It is a highly motivated Tim Gajser who heads to Germany this weekend, looking to regain the series leader’s red number plate.
The HRC factory Honda star returns to MXGP action this weekend as the series makes its way to the Teutschenthal, Germany, located in the east of the country near the city of Leipzig.
In what will be the 11th round of this 2021 championship, the Slovenian defending world champion should be much more up to speed after 14 days off, which has allowed his injury to improve significantly.
However, for the first time this year he will be without the red-plate as he now sits just one point off the lead, held by former world champion Jeffery Herlings (KTM), of The Netherlands.
Unfortunately, this time spent recovering, did mean Gajser missed the Motocross of Nations at Mantova, in Italy, last weekend, but his focus is 100% on adding to his three MXGP world championship titles and, after salvaging 15 points in Sardinia last time out, rest and recuperation was the priority.
After a whole week of non-riding, the Slovenian rider has been able to put in a couple of training sessions on his home track – Tiga243land – which should give him the ideal preparation for what should be more of a hard-pack circuit in Germany.
The Teutschenthal terrain usually gets pretty rutted and technical after a weekend of action, which is very similar to how he grooms his home track, and with lower autumn temperatures, it should play much more into his favour after such an intense round in Riola Sarda.
However, Gajser knows that the competition will be as tough as ever, and with four riders separated by just 12 points at the top of the championship, this will still be an extremely difficult couple of motos when the gate drops on Sunday (Monday morning NZ time).
“Teutschenthal is a track that I like, and I’m looking forward to racing there,” said Gajser.
“Obviously, the last round in Sardinia was very difficult for me, trying to race so soon after the injury, but I’ve had some good rest now, I’ve done a lot of physiotherapy and I’ve also managed to ride on my track a couple of times.
“I don’t have the red plate any more, so in some way the pressure is off a little bit, but I want to get back to fighting for the wins and that starts this weekend in Germany!”
Photo courtesy HRC Honda
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MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification after 10 of 18 rounds:
- Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 371 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 370 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 367 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 359 p.; 5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 326 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 280 p.; 7. Pauls Jonass (LAT, GAS), 254 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 234 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, KTM), 185 p.; 10. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 171 p.