One of the most fearless, capable and naturally gifted off-road motorcycle racers on the international stage has joined the thriving stable of Monster Energy athletes and is an exciting new figurehead in the FIM Motocross World Championship for the worldwide drinks brand. Current MX2 World Champ and leader of the premier class – MXGP – in his rookie year, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser is an electric addition to the Monster Energy crew.
Just nineteen years old, the Slovenian has helped turn a number of circuits on the eighteen round MXGP series a bright shade of yellow and red as the ‘243’ has seen a booming group of native fans invade the typical Grand Prix audience. Gajser’s profile in the central European country is rising close to celebrity status and his efforts in 2016 at the highest level with seven Grand Prix wins and a 100% podium record means he is the hottest property in motocross at this time. His power, maturity and grounded personality has gained legion upon legion of followers and motorcycle racing enthusiasts.
Hard-charging and occasionally wild on a 250 in MX2, Tim’s surging, proactive and flowing style has been a majestic fit on the factory HRC CRF450RW. He dominated the Grand Prix of Qatar for his debut in the MXGP division in February and has barely slacked off the throttle since.
In the same way that Monster Energy Yamaha’s Romain Febvre cut a blaze through the 2015 MXGP field in his first term, Gajser is having an equally astonishing impact and will now see out the remaining five rounds of the current campaign with the green claw on his race lid and with further branding on the two Honda Gariboldi machines.
“For sure this is really nice and it’s an honour to be part of Monster; you just have to look around MXGP and you can see it everywhere, it’s a really big deal in motocross,” said Gajser who leads the MXGP standings by 107 points prior to this weekend’s Grand Prix of Belgium and a maximum of 250 points left to win this season. “I’m always watching the races. Every time I go into the gym I put the TV on and do my work with the race running there. It is great to see everything going so well and being a rookie in this class against such big talent and legends like Tony [Cairoli], Romain [Febvre], [Clement] Desalle and [Ben] Townley and many others. There are many guys who can win and the competition is really tough. It is so nice to be in front of everyone.”
“Motocross has really grown a lot in Slovenia in the last two years,” he adds. “It feels like it is in the newspapers or on the TV a lot and whenever I look I see ‘Tim Gajser’! It’s really nice for me and my family because we have been working for that and we wanted to get to the top and to be well known. It is great for me but also for the country and what we have seen around the tracks recently at Mantova [Lombardia] and also Loket [Czech Republic] is unbelievable; it is unusual to see so many supporters there just because of one rider. Those guys spend their money and holiday time to travel and come to the races and not just from Slovenia but from all over Europe so I’m really thankful and appreciate everything.”
