Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser almost looked like he had never been away, as he seamlessly returned to MXGP action in Uddevalla, Sweden, showing his speed in timed practice before putting in a strong ride for third place in the qualifying race.

"It’s really good to be back racing again," Gajser said. "Today went better than I hoped, to be honest. I wasn’t sure how the race would go because it is so different than training, but my pace was good and even my intensity from the beginning was there as I made my way into second briefly. Unfortunately, I got passed back pretty quickly, because I felt I could have kept the leader in sight, but still, I have to be happy with third place. Now, I need to prepare myself for the motos tomorrow which I’m looking forward to a lot."

The #243 has been back on his Honda CRF450R for a number of weeks but delayed his comeback race until he felt completely ready to undergo the rigours of world championship motocross.

That decision looked to have paid off as the Slovenian placed third in timed practice, after leading for a good portion of the session with a very impressive sprint lap.

That gave him a good gate-pick for the qualification race, which was his first gate-drop in over three months, but he certainly didn’t show any rust as he rounded the first bend in the top five and then proceeded to move all the way up to second by the end of the first lap.

Unfortunately, he did lose a position just after the pitlane, but from then on, he kept a strong pace and matched the rider in front for the rest of the moto to bring it home in third place. It was an excellent result and gives him a lot of confidence for tomorrow and for the rest of the season where he’ll be looking for even more.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas the HRC General Manager - MXGP was impressed with his riders performance. A big day is expected on Sunday in Sweden.

"Tim showed straight away that he is a top-quality rider, showing the speed in qualification and then in the race as well. I think he prepared himself really well to be ready for a race weekend and that just shows what a strong character he is as well because it is never easy to come back from such a long layoff."

David Bulmer story Bavo Swijgers image