Gajser storms through to second in Trentino qualifying
PietramurataTeam HRC’s Tim Gajser put in an impressive opening lap, to give himself a shot of another good Saturday result, which he duly produced by finishing second in the MXGP of Trentino qualification race.
New teammate Roan van de Moosdijk once again showed good speed early on, as he battled in the points-scoring positions before unfortunately dropping down to finish in 28th position.
After finishing fourth in timed practice, the #243 overcame a mid-pack start to move himself into the top four by the time they crossed the line for the first time. The next lap he moved into third and set about trying to reel in the top two, who had put in an early-moto charge. It took him a few laps, but eventually he made the move on the uphill triple, jumping over his opponent and moving into second place. By that stage the leader was too far ahead in these shorter motos, so he settled in for the remainder of the race, comfortable in the knowledge that he closed the gap at the top of the championship table to just eight points. Given how quickly he moved to the front of the field, he knows that a better start in the two GP-scoring motos tomorrow will give him a real chance of securing his first overall of the season, after four podium positions in a row.
Fellow Honda CRF450R rider v/d Moosdijk had a tougher time of things as his lack of pre-season preparation is catching up with him in these intense MXGP races. The young Dutch rider, who only debuted in this class and for Team HRC last weekend in Sardinia, is still getting to grips with everything that racing against the best motocross riders on the planet brings, but he knows that every minute under his belt is a step in the right direction and that’s what he’ll be looking for in tomorrow’s races.
In what are beautiful conditions at the picturesque venue in Pietramurata, the riders will have a warm-up session in the morning to see how the track is developing, before lining up for their two 30-minute plus two lap motos at 14:15 and 17:10 local time.
I’m very happy with the first couple of laps, after not getting the best jump out the gate. I know that this track it isn’t so easy to make passes on, but whenever I got close to a rider, I made the move quickly and without wasting too much energy. Obviously, now the goal is to start much nearer the front, which should give me a shot at challenging for the lead and closing up the championship points tally even more.
I’m still not happy with my performance as I know there is more to come. I just need to settle down a bit and ride like I know how to ride. We made good progress in the week, and the team are working really hard to help me, so I want to repay all that work by putting in some good results.
We have all been really impressed by the way Tim is riding this year, and although he wasn’t able to win this race, it was still a very good performance and should give him a lot of confidence for tomorrow. He is really making good passes, especially on this tight Pietramurata track and we’ll be pushing to make sure he has a shot for a win in the races on Sunday. Roan is still struggling with the race pace later in the races, but that is something that takes time and we’ll keep working with him to improve that step by step.
