After his crash in the morning’s warm-up session, Tim Gajser was forced to miss MX2 races on medical grounds, but in the second race young Spaniard Jorge Zaragoza really started to show his potential.
The no.101 rider completed just his second Grand Prix with the Honda Gariboldi Racing squad this weekend, having been sidelined from the start of the season after fracturing a vertebra in the pre-season.
As he enjoys more time on the CRF250RW, he is getting stronger and more comfortable, and that showed in race two with a great start that saw him into sixth position. He remained firmly in the top ten for the first half of the race before his lack of seat-time became evident and led to a few small mistakes that relegated him down the field.
Nevertheless, this strong showing demonstrates what the 18 year-old will be capable of as the team continue to nurture his talent and his fitness and physical condition continues to improve.
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“With Jorge, I think the position in the first half of race two is where we could see him when he will be really well trained so we’re happy with this. His riding proved today that he could stay there in the top eight for a lot of the race. For sure he needs to train more and be fully fit again, but he still hasn’t had much time on the bike since his injury at the start of the year.
“Tim has to take some medical tests during the week when he goes back to Slovenia so we all wish him very well but he should be ok to race in France next week.”
Jorge Zaragoza, no.101
“I’m very happy with my second race today – riding in sixth for a long time with a good start. Then I was super-tired, but I’m happy to know that I can be there. I need more training and physical condition, but I’m happy to know that I have the speed to run in that position. We’re getting stronger with every race and I can start training more so I’m happy with the way things are going.”