HRC factory rider and five time World motocross champion, Tim Gajser, despite his success in the last 10 years still isn’t really satisfied and the competitive juices are flowing more than ever. It is obvious, even after finishing with so many podiums early in the season, he isn't happy, and in fact, both he and Romain Febvre were seething after the Trentino GP last weekend. 

Both looked angry and disappointed and for me, that is a good thing, because after four round of the MXGP championship of 2024, they are probably hungrier than ever to win a GP. Inside their adrenaline and motivation is bubbling to boiling point as they try and get the starts to run with the defending MXGP champion and current red plate man, Jorge Prado.

From the last 10 years, the Slovenian has finished with five World titles, one in MX2 in 2015, then four in MXGP in 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2022. Injuries have robbed him of being a contender in 2017 and 2023, but in general, he has been very consistent throughout his illustrious career. As solid as a rock on most occasions.

2024 is proving just what he has always done in the past, but gone a little unnoticed in the sensational start of the season by defending champion Jorge Prado. In his championship winning seasons, Gajser has started with 1-1 in 2016, at Qatar, 2-2 in Argentina in 2019, 8-1 in 2020 in England and 1-2 again in England in 2022.

So far in 2024, he has gone 1-5-1-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4. Now, if that isn’t championship winning material, then I don’t know what is, but in 2024, as mentioned, Prado has just looked a step better than everyone else and that has to be very frustrating for not only Gajser, but also for Febvre and Jeffrey Herlings.

Still, in Argentina and in Trentino, the HRC man beat Prado on two occasions, so four times now. The only man (along with Romain Febvre) to really put a major dent in the Spaniards armour on more than a couple of occasions (Febvre has beaten Prado three times out of the 12 races run on Saturday and Sunday)

For me, while Prado still came out smelling like roses and very much deserved his victory last weekend, and keeping his continued run of success, you did get the feeling in Italy last weekend, that both Febvre and Gajser made progress in the challenge of winning a Grand Prix.

Arriving at Trentino

Gajser: I am always excited to ride in Trentino. It is the closest race that I have to a ‘home’ GP, and I know a lot of fans will make the trip from Slovenia to come and see me ride. While it isn’t necessarily my favourite circuit, I do like racing here purely because of the energy from the fans and just how loud and intense it can be. It also holds a lot of good memories for me and I’m excited to try and add to that this weekend.

The Weekend

Gajser: It was a positive weekend you know, definitely one that needed better starts, my started didn’t help me, because the speed of the top five riders was very close, but finishing on the podium, which is always important. The season is long, and we need to be consistent.

Saturday Qualification

Gajser: I’m very happy with the first couple of laps, after not getting the best jump out the gate. I know that this track it isn’t so easy to make passes on, but whenever I got close to a rider, I made the move quickly and without wasting too much energy. Obviously, now the goal is to start much nearer the front, which should give me a shot at challenging for the lead and closing up the championship points tally even more.

Moto One - Sunday

Gajser: Started didn’t help, but the first moto was a good one, I didn’t get a good start and came through the pack, and I came close to Romain. I saw that Romain made a mistake on the last half of the last lap and I told myself I would really push, but it didn’t happen.

Moto Two - Sunday

Gajser: In the second one, I nearly crashed on the second corner, a lot of riders were on the ground and that wasn’t easy. It was just one line and not easy to pass, but that is what it is. All around, a good weekend. The track was like that (very narrow), and it was the same for everyone. Definitely was more difficult to pass in the second race than the first, but like I said, it was the same for everyone.

Searching For Starts

Gajser: I felt my riding was good for the most part, but I didn’t get the best starts, especially in race two and that really made my job difficult. So, two-four for third overall is still a podium but I really wanted to get on the top step for me, the team and for all the fans that supported me this weekend. It was great to see so many people coming out and I missed this race last year, so it was really cool to see everyone again. Now we have a couple of weekends to re-group and try to get that victory that I feel like I’m close to achieving.

Wanting More

Gajser: It’s okay, I’m happy to be on the podium and I scored good points for the championship, but I definitely wanted more. Second race I almost crashed in the first corner and banged bars in the first laps as well, but I managed to get back to 4th. It was not an easy race; it was not easy to pass either but anyway happy to be here. Let’s go to Agueda for the next one and I’m looking forward to it. The fans were amazing here today and a huge thank you to all to come here to support me. I mean, consistency (is important), Jorge is really fast and in good shape, also Romain, but starts, that is really important this year. We have to work on our starts to try and be in front. 

Bavo Swijgers images