Tim Gajser had a weekend of two very different races in Spain, but fought back to a hard-fought second position in the second MX2 race today. Meanwhile, home hero Jorge Zaragoza successfully completed his Grand Prix debut for the Honda Gariboldi Racing team, scoring his first World Championship points, as he made his return from a fractured vertebra sustained before the start of the season.
Race one saw Gajser and Zaragoza 11th and 12th after the mid-corner tussle, and Gajser had climbed to seventh before a crash relegated him to 19th and he had to start all over again. In his first ever Grand Prix aboard the Honda CRF250RW, Zaragoza ran in the top ten before a crash sidelined him.
Regrouping for race two though, Gajser was recharged and in a performance reminiscent of last year at this venue, he charged through from 12th to chase down the leaders. Cutting his gap to the lead from over ten seconds to just 1.1seconds, he set the fastest lap of the race in the process and finishing the Grand Prix in fifth overall. Jorge Zaragoza took the flag in 17th place to complete his first MX2 Grand Prix weekend and take his first World Championship points.
Giacomo Gariboldi, Team Principal
“It was a fantastic second race – with one more lap Tim could have won the moto, but anyway I think we’ve seen the best of him in this second race. Unfortunately he crashed in the first one when a place in the top four or five was absolutely possible and he could have won the GP overall, but we have many more in front of us and what is good is to see Tim at his proper speed in the second race.
“It’s a good sign from Jorge that he finished the race no problem and took his first World Championship points. Of course he needs races as the others already have five GPs and he needs to get into the rhythm of the races but I think by the end of the season he will progress a lot from here.”
Tim Gajser, no.243
“In the first race I was around 8th from the start but then in the third lap I crashed. It was very slippery and the rear wheel slipped away and I was on the ground. It was not a big crash, but I lost a lot of ground and it was heavy to come back but I still managed to come from 19th to 11th.
“After the first race I went into the camper for a little bit and then I was thinking about the lines and about everything that happened in the first race, and where I made mistakes and trying not to make them again. I didn’t have a good start and I went more in the middle but I still got closed out. Overall I’m disappointed because I had a chance to be on the podium, but it was really good to come back. I was thinking ok, fourth place is possible as the top three were already far ahead, but actually I kept pushing until the flag and managed second. I think if we had one more lap, I could have won.”
Jorge Zaragoza, no.101
“It was a difficult weekend. I’m very happy with the team and the bike is very good, but now I have to work in me with my physical training. I’m missing races because of my injury, and I’ve not been back on the bike for long, so I need to get back my riding. The weekend was not good but also not so bad, and it’s nice now to have made my first Grand Prix. I wait too long to ride this season, and now I look forward to the other races.”
