Slovenia’s Klemen Gercar has surprised many in the MX3 World Championship this season, where he’s topping the standings. He won his home round and finished off the podium only once thus far! With his eyes set on a move into MX1 in 2014 Klemen took the opportunity to do some GP’s in the premier class with 24MX Honda Racing. While Gercar needed some time to adapt he recorded his career best MX1 result last weekend in Loket where he finished 16th in the second moto.
“I’m really happy to have competed in those three MX1 GP’s in Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic,” Gercar said. “Now, I have a much better understanding of what is needed to succeed in MX1. I’ve definitely learned a lot from the experience and I managed to stay out of trouble. So it’s been really cool from Steven Lettani (24MX Honda Racing team manager) to give me this chance! It’s been great working with the team and racing their CRF450R.”
Gercar has three more rounds left in the MX3 World Championship, the first one on the 25th of August during the popular Motocross Grand Prix Festival in Winchester. With a 12-point lead over Martin Michek, and 18 points more than the current world champion Matthias Walkner the battle for the title will proably going down to the wire. “Racing is always the best way to train! That’s why I believe that competing at an higher livel in MX1 will help me with my fight in the final MX3 races. Both Hyvinkää and the Lausitzring were too soft for me, but Loket was aleady better. I admit that I had expected something more in Czecho! However, it was quite a challenge to get a good feeling for the surface. Hitting the right lines and avoid those strange bumps takes some time to get used to.”
For most of the second race in Loket Klemen circulated in 15th position. Only in the last corner he was pipped from 15th place by Herjan Brakke. “Yes, that was a pity,” sighs Gercar. “It would have been nice to reach the top-15 in one of my first races in the MX1 class! On the other hand to finish 17th overall in Loket was a result I can build on. Of course it’s not great either, but my starts could have been a lot better and the level in the MX1 World Championship is very high.“
If the 22-year old Slovenian were to recapture the MX3 title for Honda –Julien Bill rode his CRF450R to the championship in 2011- he would surely increase his market value for 2014. So what’s next? “For the moment I don’t think too much about next year. I’m fully focused on the MX3 championship and my development as a rider in general. This year I made some good progress, in order to make the next step I need more agression in the first laps, a lot more practice in the sand and experience on the typical MX1 tracks. Of course a good bike and team are on my wishlist as well!”