Slovenian Tim Gajser was victorious in the Czech Republic qualification race, not only winning the race, but also increasing his lead at the top of the 2024 MXGP world championship standings.
Posting fast times in free practice, and timed practice, Gajser knew that the start would be critical on this Loket circuit and he was able to power his Honda CRF450R around the first turn, just narrowly missing out on the holeshot.
Putting pressure on the leader for the first half of the first lap, he quickly moved into the lead and from then on, he controlled the race and took a strong race win for the maximum 10 points.
It was a great ride in difficult circumstances as his championship rivals were directly behind him, but Gajser never wavered and was eventually able to take the chequered flag with a five second buffer.
With gate-pick not being so critical on this circuit, the Slovenian rider knows he’ll have to repeat those good starts if he wants to win his first ever GP here tomorrow, but given how well that has been going in the past couple of rounds, this could be statement weekend for the five-time world champion.
“It was really nice to get the win here today and take maximum points,” said Gajser.
“Gate-pick isn’t so important at this track, but winning here isn’t easy so it feels good to get the victory and now the aim is to repeat that for tomorrow.
“Once again, my start was a good one and put me position to capitalise on any mistakes and that’s exactly what I was able to do and every point is critical at this stage of the championship, so I want to try and do the same thing tomorrow, and take my first ever GP overall here.”
Photo courtesy Honda
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MXGP QUALIFYING RACE:
1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 24:03.130; 2. Jorge Prado (ESP, GASGAS), +0:05.204; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:13.449; 4. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Kawasaki), +0:25.855; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, Yamaha), +0:30.460; 6. Romain Febvre (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.823; 7. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:42.672; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Fantic), +0:54.429; 9. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Honda), +0:59.638; 10. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Honda), +1:03.740.
MX2 CLASS QUALIFYING RACE:
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 24:44.517; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:01.050; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:01.884; 4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:06.720; 5. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.056; 6. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:32.161; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.942; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:36.346; 9. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:46.141; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:48.204.