Reigning MX2 World Champion Tim Gajser kicked off his debut MXGP event in Qatar today in strong fashion with second place in the qualifying race.
With a confident performance on the CRF450RW, the Slovenian, who is the youngest rider in the MXGP field this weekend, started strongly and immediately slotted into third.
Making the most of a track on which it was hard to pass, he fought his way past Jose Butron just before mid-distance and then set about following in the wheel tracks of Honda and HRC stable-mate Evgeny Bobryshev.
The pair made it a Honda 1-2 in the first qualifying race of the season, as Tim resisted huge pressure from reigning MXGP World Champion Romain Febvre in a measure and determined ride.
In MX2, Jorge Zaragoza also made a strong start and was also third through the left-handed turn one, but unfortunately was not to be so lucky when a crash in turn two called an early halt to his progress.
For Jorge, race one starts tomorrow, Saturday 27 February at 1715hrs local time, followed by Tim’s MXGP race one at 1816hrs local.
Tim Gajser, no.243
“Yeah it was great. I had a pretty good start, and then I was feeling good. I’ve been feeling really good here all day long – free practice, timed practice and now tonight in qualifying. I’ve been waiting for this race all winter. It’s been a good day, we have a good gate pick for tomorrow with second, and we were really close you know. I think the start will be the key tomorrow as I got in a little bit of traffic. I was really riding like I do in practice – I just went out there and tried to make a solid start and do what I do – there’s no difference for me between here and MX2 like that.”
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“Today was great. We knew that Tim was fast on the 450, but today has confirmed all the good points about him on this bike. He just needs a good start tomorrow and he will be there right at the front. When he got caught behind Butron that’s where he lost contact with Bobby at the front, but still his laptimes were really good. When he saw Febvre arriving he just pushed a little bit and that’s when he did his best laptime, so we’re really happy.”
