Tim Gajser interview - Winner

Posted on October 20, 2020

When you watch HRC rider Tim Gajser racing it can be a very enjoyable experience. A fluent style, but at times on the edge, he can have some pretty exciting crashes, but the three-time World motocross champion is slowly working his way towards his fourth championship in six years.

Only a handful of greats of the sport have won four championships in such a short period of time, namely Stefan Everts, Torsten Hallman, Heikki Mikkola, Joel Smets, Rogers De Coster, Eric Geboers, and Antonio Cairoli. Georges Jobe didn’t do it, Harry Everts didn’t do it, Jeffrey Herlings didn’t do it and Joel Robert didn’t do it, so, it is clearly not an easy task.

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What we have noticed in the last two Grand Prix’s is that Gajser seems to have taken the same approach Jeffrey Herlings took at the start of the season, don’t take risk, ride inside your limit and get as many points as possible. Clearly it is a method that is working as he has won the last two Grand Prix’s and looks more like Tim Gajser from that incredible run in 2019 when he was unbeatable.

As the greats in our sport do, breaking records is all part of the exercise and while Gajser currently has 26 GP wins he is set to pass HRC legend Andre Malherbe for most GP wins (27) for Honda.

If he takes this year’s MXGP championship is will move past Malherbe, Dave Thorpe, Georges Jobe and Eric Geboers as the winningest Honda rider of all time (all four legends have three titles for HCR). In an era of Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings, that is some feat and little wonder Honda signed him for the rest of his career, or thereabouts.

We sat down with the MXGP World champion and talked about this final month and what it will take to get that fourth World title and how his attitude has changed over the last few months of this Covid riddled season.

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MXLarge: Congratulation on the last couple of GP wins. It seems to me that you are actually slowing down to go fast if you know what I mean. Is that the case?

Gajser: I mean, yes, definitely and it is important to ride clever. This year is a strange year with Covid. I mean the schedule of the GP and everything is different, and my approach is different. As a racer I want to win every time I go out on the track, but you have to be clever out on the track. Sometimes you have to settle for second, third, fourth or even fifth and not go over your limit. So definitely what you said, and even here in Lommel, the track is different and brutal and the sand was heavy and the track was really rough, so it was important to carry momentum around the corner and ride smooth.

MXlarge: Do you also have to ride careful to preserve your body, knowing you will be racing again a few days later?

Gajser: Honestly, I don’t think about that. I feel I am in good shape and doing three GPs in one week isn’t that difficult. I mean in a normal season even with just one GP a week, we always train during the week, so those motos during the week, but now we don’t do training during the week. We race Sunday, recovery day on Monday and then we race again on the Wednesday. I go a couple of times on the bicycle between the Wednesday and Sunday, but we don’t go on the bike, no training on the bike in these weeks. At the beginning it was weird and it easy that for everyone, but slowly I am getting used to it.

MXlarge: I can imagine with all these changes you really have to work hard on your mental state, because it is so different to what you are used to?

Gajser: I would say mentally strong is important and also physical, you have to race three times in a week. Mental is more important than physical and obviously both are important, but we have less time on the track now, and the short practice and timed practice and then the two motos, but you don’t get as much time to get used to the track. After the first GP at the track, the Wednesday is easier because you know what to expect, but the first Sunday it is important to gel with the track and adjust the bike perfectly.

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MXlarge: You won your 26th GP and when you get your 27th you will equal the great Andre Malherbe as Honda’s most successful Grand Prix winner, but if you get the championship this year, then you pass four legends, Dave Thorpe, Eric Geboers, Georges Jobe and Malherbe as a four time Honda World champion. Does any of that mean anything to you?

Gajser: Honestly, I don’t look at these statistics, but when you hear these big legends, it is unbelievable to be part of this group and a pleasure. It is what I aimed for as a child and to do it is unbelievable.

MXLarge: I was reading an interview with Zach Osborne, who recently became the AMA 450 champion. He mentioned how he has so much fun with his Husqvarna team, and it makes racing easier and less pressure. Whenever I come into the HRC tent I am a bit jealous, because you guys all get on so well and are always laughing and joking around. How important is it for you to be in that environment?

Gajser: I think it is really important, it is the most important thing, because basically they are your family and for most of the weekends for six months of the year, you spend a lot of time together. The HRC team, they are my second family and we have been together a long time our seventh year in a GP season and I am super happy and working with these guys. We know each other well and we have fun together. For sure now when we are at the track for 10 days and the free days we go together to lunch, dinner, sometimes go-carting and enjoying it and definitely that is a big part of success. We all have the same goal to be first and that is a good feeling.

MXlarge: You mentioned this is a strange championship. We have five Grand Prix’s to go, but it will be finished in like three weeks. Before you know it, somebody is going to be a World champion. How hard is it not to look ahead and wonder what will happen with so many races, but such a short period?

Gajser: Yes, it is, and it isn’t easy to put that on the side and not think about that. Of course, I want to do that, because a lot of happening, and we have a lot of races, but like you said, in three weeks it will be over. My focus is taking it for each GP, have fun, enjoy it, ride like I know, but the championship is in the back of my mind, but I am trying to think just about the racing, and getting good starts, because this year starts are very important, because so many guys are on a similar speed and it isn’t easy to pass. I just try and focus on the day and enjoy it.

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