Slovenian Tim Gajser still leads the 2022 Motocross World Championship by 79 points after the hottest and toughest MXGP of year at the Riola Sardo track in Sardinia, Italy.
The deep sand track is a difficult enough challenge on its own but with temperatures approaching 30C, it was a real struggle for a lot of the best motocross riders on the planet.
Things were made even more difficult for Honda star Gajser as he came into the event having not eaten food for the previous couple of days due to an upset stomach.
Thanks to the work of the team providing the best medical care possible, he was able compete at a high level for most of race one, but it did mean that he wasn’t able to continue his winning-streak that saw him win the last seven motos and make six overall victories out of seven GPs so far this year.
A holeshot in race one made his life a lot easier and gave him a clean track to try and navigate.
Despite pressure the entire race, it looked like Gajser would hold on to the lead and take one of his toughest wins of the season, but with a couple of laps remaining, his illness caught up to him and he had to relinquish first position.
Still, a second place was more than he expected coming into the weekend and actually extended his points advantage in the championship.
Race two didn’t get off to such a good start but he was still able to work his way into sixth by the time they crossed the line for the first lap.
Settling into a good pace, he knew what he needed to do in order to finish with good results, however a crash halfway through the moto ruined those chances as he re-mounted down the field. Despite that disappointment, he kept it steady for the rest of the moto and crossed the line in 12th place, knowing that he’d been able to salvage a good haul of points given his condition.
In race one, Gajser was the fastest rider on the track at one stage of the moto, passing riders and moving towards his first top five finish of the season.
The season now has a weekend off, giving Gajser and his Australian team-mate Mitch Evans (who twice finished in 22nd place) a chance to recover, recuperate and prepare themselves for the ninth round of the championship in Spain on May 29, where both riders will be looking for redemption.
For Gajser, that’ll be looking to get back to winning ways and extending his impressive 79-point gap at the top of series, while Evans will be hoping to put together the complete package at the track and get the points haul his speed deserves.
“Obviously, these aren’t the results I wanted coming into the weekend, but leading up to the race I knew it would be a struggle,” said Gajser.
“I hadn’t been feeling well at all, and I knew that with the high temperatures and the difficulty of the surface, I would need to be at my best to be able to compete in this MXGP class.
“In race one, I got my second holeshot of the year and controlled the majority of the race. It was just the final two laps I ran out of energy and had to settle for second. Unfortunately, in race two, I didn’t get as good a start and although I was feeling like I could run the pace and move through the field, I crashed whilst I was in sixth and that really hurt my momentum as I re-joined the race in 12th.
“I kept running, and finished the moto there, only dropping a couple of points in the championship battle but I am a little disappointed how it turned out overall.”
Photo courtesy Honda
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1.Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), 35:24.028; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:06.989; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:11.426; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:16.782; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:23.969; 6. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.515; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:30.825; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:34.304; 9. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:40.083; 10. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +0:42.328.
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1.Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), 35:06.004; 2. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Yamaha), +0:16.425; 3. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:23.517; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.665; 5. Brian Bogers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:26.262; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:29.680; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Honda), +0:46.106; 8. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GASGAS), +0:50.016; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Beta), +0:55.493; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, Husqvarna), +0:57.133.
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:
1.Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 50 points; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 40 p.; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 35 p.; 4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 32 p.; 7. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 31 p.; 8. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 23 p.; 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 23 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 23 p.
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1.Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 367 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 288 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 264 p.; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 260 p.; 5. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 234 p.; 6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 213 p.; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 205 p.; 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 189 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 178 p.; 10. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 172 p.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1.Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 34:49.103; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), +0:08.862; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:40.731; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Kawasaki), +0:47.756; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:51.807; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:58.997; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +0:59.835; 8. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Honda), +1:00.899; 9. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +1:19.140; 10. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +1:26.004.
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1.Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 34:48.049; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:00.339; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:39.202; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Kawasaki), +0:40.766; 5. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), +0:56.241; 6. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GASGAS), +1:12.474; 7. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +1:13.150; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +1:44.287; 9. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), +1:49.439; 10. Kevin Brumann (SUI, Yamaha), +2:19.245.
MX2 – Top 10 GP Classification:
1.Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 47 p.; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 40 p.; 4. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 29 p.; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 29 p.; 7. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 28 p.; 9. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), 21 p.
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 338 points; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 332 p.; 3. Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 245 p.; 4. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 239 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 233 p.; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 211 p.; 7. Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 198 p.; 8. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 193 p.; 9. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 175 p.; 10. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, GAS), 172 p.