Team HRC’s #timgajser once again increased his championship lead after going three-two for second overall at the #mxgp of #spain.
Held near the Spanish capital city of Madrid, the Arroyomolinos circuit was a new addition to the 2020 #mxgp series and it provided a great back-drop for another impressive performance from the reigning world champion.
Coming into this 12th round of the series, Gajser was 11 points ahead but he now heads to Belgium and the Lommel triple-header 24 points clear of his nearest rival after two consistent and controlled races on board his Honda CRF450RW. Starting the day with yet another first gate pick, his sixth qualification win of the season, the Slovenian didn’t get the best of starts in either race, but using superb race-craft he swept inside the top three within a few corners. From there he pressurised the leaders, even making a pass for the lead in #moto two, but rather than risk a dangerous manoeuvrer on this rutted hard-pack track, he settled into a good rhythm, safe in the knowledge that he was picking up valuable championship points.
By the end of the races he was over seven seconds clear of the riders behind him, riding in a smooth controlled fashion, and happy with the 42 points he accumulated. There are now six rounds remaining with three races apiece at the deep sand track in Lommel starting next weekend before moving to the stony hard-pack in Trentino on November 1, both tracks that Gajser has won at before.
Unfortunately, teammate Mitch Evans’ day was cut short after flat-landing one of the big jumps on this Spanish circuit in #moto one and injuring his left wrist. It was a real disappointment for the #43 because he was performing really well at the time, running in fourth position and challenging up front with the leaders. This was after a morning qualification session that saw him finish third, his joint-best of the season. He will now head to Italy to get further assessment on the wrist, which will then decide his plan for the last six rounds.
Tim Gajser 243: “It was a good day today, and I really liked the track here in #spain. I didn’t have a good start in either race but I was still able to finish third in race one and second in race two. The second #moto, I was especially happy with the line I chose for the second corner as I swept all the way from seventh into second. I then tried to push, had some nice lines, and briefly passed Jorge before he passed me back. We stayed together for quite a lot of the #moto but then I saw that Romain wasn’t so close behind me so I finished second, for second overall. The championship gap has increased but my focus for Lommel is to go out there and have fun. A big thanks to the team who have worked hard, and I hope that Mitch will recover quickly because he was riding really well.”
Marcus Pereira de Freitas (HRC General Manager – MXGP): “A real mixed day for our two riders today. For Tim, it was another mature performance, knowing what he needed to do and not pushing too much to create chances which weren’t there. It is now his eighth podium in 12 rounds and he leads the championship by 24 points, almost a full #moto. He now heads to Lommel, which he won last year, where he’ll hopefully get a couple of days of sand training in before the GP next Sunday.
Unfortunately, Mitch suffered a wrist injury in the first #moto, when he was riding exceedingly well. He looked good in qualification and had started the race well, almost passing for the lead before settling into fourth place. We must wait until he sees a doctor in Italy before we know the timeframe for his return, but it is a real shame because he was really showing some good speed and we truly believed he could have challenged for podium today, and in future rounds.”
