After a three-week gap, this weekend will see Tim Gajser and the Honda Gariboldi Racing team tackle the second new track of the MX2 season at Neuquen in Patagonia, Argentina for round three.
Close to the Argentina-Chile border and surrounded by forest, lakes and mountains, the Patagonia Race Track is not only situated in picturesque surroundings, but is also close to the Chilean Austral Motorway; one of the main routes through Chilean Patagonia. The volcanic and sandy nature of the soil should make the track soft but not too deep for the riders, something that should favour the European competitors.
After the humid heat of Thailand, where Gajser rode to a podium finish in the first moto but was unable to compete in the second, Tim will be looking to continue where he left off and achieve a strong result in the slightly cooler, less humid, Patagonian conditions.
The young Slovenian won his first MX2 races in the heat of Brazil and Mexico at the end of the 2014 season, both new tracks for that year, so is confident of the challenge posed by the unknown track this weekend.
MX2 track action starts with Free Practice on Saturday at 10:15hrs local time with Sunday’s MX2 races at 13:00hrs and 16:00hrs local time.
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“It looks like quite a fast track. Looking at the texture of the track it’s hard to know what it will be like after a few laps. It won’t be the same heat as in Thailand as the humidity there was so high. Even though it will still be hot, I know Tim will be fine as he doesn’t normally have problems with temperature. In Thailand he hurt himself in Sunday Warm-Up, which made a big difference to him in the first race. He’s been working hard since and is feeling very happy and strong, so we go to Argentina feeling very positive and ready to make up ground again.”
Tim Gajser, no.243
“I’ve been training even harder for this race after Thailand and it has been going really well and I’m feeling good. I’ve seen some photos of the Argentina track and it looks a little sandy but not so deep. It looks like it’s in the middle of a forest and there are a lot of jumps so I’m really looking forward to it. It looks fast too which I like, but you learn to like everything so you can suit all tracks.”