This weekend was the sour to the sweet of last weekend’s victory in Italy as the team and Tim Gajser on the lone CRF250RW were compromised right from the start.
A huge crash in qualifying left Tim bruised but miraculously not more injured. Although he was able to race today, dealing with the pain in a way that only Tim can, he had to start both races from the outside of the line, which meant a much longer run to the first corner and therefore a significant disadvantage.
In race one, Tim’s assault was halted at the first corner when, attempting to run round the outside of the small left-hander, he was caught up in a crash ahead of him and was unceremoniously pitched over the bars and into the small lake that decorates the track. Restarting from the back of the pack, he showed his resilience to fight back to a wet 17th place and a crucial few championship points.
The second race also brought a crash on the opening lap that once again relegated him to the back of the pack. Dusting himself off, Tim recovered to 14th to rescue 11 World Championship points from the weekend, which maintains his position of fourth in the World.
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“When you miss the qualifying race like yesterday and you have to start so wide in this kind of gate where the position is so important, your Sunday is completely compromised. It was very very difficult for Tim today and he was in all the crashes of the midfield, so it was tough. The good thing is that Tim kept 4th in the championship, and from the next GP we will be back on hard pack in Spain, where Tim had a very good race last year to finish second in the second moto, so now our focus is on that.”
Tim Gajser, no.243
“Yesterday I had a really bad crash and it hurts a lot, but I’m not happy with my riding so I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I’m really disappointed with my riding today. I was riding too stiff, and I struggled with the lines. After Italy the win gave me more motivation, but from this weekend it has to give you even more motivation. The first race was strange as it’s a short start and my gate was way back so everyone from the inside pushed me to the outside and then I was in the lake, which has never happened to me before. Anyway, it’s sport and we are just human so bad results can happen to anyone, so I’m just really looking forward to Spain.”