Tim Gajser...What's Next?

For former World MXGP champion Tim Gajser his return to racing after his horrible injury hasn’t gone as well as maybe he had hoped and while he does have a Grand Prix victory from Turkey, many of his other results have been down on what we all have come to expect from the likeable Slovenian.

Having missed 11 rounds of the series after his pre-season get-off at Trentino, the HRC rider has slowly made progress, finishing with 9-5 in his first GP back in Loket and then going 15-13 in Lommel, 6-6 in Finland, 10-5 in Sweden, 5-5 in Holland, before going 2-1 for a GP win in Turkey and finally 9-2 in Italy last weekend.

“Obviously after Turkiye,” Gajser said. “I was really looking forward to racing at Maggiora. I really like the track there and the fans are always loud and you can hear them around the circuit when you ride. Having now won a GP, that is my goal for all the races and although I know it won’t be easy to replicate, I have done well at this venue before and I am excited to try and do so again this time around.”

Last weekend might not have been perfect, but that opening moto sure gave him some confidence and will head to Matterley Basin in England with more confidence, having won a Matterley on many occasions.

“My riding was good all weekend,” Gajser said. “One small mistake cost me the chance of a spot on the podium. After that mistake in the second bend, when I was in third, I picked the bike up in dead last and I rode well to come through the field. I got as high as possible, which was ninth, but I knew that it would be very tough to get on the podium from there. I got another good start in race two, and was third for a while, before moving into second and I tried as hard as I could to win the moto but it wasn’t easy to make passes against the top guys and I had to settle for second, and fifth overall, just a couple of points away from third. Next weekend is Matterley Basin and I like that track and I’ll try my best to be on the podium at the final round.”

In qualification Gajser scored a fourth place to set up a nice starting position for Sunday and a small mistake didn’t help his confidence for Sunday.

“Fourth was an okay result, but it was frustrating to have that tip-over when I was in second place and lose those couple of positions and all that time. Conditions weren’t easy out there and it was difficult to pass, but I got a good start and was able to quickly move into third place. Then it was just a case of finding a good place to pass, which I managed quite early on, but a couple of laps later I made the mistake. Still, fourth place is a good gate-pick and if I can get two good starts tomorrow, I feel like I’ll be challenging for the podium, on what will hopefully be a better track.”

Of course, a week prior to Maggiora, the five time World motocross champion was able to pick up a Grand Prix victory, his first in a year and doubling up in Turkey, where he had won in 2022. It was a confidence builder for the last two GPs of the season.

“I felt confident coming into the weekend in Turkey and once I rode the track, I knew it was going to be a good weekend. Even though the storm meant we didn’t race yesterday, I had the first gate-pick and that really helped me get two good starts on my Honda CRF450R, giving me the opportunity to lead the races early on. The first race I had arm-pump so I had to settle for second, but race two I was just feeling so good on the bike. I had a really good lead, and even though I made a mistake, I was able to stay in front and then pull out a gap all over again. A big thank you to all the team, my girlfriend Spela and all the fans who have supported me this year when things haven’t gone my way. I’m really happy to show everyone that I am back.”

So, with just Matterley Basin this coming weekend and the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations at the Ernee circuit on October 8 remaining, you just know that Gajser will be working over-time in the winter, to come into 2024 with a lot of speed and confidence in his bike and try and grab that sixth World motocross championship.

From MXlarge.com