New-face Roan van de Moosdijk will be joining Tim Gajser for the third round of the 2024 MXGP World Championship, taking place on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Riola Sardo is the venue and it will the first opportunity to see the best motocross riders on the planet tackle deep sand terrain, after the fast-paced Argentina track and the rutted circuit in Spain last time out.

The Team HRC duo will be hoping for better fortunes at a track that hasn’t been a happy hunting-ground in previous years, since the world championship series started visiting the venue in 2021. Gajser will be looking to get himself on the MXGP podium for the first time here, after numerous successful visits in the pre-season Italian Championship races. And if he does that, he’ll keep up his podium streak after two second-place finishes in Argentina and Spain. The Slovenian has won two of the six points-scoring motos so far in 2024 and sits 10-points out of first place in the championship, but knows there is a long way to go and that consistency is just as important as speed in these early rounds.

Alongside him, for what will be his Team HRC and MXGP class debut, will be v/d Moosdijk, with the young Dutch rider signing for the team this week. It is a great opportunity for the former EMX250 champion and although he hasn’t had long on the bike, he has still been able to have a couple of good sessions testing the Honda CRF450R and has come away very impressed. Having ridden similar terrain in the Netherlands, despite its treacherous nature, this is actually a good track for the new #39 to be making first start and although there aren’t any expectations on his result, he’ll still be hoping to show good speed.

Unfortunately, Italian Ferruccio Zanchi won’t be making the trip to the island after suffering a crash in Croatia during the week. It is a real shame for the Italian, who was looking forward to riding on home soil and had made a very impressive start to his full-time MX2 career with Team HRC, but the decision was made that it would be better to sit this one out and not cause any further problems.

So now, the focus on the team in entirely on the MXGP class this weekend as they look to help Gajser and v/d Moosdijk challenge as best they can in the qualification race on Saturday, before the two GP-scoring motos on Sunday, which should give further insight into how this competitive MXGP championship is taking shape.

Tim Gajser: I haven’t had very good memories of this place in the GPs, but in the pre-season races I’ve done well here. My aim is to try and take that form and transfer it into the two motos and I know if I can do that, I’ll be near the front of the field once again. It certainly won’t be easy because the deep sand really can bring a lot of problems, but I’ve improved a lot over the years and I want this race to really showcase how well I can ride these conditions.

Roan van de Moosdijk: Each time I’ve got on the bike, I’ve felt more comfortable so I just want to keep improving and getting to a place where I can put in three solid races over the weekend. Thankfully I grew up riding the sand so I know this type of track well, but of course I’ll be making my MXGP debut so it won’t be easy mixing it up with the best motocross riders in the world. I don’t really have any set targets, but obviously I’m hoping to repay the faith of Team HRC as quickly as possible.

Ruben Fernandez: I’m pretty bummed not to be in Sardinia racing, but I’ve had the surgery on my knee and it went well. It won’t be a quick-process but I’ve spoken with a lot of experts and I know there are things I can do to improve my recovery time and that is now my focus 100%. I’d like to wish everyone in the team good luck and also to thank all my fans, who I hope I can see at the races soon.

Ferruccio Zanchi: I was feeling really good coming into this weekend, but I had a crash while training with Tim in Croatia and landed pretty hard on the ground. I’ve had some checks and we decided as a team that it would be better for me to rest up and miss this weekend, because it is such a physically demanding track. I definitely didn’t want to do any more damage and miss future rounds, so hopefully just giving it a few extra days of recovery will allow me to be ready for Trentino the following weekend.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas - HRC General Manager – MXGP: It’s good to have Roan joining the team for this GP as this isn’t a place that has been good for us in the MXGPs in the past but we come here hoping to put that right in 2024. Unfortunately Ferruccio won’t be here after a crash earlier in the week, but Tim is feeling good and looking forward to showing everyone what he is truly capable of here, and of course Roan will be making his debut for the team and in the MXGP class, so he can’t wait. All the preparation is done and we are going to do everything possible to make sure the execution is high-level as well.

Bavo Swijgers image