It was Germany’s turn to host the MXGP World Motocross Championship this weekend as round 11 of the 2022 series visited the popular but challenging Talkessel Circuit, close to the eastern German town of Teutschenthal.
Famous for its fast and flowing layout, Teutschenthal features a hard-packed base and constant elevation changes which clearly suited Team HRC’s four-time World Champion Tim Gajser as he holeshot his CRF450R and took an early lead in race one. Based on Tim’s domination of Saturday’s qualifying race Gajser was the favourite to win today and soon into race one it was clear that the friendly Slovenian had the measure of both the circuit and his competitors, going on to win by almost six seconds.
Team Honda 114 Motorsport’s Rubén Fernández also worked hard in race one, rounding lap one in seventh place but pushed throughout the race to eventually finish in fifth.
Gajser’s teammate Mitch Evans also battled hard in race one, maintaining a strong flow throughout the moto to eventually finish in eighth, battling home-rider Team JM Honda Racing’s Henry Jacobi who finished in ninth.
Shiptocycle Honda SR Motoblouz’s Stephen Rubini had a challenging ride in MX2 race one, entering lap one in ninth place and battling hard to maintaining his race position whilst searching for opportunities to progress. His hard work paid off on lap 14 when he managed to make a pass and finish the race in eighth.
As the gate dropped for MXGP race two, all eyes were on Gajser and as the riders hit turn one he emerged in fourth place and pushed hard into second as they charged passed the timing beacon. Although Gajser seemed content to sit-back and not take risks he began a charge with around eight minutes to go. With a lowering sun and cut-up track to contend with Gajser eventually conceded to the safer approach and settled for second place which gave him the overall win. ‘Tiga’ extended his lead in the MXGP World Championship today to 101 points with eight rounds to go.
Fernández, Evans and Jacobi all had better starts in race two with Fernández entering lap one in fourth, Evans in sixth and Jacobi in eighth. Fernández soon lost one position and remained in fifth for the duration of the race giving the Spaniard fourth overall, just two points away from a podium finish. Evans raced well and remained in sixth for the duration of the race and Jacobi held onto eighth until lap 10 when he lost his flow and dropped to 11th at the flag.
MX2 race two saw a tough battle for Rubini. Suffering from a poor start-gate pick resulting from Saturday’s qualifying race crash the Frenchman battled hard to push back from 12th on lap one and consistently worked his way up to eighth at the finish. Rubini finished the day in eighth overall, frustratingly just five points away from the fourth place finisher.