Gajser Wins Saturday - Latvia
HRC man Tim Gajser has won the Saturday qualifier and gained a single point on the red plate man, Jorge Prado. Both pushed the whole moto with them finishing 17 seconds ahead of third placed man Glenn Coldenhoff. Amazingly, the Slovenian has won three of these Saturday races and finished second in all the others. The championship gap is now just one point between Gajser and Prado.
Tim Gajser: We had a great pace and got away from third place. It is a tricky track with the new layout, but I had a lot of fun today and hopefully we can do the same tomorrow.
Gajser took the holeshot in the MXGP qualifier, with Prado on his back wheel, but Gajser is looking very fast on this white sand track. Second was Prado, then Guadagnini, Coldenhoff, Vlaanderen, Toendel, Herlings, Bogers, Bonacorsi and Seewer.
After a lap the lead was already two seconds, with both Gasjer and Prado got away from the field, with Guadagnini in third, but some 5.3 seconds back. Herlings not getting past Toendel as the Norwegian really riding well. Coldenhoff and Vlaanderen in a nice battle for fourth place. Prado had a brilliant fourth moto and the gap was cut right down to less than a second.
Prado looks like he was just waiting to make a pass on Gajser, looking very relaxed, but Gajser responds and also looks sharp. These two are a level about everyone at the moment. Herlings still stuck in seventh behind Toendel and 18 seconds off the two front guys.
On lap five it was Gajser, Prado, Guadagnini, Coldenhoff, Vlaanderen, Herlings (who finally passed Toendel), then Toendel, Bogers, Bonacorsi, and Spies in 10th. Seewer dropped to 11th and slow starting Horgmo moved up to 12th position.
Gajser really looking nice, for me better than ever in his career as Prado holds second nearly two seconds back and Guadagnini has Coldenhoff and Vlaanderen on his back wheel. Herlings 10 seconds off those three. Coldenhoff desperate to get past Guadagnini, because Vlaanderen is looking very hungry. Both pass the Italian and on lap eight the top ten was Gajser, Prado, Coldenhoff, Vlaanderen, Guadganini, Herlings, Toendel, Bogers, Bonacorsi and Spies.
Two laps remaing and both Gajser and Prado are pushing really hard for a qualifier. The moment of this championship is very important for these two and both want it badly. Herlings catching Guadagnini and Prado all over Gajser, just not close enough to pass.
MXGP - RAM Qualifying Race - Classification
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 24:34.032; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:03.425; 3. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:17.011; 4. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:18.912; 5. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:27.445; 6. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:28.287; 7. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), +0:40.245; 8. Brian Bogers (NED, Fantic), +0:42.475; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:48.141; 10. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), +0:51.872; 11. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:53.582; 12. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, Honda), +0:54.888; 13. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +1:28.755; 14. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Honda), +1:29.508; 15. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, Beta), +1:38.317; 16. Kevin Brumann (SUI, Husqvarna), +1:42.659; 17. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), +1:45.840; 18. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), +1:49.546; 19. Josh Gilbert (GBR, KTM), +1:53.700; 20. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), +1:55.507; 21. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), +1:56.060; 22. Albin Gerhardsson (SWE, Husqvarna), +1:58.462; 23. Domantas Jazdauskas (LTU, KTM), +2:00.126; 24. Tomass Sileika (LAT, GASGAS), +2:02.515; 25. Uldis Freibergs (LAT, GASGAS), +2:07.602; 26. Andero Lusbo (EST, GASGAS), -1 lap(s); 27. Mark Scheu (GER, Husqvarna), -1 lap(s); 28. Aleksei Vinogradov (EST, KTM), -1 lap(s); 29. Nikolaj Skovgaard (DEN, KTM), -2 lap(s); 30. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), -8 lap(s);
MXGP - World Championship Classification
1. Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 411 points; 2. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 410 p.; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 341 p.; 4. Romain Febvre (FRA, KAW), 327 p.; 5. Pauls Jonass (LAT, HON), 274 p.; 6. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 270 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, KAW), 267 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, FAN), 239 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, HON), 161 p.; 10. Valentin Guillod (SUI, HON), 151 p.; 11. Brian Bogers (NED, FAN), 138 p.; 12. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, KTM), 110 p.; 13. Ben Watson (GBR, BET), 110 p.; 14. Jan Pancar (SLO, KTM), 84 p.; 15. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 82 p.; 16. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 80 p.; 17. Isak Gifting (SWE, YAM), 77 p.; 18. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 77 p.; 19. Alvin Östlund (SWE, HON), 65 p.; 20. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 63 p.; 21. Tom Koch (GER, KTM), 54 p.; 22. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, BET), 54 p.; 23. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), 35 p.; 24. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 25. Josh Gilbert (GBR, KTM), 23 p.; 26. Kevin Brumann (SUI, HUS), 15 p.; 27. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), 13 p.; 28. Tim Edberg (SWE, HON), 13 p.; 29. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), 8 p.; 30. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 7 p.; 31. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, HON), 6 p.; 32. Emilio Scuteri (ITA, HON), 6 p.; 33. Todd Kellett (GBR, YAM), 5 p.; 34. Lars van Berkel (NED, HON), 5 p.; 35. Miguel Cordovez (ECU, YAM), 4 p.; 36. Noah Ludwig (GER, KTM), 4 p.; 37. Cato Nickel (GER, HUS), 3 p.; 38. Fabio Aparecido dos Santos (BRA, YAM), 3 p.; 39. Jakub Teresak (CZE, HUS), 3 p.; 40. Anton Nagy (SWE, YAM), 3 p.; 41. Nicolas Rolando (URU, HUS), 2 p.; 42. Mark Scheu (GER, HUS), 1 p.; 43. Andres Benenaula (ECU, KAW), 1 p.; 44. Sergio Ignacio Villaronga Muga (CHI, HON), 1 p.;