TIM GAJSER – ONTO SWEDEN

Heading to Uddevalla in Sweden next week, the MXGP championship continues to heat up, with all three leading riders, Tim Gajser, Jorge Prado and Jeffrey Herlings winning a Grand Prix in the last month. Of course, Prado won the opening round in Indonesia (MXGP of West Nusa Tenggara), with Gajser winning in Loket, and Herlings taking wins in the MXGP of Lombok and Lommel last weekend.

As we turn our attention to Sweden, the series leader, Gajser could be something of a favourite to add Sweden to his GP victories and stop the momentum of his fellow five-time World champion, Herlings and of course, defending champion, Prado.

The HRC man has won in Sweden on two occasions, in 2015 and 2017 and he has always shown good speed there, finishing fifth in 2014, second in 2019 and 2022 and an unfortunate 10th last year (after missing most of the season with injury). Generally, Gajser could very easily, be the man to take victory in Sweden in a little over a weeks’ time.

For Gajser, the win in Loket was very important after losing both GPs in Indonesia and seeing his series points lead shrinking. The HRC factory rider had never won in Loket, and it was celebrated with a huge turn-out of Slovenian fans.

“It was amazing to finally get a win here in Loket,” Gajser said. “I’ve had some good moments here, but never been able to take the victory so this is just a great feeling. I didn’t have the best first race, but we worked together as a team to improve things for race two and I immediately felt a lot better. I got a good start, put pressure on the leader and then made a move midway through and controlled the rest of the race. A big thank you to all the team, and to all the fans Slovenian fans who create such an awesome atmosphere and who support me around the whole track. I’m glad I could finally repay them in Loket.”

However, soon after that success at Loket, came the MXGP of Flanders, at the toughest circuit in the World, Lommel. The deep sand in Belgium was unkind to the five-time World motocross champion. Until now, it was the worst Grand Prix of his season as he finished with 5-4 scores.

“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.”

Now, onto Sweden, whereas we have mentioned, he has had success and no doubt, with both Prado and Herlings continuing to close that points gap, the Honda man needs to make a statement. You get the feeling; he will arrive at Uddevalla with a lot of motivation to prove a point to everyone that he is the red plate holder.

Photo Credit : Bavo Swijgers