Incredible Gajser wows French crowd to win GP number nine 21.08.2022: MXGP of Charente Maritime (FRA) MXGP 2022 Round 17 In what is already an amazing season for the five-time world champion, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put on an incredible last-lap display to pass two riders and take his 14th race win, and his ninth

MXGP of Charente Maritime (FRA)
MXGP 2022   Round 17

In what is already an amazing season for the five-time world champion, Team HRC’s Tim Gajser put on an incredible last-lap display to pass two riders and take his 14th race win, and his ninth overall of the season with his two-one moto scores.


On this tricky St Jean D’Angely track in France, Gajser was one of the few riders to be able to make any moves whatsoever, working with two solid starts to make his way into the top five on the first lap. In the first moto he quickly got into third place with teammate Mitch Evans hot on his heels.  



The recently crowned champion took a few laps to find his spot to pass and then made it stick on lap four, giving himself plenty of time to try and pass the leader. Unfortunately, despite posting the fastest lap of the race, he couldn’t find a way through and had to settle for P2, less than a second behind the winner.



In race two, the #243 was only fifth after lap one, but within a lap he was into fourth. Knowing that only a win would guarantee his ninth overall of the season he put his head down and tried to make that happen. At just over the halfway mark, he moved into third but he still knew that two more passes was the only way to take the top step of the podium. As the clock ticked down and the one lap board came out, the Slovenian decided this was the moment to cement himself even further in the record books and remind everyone that he has been the best motocross rider of 2022.



After sector one, he swept into second place, with the massive French crowd cheering his every move. However, he knew that the job was only half done, so he did a huge jump down the hill to blitz the unprepared leader and take the number one spot. As he crossed the line, the emotion came out, and after winning his fourth MXGP title in Finland, this was further proof that the #243’s speed is unmatchable.



For Evans, the fourth place he held for the majority of moto one was the best he position he had. A mistake near the end of the race meant that he dropped down to down to seventh and with it, meant any realistic chance of a much-deserved podium was gone. Still, the Australian still wanted to try his best in race two and rounding lap one in seventh still gave him a platform to perform. However, things didn’t go his way once again and instead he finished the moto in 11th place.



The 2022 world championship now just has one round left to race in Afyon, Turkey on September 3-4. Gajser likes the track and will look to add to his impressive 14 race wins and nine overalls, while Evans will hope to end the season on the podium, which is nothing less than he deserves after a season filled with impressive performances.   
    




       
    
Tim Gajser  243


Wow, what a last couple of laps! I worked hard all moto to try and find places to make the passes and on the last lap I knew I had to get it done. Winning this overall, after last weekend winning the championship is just such a nice feeling. I came in with the pressure gone and I think it showed in my riding this weekend.



Of course, it wasn’t easy because this track really didn’t offer up too many passes but I feel like this result really reminded everyone just how fast I can go. A big thank you to the team and everyone for such a good weekend. Since winning the title last weekend, I have received so many messages of support and I am just really happy with how everything is going. I can’t wait for Turkey!         

    
       


    
Mitch Evans  43


Another weekend where I’m disappointed with how the motos went. I was in a strong position in race one, staying in fourth place for the majority of the race and just a mistake near the end dropped me to seventh. I feel like I’m putting a bit too much pressure on myself to get on the podium, so I just need to focus a bit more on just taking each lap as it comes.



Race two wasn’t as easy and another small mistake meant I dropped for seventh to 10th, and in the end, I finished 11th. Of course, I want more, and that’ll be the aim when we head to final round in Turkey in two weeks’ time.         

    
       
    
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP


Tim proved today that he is the best motocross rider in the world. He wasn’t able to make a pass happen in race one and had to finish second, but in race two, when he needed to make two passes on the last lap, he showed everyone that he is a fully-deserved five-time world champion.


It was great for him to get back to winning ways after some pressure-filled rounds recently, but with the championship won, he was able to concentrate on just the motos and that showed all weekend. Unfortunately Mitch wasn’t able to back-up his speed that he showed throughout all the sessions, with points but we really want him to finish the season on a high and everyone in Team HRC will be trying their best to help him achieve that.         

    
       
    
    Race 1


1    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    25    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    35:29.204
2    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    22    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:00.983
3    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    20    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:30.870
4    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    18    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    0:32.416
5    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    16    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:33.885
6    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    15    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    1:00.331
7    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    14    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    1:01.846
8    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    13    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1:02.717
9    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    12    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas    1:08.419
10    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    11    Riley Racing    Yamaha    1:13.670
11    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    10    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    1:16.984
12    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    9    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda    1:17.829
13    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    8    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna    1:19.280
14    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    7    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    1:22.797
15    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    6    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki    1:26.989
16    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    5    JM Honda Racing    Honda    1:44.475
17    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    4    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    1:46.878
18    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    3    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    2:03.717
19    KOCH Tom     226    GER    2    KTM Kozak Team    KTM    1 lap
20    BRUMANN Kevin     87    SWI    1    hostettler Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1 lap
    
    
       
    
    Race 2


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    25    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    35:33.882
2    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    22    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    0:00.953
3    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    20    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:01.991
4    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    18    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:11.598
5    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    16    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:19.761
6    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    15    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas    0:27.624
7    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    14    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:30.715
8    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    13    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:34.169
9    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    12    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda    0:44.855
10    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    11    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas    0:49.032
11    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    10    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:57.197
12    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    9    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    0:59.336
13    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    8    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki    1:07.469
14    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    7    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna    1:14.348
15    KULLAS Harri     151    FIN    6    Wildcard Rider    Husqvarna    1:16.335
16    KOCH Tom     226    GER    5    KTM Kozak Team    KTM    1:32.505
17    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    4    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    1:37.880
18    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    3    JM Honda Racing    Honda    1:50.541
19    HERBRETEAU David     338    FRA    2    Team VHR KTM Racing    KTM    1:55.409
20    BRUMANN Kevin     87    SWI    1    hostettler Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    1 Lap
    
    
       
    
    Rider Standings


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    721    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
2    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    615    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
3    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    557    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas
4    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    553    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
5    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    540    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
6    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    406    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna
7    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    380    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda
8    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    378    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
9    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    350    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas
10    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    296    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
11    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    265    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
12    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    260    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki
13    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    250    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas
14    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    249    Riley Racing    Yamaha
15    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    216    JM Honda Racing    Honda
16    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    212    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
17    TIXIER Jordi     911    FRA    197    JT911 KTM Racing Team    KTM
18    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    190    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki
19    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    170    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna
20    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    107    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha
21    KOCH Tom     226    GER    87    KTM Kozak Team    KTM
22    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    73    iXS MXGP Team    Yamaha
23    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    73    Team Diga-Procross    KTM
24    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    53    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
25    PATUREL Benoit     16    FRA    38    Honda SR Motoblouz    Honda
26    ROOSIORG Hardi     75    EST    32    Sahkar KTM Racing    KTM
27    LAPUCCI Nicholas     211    ITA    31    Steels - Dr. Jack Racing    KTM
28    KULLAS Harri     151    FIN    21    Wildcard Rider    Husqvarna
29    LUPINO Alessandro     77    ITA    18    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
30    SIHVONEN Miro     147    FIN    18    JWR Honda Racing    Honda
    
    


 
Team HRC - MXGP, also photos