MXGP

In hot and sticky conditions on the Indonesian island of Lombok, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser narrowly missed out on the podium at the Mataram track, but still retains a healthy lead in the 2024 MXGP World Championship.

Gajser’s three-five results saw him miss out on third place due to the second-moto tie-breaker, in what was a tough day of racing for the five-time world champion. After a third in yesterday’s qualification race, he used his third gate-pick to excellent advantage, starting well in both races, including a race two holeshot. However, on what was a difficult track, the Slovenian was unable to capitalise as much as he would have liked and instead leaves the circuit ruing what might have been.

In a largely uneventful race one, Gajser held onto a third place, comfortably ahead of P4 but not quite being able to stay in touch with the leaders. Although this lonely race did allow him to save some energy for the second moto where the #243 looked much more positive.

After the holeshot, he did run a little wide and that allowed two riders through, but he soon got back into second place and started stalking the leader. A mistake then allowed him through to first position but as the sun became a problem, the bumpy terrain started causing some issues and he made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes. As he crossed the line in fifth place, his 36-point tally wasn’t quite good enough for the podium, but he does have a 22-point advantage in the standings which he takes into next weekend, when the series returns to the Mataram circuit for the second of the two rounds to be held here, but on what is said to be a changed layout.

MX2

Ferruccio Zanchi fought hard in the second moto, to put a difficult race one behind him and bounce-back for an eighth-place finish, giving him 10^th overall on the weekend. On what was a tricky track, race one didn’t get off to a great start as a crash on the first lap dropped him to 20^th place, way behind the rest of the field. Putting his head down, he was able to make it back to 14^th but it was a lot of effort in the high temperatures at this Lombok circuit.

Knowing that he needed a better start in race two, he very nearly got the holeshot around the outside and slotted himself into fourth place. Running the same pace as the leaders for the five four laps, the youngster looked the part as he navigated a heavily watered race-track. As time went on, he did gradually slip down the field as the vastly more experienced riders made their way past, but he still ended up in a highly respectable eighth place, giving him a lot of confidence he can do the same next weekend at the same venue.

Tim Gajser 243 "Things didn’t go my way today, on what was quite a difficult track. I couldn’t find a good rhythm in race one and just had to settle for third place. Race two started a lot better, including getting the holeshot but I ran a bit wide and let a couple of guys through. I then fought hard in the first few laps and got myself back into the lead, but a couple of mistakes and I ended up finishing fifth. It’s not where I want to be, but I had five days to recuperate and then we go again next weekend."

Ferruccio Zanchi 73 "Definitely a learning experience this weekend, with just being a completely different type of event than in Europe. I am happy to be here though and I’m happy with how I rode in that second moto, to fight hard and show a bit more of what I am capable of. I know that I need to get those sort of starts in every race and if I can do that, I can see that I’m getting closer and closer to finishing with the top guys."

Marcus Pereira de Freitas HRC General Manager - MXGP "It wasn’t the end result we wanted, but we know that Tim will do his best to make sure it doesn’t happen again next weekend, and we’ll be here to help him achieve that. He still has a good lead in the championship and we’re sure that when we come back here in five days’ time, he will be motivated to try and extend that further." "It was good to see Ferruccio putting in a good start and battling with the best MX2 riders in that second moto. It is important to see a reaction after a tough race one, and he showed that he can really put things together in what are very difficult conditions. Hopefully he’ll have a good few days and be able to do the same again in the second event of this Indonesian double-header."