The travelling men

Travelling on the world scene is one that brings not only great racing for the riders, but also the enjoyment of different cultures. For Tommy Searle, Tim Gajser and Alexandr Tonkov it’s a different adventure.

Searle hasn’t been the luckiest guy in the MXGP class the last two years. Crashing out of both GP’s and picking up injuries. He goes into Thailand more careful, but also excited for the adventure.

“I enjoy the overseas races and I find it relaxing,” Searle said. “You have the hype, but everyone is with minimal people and I feel good at these races. Thailand I am going to an island with Tony and Jill and that will be nice. You could go home for those races, but I don’t see the need, you go home and ride for four days, but when you are sat on the start line and the heat is so bad it doesn’t matter if you rode four days or not if you are not a little used to the heat. You just need to get through the race in Thailand.”

Qatar GP winner Gajser didn’t have the best of luck in Thailand last year, and like Searle will hope for a better result in 2016.

“Now we have a few days of rest with just some swimming and relaxing in Thailand. I’m looking forward to this new track. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s new for everyone. Last year I couldn’t race in the second race, even though I felt fine and wanted to, so this year I’ll make sure I drink even more water!”

For Russian rider Tonkov, going to Thailand means fighting the high temperatures. Coming from the cold of Siberia isn’t the best preparation, but Tonkov prefers to go home between the opening two GP races.

“Qatar it’s a nice race,” Tonkov said. “It isn’t a long flight, it’s a nice city, and you see how it grows. I also like the night race. I don’t like Thailand as much, it’s too hot and I am from Siberia, so the heat isn’t good for me. That is why I also prefer not to fly direct to Thailand and go home. I am sad we don’t go to Malaysia and I love going to the new places and travel, always nice to see the different cultures. When will I go to these places without racing motocross. Here we can say thanks to MXGP for organizing this.”

What this weekend will bring these three riders, we don’t know, but let’s hope all three come through injury free and with a bunch of GP points.