that, especially one that is under your awning so we are very thankful that it wasn’t anything too serious. It did mean that our plans with him for this break had to change, so recovery became the focus and anything he achieves in Sweden will be a bonus. Tim improved in Finland, as we expected, but we know he isn’t at the level that he expects from himself so we’ll keep working to help him get there.

MXGP 2023

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Prado Garcia Jorge 61 SPA 720 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 622 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
3 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 550 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 959 NDL 525 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
5 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 489 Team HRC - MXGP Honda
6 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 477 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing Yamaha
7 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 418 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
8 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 350 SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery KTM
9 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 276 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
10 Paturel Benoit 6 FRA 204 De Baets Yamaha MX-Team Yamaha
11 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 203 Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing GasGas
12 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 202 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team Yamaha
13 Watson Ben 919 GBR 189 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
14 Evans Mitch 43 AUS 188 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP Kawasaki
15 Östlund Alvin 161 SWE 172 JWR Honda Racing Honda
16 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 168 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
17 Lupino Alessandro 77 ITA 131 MRT Racing Team Beta Beta
18 Koch Tom 226 GER 123 KTM Kosak Team KTM
19 van Doninck Brent 32 BEL 113 JM Honda Racing Honda
20 Van Horebeek Jeremy 89 BEL 110 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
21 Spies Maximillian 71 GER 100 KTM Kosak Team KTM
22 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 78 Team HRC - MXGP Honda
23 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 56 Standing Construct Honda MXGP Honda
24 Roosiorg Hardi 75 EST 52 JWR Honda Racing Honda
25 Petrov Petar BUL 43
26 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 43 JK Racing Yamaha Active Yamaha
27 Haavisto Jere FIN 33
28 Jacobi Henry GER 29
29 Rubini Stephen 38 FRA 27 Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda
30 Stewart Lewis AUS 25
31 Murray Nicholas 167 AUS 21 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
32 Kullas Harri FIN 20
33 Maksum Hilman IDN 17
34 Koch Tim 86 GER 15 Wildcard Rider Suzuki
35 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 13 Wildcard Rider KTM
36 Kerhoas Lionel 988 FRA 12 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
37 Ivanov Michael 97 BUL 11 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
38 Leok Tanel EST 10
39 Goupillon Pierre 57 FRA 10 Wildcard Rider KTM
40 Krestinov Gert EST 10
41 Dickinson Ashton 115 GBR 9 Wildcard Rider KTM
42 Tonus Arnaud SWI 8
43 Gerhardsson Albin 52 SWE 8 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
44 Sileika Tomass 637 LAT 7 Wildcard Rider GasGas
45 Monticelli Ivo ITA 6
46 Jost Simon 53 SLK 6 Wildcard Rider KTM
47 Sihvonen Miro FIN 6
48 Scheu Mark 991 GER 5 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
49 Lusbo Andero EST 5
50 Poli Joaquin 179 ARG 5 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
51 Mewse Conrad 426 GBR 4 Wildcard Rider Honda
52 Alberto Paulo POR 4
53 Kohut Tomas 45 CZE 3 Wildcard Rider KTM
54 Purdon Tristan 141 RSA 3 Wildcard Rider KTM
55 Koch Nico 260 GER 2 Wildcard Rider KTM
56 Joergensen Mathias 221 DEN 2 Wildcard Rider Yamaha
57 Croci Simone 771 ITA 2 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
58 Malaval Adrien FRA 2
59 Jazdauskas Domantas 181 LTU 2 Wildcard Rider KTM
60 Poli Agustin 98 ARG 1 Wildcard Rider Kawasaki
61 Ubach Simeo 724 SPA 1 Wildcard Rider Husqvarna
62 Van Berkel Lars 107 NDL 1 Wildcard Rider Honda
63 Jasikonis Arminas 2 LTU 1 Wildcard Rider GasGas
64 Clochet Jimmy 520 FRA 0 Wildcard Rider Honda
65 Sandner Michael 766 AUT 0 Wildcard Rider KTM
66 Outeiro Luis 147 POR 0 Wildcard Rider Yamaha
Location Information

Äsperödsvägen 81, 451 34 Uddevalla, Sweden - View in Google Maps