Team HRC’s Tim Gajser wins another epic moto to extend championship lead 28.06.2021: MXGP of Great Britain MXGP 2021 Round 2 Team HRC’s Tim Gajser produced another epic second moto performance to take the race win at the MXGP of Great Britain, going four-one for second overall and increasing his lead at the top of the world mo

MXGP of Great Britain
MXGP 2021   Round 2

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser produced another epic second moto performance to take the race win at the MXGP of Great Britain, going four-one for second overall and increasing his lead at the top of the world motocross championship to 15 points over second place.



With rain threatening the Matterley Basin circuit near Winchester, England throughout the day, the first moto didn’t produce a lot of passing as riders struggled to find different lines on what is the longest laptime on the calendar.



In qualifying the top seven were separated by just over a second and that continued after the gate drop as riders generally finished very close to where they crossed the first lap. For Gajser, this meant a solid fourth place effort, settling behind those in front, not wanting to force the issue so early on in this championship battle.



However, in race two, after a light shower and another MX2 moto, the loamy track had developed a few ruts and the Honda CRF450RW rider used that to his advantage, slicing his way through the field on the first lap after a good start to cross for the first lap in third place. After a couple more laps he had made another move and was setting his sights on the leader in order to try and win what would be his third moto out of four so far in 2021.



After studying his lines for the entire second-half of the race, Gajser knew exactly where he wanted to make the pass, so when the two-lap board came out, he closed the gap and really applied the pressure. The first attempt didn’t quite stick, but the reigning world champion wasn’t to be denied and with half a lap remaining he swept through into the lead, taking the chequered flag and continuing his excellent run of form.


This victory gave Gajser 43 points for second overall, but importantly five points more than his nearest championship rival and so after just two rounds, he is already 15 points of second place, and over a moto clear of fourth place onwards.


Next up, this coming Sunday, is the historic track in Maggiora, Italy where the Team HRC rider has already won earlier this year at an Italian Championship race, so he’ll be brimming with confidence and hoping that round three will go as well as the first two.   
    
    
    
    
Tim Gajser  243


I always enjoy coming to England and racing here at Matterley Basin. The weather meant that they didn’t rip the track so much, so in the first moto there weren’t many lines and it wasn’t easy to pass on so I just had to settle for a fourth place. I felt I could have challenged for the lead but I didn’t want to push too hard and I thought that in race two it would be easier.


I got a better start in second race and although there was a lot of passing and action going on, I stayed calm and focused on finding good lines and working my way to the front. When I was in second place, I couldn’t stay too close to the leader for a long time because the roost was hard and I wanted to make sure I had clear vision for near the end of the race.



When I saw the two-lap board come out, I knew a couple of places where I could make my move and on the last lap I used a really good outside line and took the lead. I’m really happy with how I’m riding and how everyone in the team is working together to improve each weekend. I can’t wait for Maggiora and I hope to continue this run of results. A big thank you to everyone!         

    
       

    
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP


After Russia, we knew that this would be an important weekend for Tim, in order to backup his performance and show that he can race at that level every weekend. And after race two, I think he proved that he is the fastest guy in the class and the rider to beat this year.


He has now passed everyone of his rivals and although he was second overall, he still increased the gap at the top of the championship and is just riding so well. We only have a week until the next round but we will keep making sure that everything is going in the right direction and that Tim maintains his high level of performance.         

    
       
    
    Race 1

1    CAIROLI Antonio     222    ITA    25    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    36:02.691
2    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    22    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:07.922
3    HERLINGS Jeffrey     84    NDL    20    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:10.502
4    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    18    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:12.831
5    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    16    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:15.617
6    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    15    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    0:16.646
7    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    14    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:18.008
8    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    13    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:28.312
9    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    12    MRT Racing Team KTM    KTM    0:38.199
10    TONUS Arnaud     4    SWI    11    hostettler Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:39.569
11    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    10    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:40.276
12    STRIJBOS Kevin     22    BEL    9    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:43.144
13    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    8    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    0:45.544
14    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    7    Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing    Husqvarna    0:46.902
15    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    6    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta    0:50.868
16    SIMPSON Shaun     24    GBR    5    SS24 KTM MXGP    KTM    0:52.315
17    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    4    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1:03.068
18    STERRY Adam     811    GBR    3    Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee    KTM    1:08.375
19    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    2    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha    1:09.946
20    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    1    Standing Construct KTM    KTM    1:10.823
    
    
       
    
Race 2


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    25    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    36:18.266
2    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    22    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:01.468
3    CAIROLI Antonio     222    ITA    20    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:15.489
4    HERLINGS Jeffrey     84    NDL    18    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:21.730
5    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    16    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:24.350
6    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    15    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    0:32.300
7    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    14    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM    0:41.289
8    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    13    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta    0:43.046
9    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    12    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:43.610
10    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    11    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:46.107
11    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    10    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:47.133
12    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    9    Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing    Husqvarna    0:51.446
13    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    8    MRT Racing Team KTM    KTM    0:52.751
14    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    7    JM Honda Racing    Honda    0:53.953
15    STERRY Adam     811    GBR    6    Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee    KTM    0:57.832
16    STRIJBOS Kevin     22    BEL    5    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1:06.101
17    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    4    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    1:11.794
18    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    3    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1:14.286
19    TONUS Arnaud     4    SWI    2    hostettler Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1:16.515
20    LOCURCIO Lorenzo     183    VEN    1    JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team    KTM    1:17.997
    
    
       
    
Rider Standings


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    93    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
2    HERLINGS Jeffrey     84    NDL    78    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM
3    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    73    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
4    CAIROLI Antonio     222    ITA    65    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM
5    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    61    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    KTM
6    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    60    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
7    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    54    MRT Racing Team KTM    KTM
8    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    50    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas
9    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    43    Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing    Husqvarna
10    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    42    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
11    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    39    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
12    TONUS Arnaud     4    SWI    31    hostettler Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
13    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    29    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
14    STRIJBOS Kevin     22    BEL    28    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
15    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    22    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
16    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    21    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
17    TIXIER Jordi     911    FRA    19    JT911 KTM Racing Team    KTM
18    STERRY Adam     811    GBR    17    Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee    KTM
19    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    16    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha
20    SIMPSON Shaun     24    GBR    14    SS24 KTM MXGP    KTM
21    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    12    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas
22    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    7    JM Honda Racing    Honda
23    WATSON Nathan     991    GBR    4    Honda SR Motoblouz    Honda
24    LOCURCIO Lorenzo     183    VEN    3    JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team    KTM
25    BRYLYAKOV Vsevolod     18    RUS    2    JWR Honda Racing    Honda
26    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    1    Standing Construct KTM    KTM
    
    

    
    
 Team HRC - MXGP, photo Honda