Remembered as the track that kicked off the era of epic Motocross of Nations racing in 2005, the French track at Ernee is back on the MXGP calendar once again after a five-year absence.
This weekend it will be looking to host another amazing event, the 10th round of 19 in the 2022 world series, in front of a packed hillside of wild French fans.
Last weekend in Spain, current red-plate holder Tim Gajser continued his recovery from illness by posting a fourth overall after two-six moto results, giving him a 66-point lead in the 2022 MXGP Championship as the series now passes the halfway mark.
The Slovenian had been in amazing form, winning six of the first seven rounds and he’ll be hoping to get back to those victorious performances this weekend.
His HRC Honda team-mate from Australia, Mitch Evans, is also hoping to continue his upward momentum after posting his joint second-best moto score of the season in race two at the last round in Spain.
Gajser has been in and around the top 10 for the last few rounds now, but he’s hoping for more in this second half of the season, where he wants to work his way into top fives, podiums and then finally challenging for wins.
Given how he was looking just before his injury in 2020, these are definitely achievable goals so now he has to go out and make them happen, and that starts this weekend, on a track he has never raced on before.
The 2017 season was the last time a GP was held at Ernee, which was before Evans made the switch to the world championships, and while Gajser rode on Saturday at that event, injury prevented him from lining up in the motos on the Sunday, so he doesn’t have any race experience there, other than when he won the Motocross of Nations B-Final in 2015.
Since then, there has been quite a bit of track development but the old-school essence still remains as the tight, twisty circuit is sculpted onto the side of one hill, while the thousands of fans watch on from the hill across the valley.
The weather forecast will be much cooler than the two previous rounds, which should make it a bit more enjoyable for the riders with showers expected to hit the track at some stage on what should be predominantly sunny weekend.
Once again, the schedule is a two-day format with free and timed practice taking place on Saturday before the qualification race in the evening, which then leads into a warm-up the following day, before the racing proper on Sunday afternoon, June 5 (actually Monday morning NZ time).
“The last two rounds have been tough for me, but each day I feel better and better and I’m confident that I’ll be getting back to my best for this MXGP of France,” said Gajser.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve raced at Ernee, as I missed the 2017 GP motos with an injury, so my last race is actually the 2015 Motocross of Nations, when I won the B Final.
“Still, it is cool to go back as it is a great venue and there should be a lot of fans there which always makes the racing a much better experience.”
Photo courtesy HRC Honda
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MXGP – World Championship top 10 classification:
1 Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 404 Points
2 Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 338 Points
3 Jeremy Seewer (SUI, YAM), 292 Points
4 Jorge Prado (ESP, GAS), 290 Points
5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, YAM), 272 Points
6 Brian Bogers (NED, HUS), 243 Points
7 Ruben Fernandez (ESP, HON), 242 Points
8 Pauls Jonass (LAT, HUS), 196 Points
9 Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, YAM), 194 Points
10 Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, BET), 189 Points
MX2 – World Championship Top 10 Classification:
1 Tom Vialle (FRA, KTM), 382 Points
2 Jago Geerts (BEL, YAM), 372 Points
3 Simon Längenfelder (GER, GAS), 287 Points
4 Mikkel Haarup (DEN, KAW), 266 Points
5 Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KAW), 259 Points
6 Andrea Adamo (ITA, GAS), 227 Points
7 Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 211 Points
8 Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 210 Points
9 Stephen Rubini (FRA, HON), 207 Points
10 Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 183 Points