Race 1
1 PRADO GARCIA Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 34:13.277
2 FEBVRE Romain 3 FRA 22 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:07.125
3 GAJSER Tim 243 SLO 20 Team HRC – MXGP 0:09.513
4 DESALLE Clement 25 BEL 18 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:16.409
5 COLDENHOFF Glenn 259 NDL 16 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team 0:17.950
6 PAULIN Gautier 21 FRA 15 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team 0:31.813
7 CAIROLI Antonio 222 ITA 14 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:37.419
8 BOGERS Brian 189 NDL 13 Marchetti #racing Team KTM 0:41.385
9 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 89 BEL 12 Honda SR Motoblouz 0:49.693
10 SEEWER Jeremy 91 SWI 11 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team 0:54.604
11 TIXIER Jordi 911 FRA 10 Team VHR KTM Racing 1:02.054
12 GUILLOD Valentin 92 SWI 9 Standing Construct KTM 1:08.880
13 MONTICELLI Ivo 128 ITA 8 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team 1:12.314
14 VLAANDEREN Calvin 10 NDL 7 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:14.588
15 JACOBI Henry 29 GER 6 Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori 1:24.840
16 BUTRON Jose 17 SPA 5 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team 1:26.025
17 PETROV Petar 152 BUL 4 Team VRT Nordpesca Holland 1:27.955
18 STERRY Adam 811 GBR 3 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team 1:36.785
19 VALENTIN Ander 920 SPA 2 920 Fly Group 1:42.226
20 GURYEV Artem 555 RUS 1 JM Honda Racing 1 Lap
Race 2
1 PRADO GARCIA Jorge 61 SPA 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 34:32.685
2 GAJSER Tim 243 SLO 22 Team HRC – MXGP 0:04.455
3 FEBVRE Romain 3 FRA 20 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:17.405
4 COLDENHOFF Glenn 259 NDL 18 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team 0:21.940
5 SEEWER Jeremy 91 SWI 16 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team 0:27.027
6 CAIROLI Antonio 222 ITA 15 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:29.646
7 DESALLE Clement 25 BEL 14 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing 0:35.318
8 BOGERS Brian 189 NDL 13 Marchetti #racing Team KTM 0:40.176
9 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 89 BEL 12 Honda SR Motoblouz 0:43.221
10 PAULIN Gautier 21 FRA 11 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team 0:46.577
11 JACOBI Henry 29 GER 10 Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori 0:55.400
12 MONTICELLI Ivo 128 ITA 9 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team 0:58.732
13 TIXIER Jordi 911 FRA 8 Team VHR KTM Racing 1:09.113
14 VLAANDEREN Calvin 10 NDL 7 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 1:15.908
15 STERRY Adam 811 GBR 6 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team 1:35.848
16 GUILLOD Valentin 92 SWI 5 Standing Construct KTM 1:38.742
17 PETROV Petar 152 BUL 4 Team VRT Nordpesca Holland 1:40.679
18 BUTRON Jose 17 SPA 3 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team 1:48.468
19 VALENTIN Ander 920 SPA 2 920 Fly Group 1 Lap
20 GURYEV Artem 555 RUS 1 JM Honda Racing 1 Lap
Rider Standings
1 GAJSER Tim 243 SLO 441 Team HRC – MXGP
2 CAIROLI Antonio 222 ITA 417 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 SEEWER Jeremy 91 SWI 396 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team
4 PRADO GARCIA Jorge 61 SPA 391 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
5 COLDENHOFF Glenn 259 NDL 375 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team
6 FEBVRE Romain 3 FRA 346 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing
7 PAULIN Gautier 21 FRA 311 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team
8 DESALLE Clement 25 BEL 294 Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing
9 HERLINGS Jeffrey 84 NDL 263 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
10 JASIKONIS Arminas 27 LTU 248 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
11 EVANS Mitch 43 AUS 228 Team HRC – MXGP
12 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 89 BEL 221 Honda SR Motoblouz
13 VLAANDEREN Calvin 10 NDL 151 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
14 TIXIER Jordi 911 FRA 145 Team VHR KTM Racing
15 BOGERS Brian 189 NDL 142 Marchetti #racing Team KTM
16 JACOBI Henry 29 GER 134 Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori
17 MONTICELLI Ivo 128 ITA 122 Standing Construct GasGas Factory #racing Team
18 LUPINO Alessandro 77 ITA 82 Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing
19 CERVELLIN Michele 747 ITA 73 SDMCORSE Yamaha
20 TONUS Arnaud 4 SWI 71 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory #mxgp Team
21 PATUREL Benoit 6 FRA 45 JM Honda Racing
22 LEOK Tanel 7 EST 41 A1M Husqvarna
23 WALSH Dylan 53 NZL 41 JM Honda Racing
24 PETROV Petar 152 BUL 39 Team VRT Nordpesca Holland
25 STERRY Adam 811 GBR 34 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team
26 BOBRYSHEV Evgeny 777 RUS 33 PAR Homes RFX Husqvarna
27 SIMPSON Shaun 24 GBR 31 SS24 KTM MXGP
28 GUILLOD Valentin 92 SWI 29 Standing Construct KTM
29 JONASS Pauls 41 LAT 26 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
30 BUTRON Jose 17 SPA 21 JD Gunnex KTM #racing Team
