After winning the 2020 MXGP world championship on Wednesday, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser finished off the season with a flourish at the weekend by going 2-1 at the MXGP of Garda-Trentino, the 18th and final round of the series.
The 2-1 scores continued a run of results that have seen him place inside the top three in 16 of the last 17 motos and it meant he won his fifth overall of the season, more than any other rider.
French Kawasaki star Romain Febvre finished 1-2 on Sunday to equal Gajser’s event score, but the Slovenian was awarded the GP overall by count-back.
It also meant that he now has 29 overalls for Honda, two more than second-placed Andre Malherbe as he cements himself atop the list of legends that have ridden the red machine.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Dylan Walsh (JM Honda) finished 19th and 13th on Sunday and ended the championship ranked 25th overall.
In the first moto, a good start saw Gajser round the first lap in second position and after stalking the leader for a couple of laps he made his move and went into the lead.
After leading for a few laps, Gajser couldn’t shake the second placed rider and decided that it would be better to follow on this tricky Trentino track. Quickly after that, he set the fastest lap of the race and almost made the pass on numerous occasions.
Unfortunately he couldn’t quite make it happen, but he knew that a victory in race two would be good enough to secure a second overall in a row at a track he likes so much.
Like in race one, Gajser rounded the first lap in second place and also like race one, he quickly passed into the lead. However, this time he was able to pull out a gap that the second-placed rider was unable to close-up. For most of the moto it was around the three-second mark, but as the laps wore on, the gap increased before a mistake saw it jump to more than 15 seconds.
This meant Gajser could cruise home for another overall, in what was the perfect way to finish an immensely satisfying campaign.
In the end, his margin of victory in the championship was over 100 points and it is testament to both his speed and his stamina that as the season reached its toughest point, the Slovenian rode better and better, and in the last six rounds, he was able to pull out 78 points on his nearest rivals.
After a season that started in March, included a five-month break, a new one-day format and the introduction of the triple-headers at one track, Gajser has shown that he can cope with whatever is thrown at him, rising to challenge and making history in the process. While the start of 2021 season is still unknown, Gajser can head into the off-season safe in the knowledge that he is once again the MXGP world champion.
“As I’ve said many times, I was super happy to win my fourth world title on Wednesday,” said Gajser.
“Today, my goal was just to go out there and have fun and we did that, winning the last overall of the year and it couldn’t have gone better. I want to say a huge thank you to all my team who have worked so hard and put in so much effort.
“In March, we did two GPs in Matterley and Valkenswaard and they went well, but then we had a long break and when we returned, I wasn’t feeling good, I was struggling. Now, the second half of the season I found good speed, I was consistent, and I was able to win the title.”
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), 34:52.423
2. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), +0:04.307
3. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +0:08.634
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:09.794
5. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:11.484
6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:16.094
7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:22.055
8. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:25.167
9. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:32.658
10. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:39.149
MXGP – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 34:44.449
2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:02.940
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Yamaha), +0:29.409
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:38.367
5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:51.007
6. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:56.175
7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:59.864
8. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GASGAS), +1:02.902
9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +1:07.102
10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:14.378
MXGP – GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 47 Points
2. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 45 Points
3. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 38 Points
4. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 36 Points
5. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 31 Points
6. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, YAM), 30 Points
7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 28 Points
8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 26 Points
9. Brent Van doninck (BEL, YAM), 26 Points
10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, GAS), 20 Points
MXGP – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 673 Points
2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 584 Points
3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 580 Points
4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 525 Points
5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 476 Points
6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, YAM), 467 Points
7. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 438 Points
8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, GAS), 375 Points
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, HON), 316 Points
10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 282 Points
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 1 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 34:52.254
2. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:05.885
3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:09.567
4. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:10.554
5. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.950
6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:23.606
7. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.658
8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Yamaha), +0:30.677
9. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Kawasaki), +0:37.072
10. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, Honda), +0:38.674
MX2 – Grand Prix Race 2 – Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, Yamaha), 35:10.371
2. Ben Watson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:01.938
3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.532
4. Jed Beaton (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:06.614
5. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:25.616
6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Yamaha), +0:27.440
7. Stephen Rubini (FRA, Honda), +0:30.353
8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:31.496
9. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Honda), +0:43.914
10. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:47.092
MX2 – GP Top 10 Classification:
1. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 41 Points
2. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 40 Points
3. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 40 Points
4. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 36 Points
5. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 34 Points
6. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, YAM), 28 Points
7. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 28 Points
8. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 25 Points
9. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 24 Points
10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 20 Points
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1. Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 718 Points
2. Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 661 Points
3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 541 Points
4. Jed Beaton (AUS, HUS), 528 Points
5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 517 Points
6. Ben Watson (GBR, YAM), 506 Points
7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KAW), 454 Points
8. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 338 Points
9. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, YAM), 332 Points
10. Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 259 Points