Nineteen-year-old Tim Gajser took an historic MX2 World Championship title today for the Honda Gariboldi Racing Team.
It’s been a triumphant and meteoric year for Gajser and Honda Gariboldi Racing. In Arco di Trento in April he scored his career first MX2 Grand Prix victory on the CRF250RW. Since, four more victories have followed, including a further three trips to the podium.
With three stellar performances on the sand tracks of Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands he took the lead of the MX2 World Championship, and with a faultless ride here in America clinched this historic title.
It’s the first 250cc world title for Honda since Fred Bolley in 2000, and the first small-class crown for the Japanese marque since Alessandro Puzar in 1995.
It’s also the first World Championship for the Honda Gariboldi Racing team, and Gajser becomes the first Slovenian to win the MX2 title. For team partner SHIFT, it’s also the first championship victory since Jeff Emig’s supercross title in 1997.
Already establishing himself as a leading force in MX2 towards the end of last year, the kid from Slovenia’s record is now even more impressive:
2007 65cc European Champion
2009 85cc European Champion
2012 First Slovenian 125cc European and World Champion. GP debut
2014 5th MX2 World Championship – first full season with Honda Gariboldi
2015 MX2 World Champion
With a contract with HRC until at least the 2020 season, Gajser has already added a significant chapter to the history of Honda and HRC in the Motocross World Championship.
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“This is just a dream! Like a fairytale. We did it. I’m just so happy for Tim, the whole Gajser family who are so close, and everyone in the team. It’s like a family. All year we have worked more like a family than a team. It’s been our best year in motocross and to achieve this historic win just two years after HRC came with factory support is incredible. I’m so thankful to HRC and Honda, and the Japanese engineers for all their support as we wouldn’t be here without them, and they are just so easy to work with and very quickly became part of the family. I can’t put into words how much this means, especially as we have put Honda right back at the front; at the top of the world again. I said earlier this season that the championship would go down to the last race, but Tim was just so strong and rode so well, he earned this championship and he deserves it.”
Tim Gajser, no.243
“I can’t believe it, it’s just amazing this feeling. I think I will feel it even more tomorrow when I wake up, but right now it’s just a dream. We have been working so hard for this for all my life. This is what we do all the work and the training for. I can’t thank everyone enough – my family, the team and my mechanics, Honda and HRC, and everyone who has supported me along the way. I’m so happy! The year started a little rough and I made some mistakes, but I’m only human and in the second half, it just got better and better. It’s been an incredible year with my first MX2 GP victory, and now the first MX2 World Championship. At the start of the year we couldn’t have imagined this, even though it’s what we aim for, so to now have the medal around my neck and the no.1 plate on the bike is just incredible. I love the Honda, and now I can’t wait to get back on the 450 next weekend for the Nations!”
2015 MX2 World Championship
| 1 | Tim Gajser | HONDA | 589pts |
| 2 | Pauls Jonass | KTM | 564pts |
| 3 | Max Anstie | Kawasaki | 537pts |
| 4 | Valentin Guillod | Yamaha | 511pts |
| 5 | Jeremy Seewer | Suzuki | 496pts |
| 6 | Julien Lieber | Yamaha | 430pts |
| 7 | Jeffrey Herlings | KTM | 423pts |
| 8 | Jordi Tixier | Kawasaki | 393pts |
| 9 | Benoit Paturel | Yamaha | 376pts |
| 10 | Petar Petrov | Kawasaki | 324pts |
| 25 | Jorge Zaragoza | HONDA | 68pts |