Gajser second in St Jean D’Angely as he looks for more victories 20.08.2022: MXGP of Charente Maritime (FRA) MXGP 2022 Round 17 Fresh off his fifth MXGP championship title, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in an excellent ride in the MXGP of Charente-Maritime qualification race, finishing second and giving himself a great o

MXGP of Charente Maritime (FRA)
MXGP 2022   Round 17




Fresh off his fifth MXGP championship title, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put in an excellent ride in the MXGP of Charente-Maritime qualification race, finishing second and giving himself a great opportunity to add to his eight GP victories so far this season.



From the very first session, Gajser and teammate Mitch Evans have shown they will be threats for the win in tomorrow’s motos as the pair were in the top three of both the free and timed practice at this hard-pack St Jean D’Angely track in France. Both even rounded the first lap of the qualification inside the top three and with passing extremely difficult, they were heading for strong finishes.



Unfortunately, Evans slide out on one of the off-camber sections on lap two and by the time he re-joined the race, he was down in 10th place. He did manage to pass two riders, to get up to eighth place, but that was where he received the chequered flag and will now hope to get out of the gate well in tomorrow’s motos.



Gajser rode a solid race, staying in second place for the rest of the moto, pressuring the leader for a bit before settling for second place. It was a composed performance from the #243 and with two good starts, he can easily add to his 13 moto wins and eight overalls, of what has already been another extremely successful title-winning campaign.
With the weather looking good for Sunday, expect a massive French crowd to be cheering on the riders, and Gajser and Evans will be hoping to be on the receiving end of their plaudits as they target victory in this penultimate MXGP round of the year.   
    
       


Tim Gajser  243


It was a solid day with second in free practice, second in timed practice and then second again in the qualification race. I felt a lot better heading into this weekend with the championship pressure off, so I’m just going out there and enjoying myself and I think the results will show that tomorrow.



It was a good crowd already and I think it will be even bigger for the races, so I’m excited to go out there and perform in front of them.         

    
       

Mitch Evans  43

Another mistake cost me the chance of a good gate-pick for tomorrow’s races, as I was running in second when it happened. When I picked it up, I was in 10th place and although I was able to make a couple of passes and ended up eighth, it was still not the result my speed deserved.


All day I was riding well and I know that if I can get out the gate well, I have the speed to podium, I just need to make it happen.         



    
       
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP


It was great to see both riders in the top three in free and timed practice, really showing the speed of the Honda CRF450R. Even in the qualification race, Mitch and Tim were in the top three after a couple of corners and both looking really positive.



Unfortunately, Mitch made that small mistake and that dropped him down the field, but we are excited about how both guys can finish in the races tomorrow and we’ll be working hard to help them achieve those podium spots.         

    
       
    
    Qualification Race



1    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    24:30.039
2    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:03.129
3    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:10.603
4    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:30.878
5    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:35.319
6    KULLAS Harri     151    FIN    Wildcard Rider    Husqvarna    0:36.628
7    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    0:44.101
8    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:45.721
9    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    0:47.299
10    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas    0:48.055
11    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:49.612
12    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki    0:50.796
13    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta    0:51.631
14    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    Riley Racing    Yamaha    0:53.709
15    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna    0:55.036
16    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    0:58.951
17    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    JM Honda Racing    Honda    1:08.954
18    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda    1:10.331
19    KOCH Tom     226    GER    KTM Kozak Team    KTM    1:10.981
20    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    1:11.507
    
    
       
    
    Rider Standings


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    674    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
2    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    570    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
3    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    525    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
4    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    517    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas
5    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    506    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
6    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    391    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna
7    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    359    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda
8    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    351    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
9    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    325    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas
10    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    272    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
11    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    265    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
12    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    252    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki
13    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    238    Riley Racing    Yamaha
14    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    227    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas
15    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    208    JM Honda Racing    Honda
16    TIXIER Jordi     911    FRA    197    JT911 KTM Racing Team    KTM
17    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    176    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
18    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    176    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki
19    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    154    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna
20    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    107    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha
21    KOCH Tom     226    GER    80    KTM Kozak Team    KTM
22    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    73    iXS MXGP Team    Yamaha
23    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    73    Team Diga-Procross    KTM
24    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    50    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
25    PATUREL Benoit     16    FRA    38    Honda SR Motoblouz    Honda
26    ROOSIORG Hardi     75    EST    32    Sahkar KTM Racing    KTM
27    LAPUCCI Nicholas     211    ITA    31    Steels - Dr. Jack Racing    KTM
28    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    18    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
29    SIHVONEN Miro     147    FIN    18    JWR Honda Racing    Honda
30    CHARLIER Christophe     23    FRA    17    Wildcard Rider    Yamaha
    

    
Team HRC - MXGP, also photos