A trio of Trentino podiums for Gajser and Fernandez
PietramurataThe dramatic Trentino trilogy concluded today at the Crossodrome Ciclamino circuit, high in the beautiful Dolomite Mountains, Trentino, Italy as Team HRC’s Tim Gajser closed the gap on the MXGP World Championship lead to just one point.
Although Gajser lead his main championship rivals in race one, the pressure of the close championship contest began to show as the Slovenian struggled to relax and flow in his usual way. Despite this he still delivered some comparably fast laps on the CRF450RW and crossed the finish line in fourth position with high hopes for race two.
In race two Tim pushed into the lead on the opening lap and although the first third of the moto was a nail-biting battle to remain at the front, Gajser eventually found a dominant flow and slowly pulled out an unassailable race lead to take his seventh race win of the season and close within one point of the World Championship lead with two rounds to go.
Honda 114 Motorsports’ Canadian rider Dylan Wright proved he was a fast-learner in Italy and once again improved on his trio of results at the Ciclamino circuit, this time taking ninth overall on the CRF450R. Dylan is looking forward to finishing the season on a high at the final two races in Mantova next Sunday and the following Wednesday.
In the MX2 class it was more success for Honda 114 Motorsports’ Ruben Fernandez. Although the fast Spaniard struggled to find his qualifying speed today, but when it really mattered in the races he once again found his form and gelled well with his CRF250R.
Race one saw Fernandez push quickly to sixth place on the opening lap and by the mid-race point he’d made solid progress into third place, crossing the finish line in third, only 10 seconds away from the race leader.
Then in race two an average start gave the #70 some work to do as he set about a climb through the pack often posting sector and lap-times faster than the race leaders. Once again Fernandez battle to third place and this time finished the race just 5.22 seconds away from first place.
Saturday’s EMX250 race saw Honda Racing Assomotor’s Emil Weckman overcome race one disappointment to finish race two in seventh place to finish the day in 11th overall with two rounds remaining in Mantova starting next Sunday.
It is great to get another race win, and move even closer in the championship standings.
It has been a tough week with this triple-header but to finish on a positive note is a very good feeling and gives me a lot of motivation heading into the final two rounds at Mantova.The first race didn’t go to plan, finishing fourth, so I need to work on that but the second race was much better. I got a really good start and moved into first very quickly and then just controlled the race.I was getting updates from the pit-board so I knew how far ahead I was and I was able to win with a big gap. It was great to see so many fans come here and support me and I’m very excited for these last two rounds.Also, a big thanks to the whole team who keep working hard in this intense period. I couldn’t do it without them!
It’s always been a dream of mine to race against the best in the world in the World Championship and after racing for the Canadian national team at the Motocross of Nations I showed that I had some pretty good speed so we agreed that I’d ride for the Honda 114 Motorsports team for the remaining MXGP races.It’s been going well for me here in Trentino. It’s been a learning experience and I’ve been making changes to my CRF450R setup but we’re slowly improving to try to make my results better every time I go on the track and it’s working.It’s unreal being here in Trentino. I’m an outdoors type so all the rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking and so on that goes on here really appeals to me. It’s an awesome place.
It was another good race weekend for me and I’m really happy to make it three out of three here in Trentino.I didn’t have such good starts today so I had to work hard to come through from behind but I felt really solid and consistent which isn’t always my strongest point and I usually need to be more patient.I rode safely though today and didn’t make mistakes and delivered another podium.It’s my fifth podium of the season and the third in a row in Trentino. I’m super-happy with that and I hope to keep the ball rolling.
For the third and final time this week we finish off with Ruben delivering a strong third place in MX2 moto one, again a fine third in moto two and third overall on the podium, equal points to second. Great riding in all races, coming through and passing to get to the front.Tim in MXGP moto one fought with his title rivals intensely, finding himself facing risk of being passed each time he moved off the optimum racing line to create a pass on the guy ahead. Stuck with this dilemma he felt tight and without flow in his riding, reaching the line in fourth place.Guest rider Dylan Wright rode to a mega ninth place finish, making superb lap times and passing riders to advance positions.Benoit Paturel was holding 10th place until he was smashed into by another rider in an attempt to pass aggressively, he was forced to retire with pain in his knee from the crash.In MXGP race two Tim displayed all the reasons why he’s a four-time World Champion. He got a great start and rode fantastically well and had a very dominant win and positioned himself very firmly in the title hunt.We have to celebrate the fact that we had three Hondas in the top ten in MXGP race two with Tim winning, Benoit Paturel in ninth and Dylan Wright in a very hard-earned 10th place after a mediocre start and multiple passes.I’m really excited for the races in Mantova next week as it’s a very interesting championship this year.
