Team HRC’s Tim Gajser continues to hold the red-plate, maintaining a 24-point lead as they leave the MXGP of Flanders after his five-four results in the deep sand of Lommel. After qualifying third in yesterday’s race, the Honda CRF450R rider was able to get two decent starts in today’s GP-scoring motos, which gave him good track position and made things slightly easier for the 35 minutes plus two laps at Lommel – possibly the toughest motocross track on the planet.

“It was tough to find the flow here this weekend and on a track like this, it made my life really difficult. In the end, fourth overall on a day that wasn’t my best, isn’t too bad, so I have to stay positive and focus on making sure that I do better in Sweden next time out. It will be a totally different challenge but we will work hard on making that happen.”

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in a solid performance in the deep sands of Lommel, Belgium to finish third in the MXGP of Flanders qualification race. The Honda CRF450R rider had another excellent start, putting him in second round the first bend and that allowed him to avoid the first-lap craziness behind him.

From there, he followed the leader for a large portion of the race, keeping the gap close but never really threatening. He did drop a position midway through the moto, but the priority on such a difficult track is to keep upright and make sure he avoids any big mistakes and that’s exactly what he was able to do throughout the entire day.

A fifth in timed practice, followed on from a fifth in free practice, but with so many riders on the track and the fast line ever-changing, it wasn’t always easy to put in a clean hot-lap. This didn’t hinder him too much for the start of the qualification race though, as his run of good starts continued in the sandy conditions. This gave him the perfect platform to score another good points haul, which allows him to still lead the 2024 MXGP World Championship by 34pts.

“I am happy with how I rode today, it what were difficult conditions. It was really hard to find consistent flow and rhythm but to finish third in a comfortable manner is okay for today. It is also good that I had another strong start, and that really gives me confidence for the two races tomorrow.”

In race one, it took the Slovenian a couple of laps to find his groove and by lap five he was back into fifth place, but he never really looked completely comfortable and wasn’t able to make a move on the rider in fourth place, despite pressuring him for the majority of the race.

Race two started off better, with the #243 into third early on and keeping pace with the leaders. However, keeping your momentum high is a difficult challenge in the deep sand and near the end, he had to relinquish a position and ended up just missing out on the podium as a result. His 34-point total still means he holds the red-plate with six rounds remaining, but he’ll be hoping for much more when they line up again in a couple of weeks’ time at the Uddevalla track in Sweden.

Bavo Swijgers image