Gajser ends amazing 2022 season by winning the MXGP of Turkiye 05.09.2022: MXGP of Turkey MXGP 2022 Round 18 Team HRC’s Tim Gajser finished the season as he started it six months ago, winning the MXGP of Turkiye in and ending this amazing 2022 MXGP World Championship on a high.

MXGP of Turkey
MXGP 2022   Round 18

Team HRC’s Tim Gajser finished the season as he started it six months ago, winning the MXGP of Turkiye in and ending this amazing 2022 MXGP World Championship on a high.



It ended up being his 10th GP overall of this season, and his 100th career podium and was a fitting finale to another record-breaking year in another excellent event at the Afyonkarahisar track in Turkey.



In race one, a small tip-over in the second corner meant that Gajser started from right near the back of the field, and gave him a lot of work to do on a track that wasn’t easy to pass on. Gradually, every lap he moved further and further forward and soon he was inside the top five.



Just as it looked like fourth would be his ceiling, he put in the fastest lap of the race and closed right up to third with a lap to go. In what ended up to be a crucial pass, the #243 made his move and crossed the line in an impressive P3 finish.



Knowing that he would have to improve upon that in race two, he made a much better start and was soon battling in the podium positions. Knowing that all his main rivals were behind him, the five-time champion knew he just had to keep consistent and try to pick off riders when he could, and on the halfway mark that strategy moved him into second.




Despite not needing to, the Slovenian tried his best to track down the leader, and another fastest lap of the race got him almost within striking range. However, time expired and he instead settled for second place and his 10th GP victory, in what has been a truly incredible championship.



In what was a day filled with ups and downs, Team HRC teammate Mitch Evans proved he can battle with the very best, leading a number of laps in race one, and then battling for the lead in race two. Unfortunately in both races he was unable to maintain that level for the duration of the moto and he had to retire from race two after a crash just before the finish line.



With a couple of weeks off before the Motocross of Nations, the Australian has time to rest up and recover, before preparing himself for what is the biggest event on the motocross calendar, when the ‘Olympics of Motocross’ takes place in RedBud, United States on September 24-25.


For Gajser, he will take a well-deserved break before preparing his assault for next year’s title where he will attempt to become a six-time champion and write himself even further into the world motocross championship history books.   
    


       
Tim Gajser  243

It was a great way to finish the season. Winning 10 GP overalls is a great achievement and I really can’t thank the whole of Team HRC enough, for all their work this year and throughout all the years. I also want to thank all the fans who came to Turkey to support me and all those around the world who send me messages.


It all means so much and this year and I’m glad you all got to attend the races this year and cheer me on and meet me in person. This weekend wasn’t always the best, but I fought hard and in the end it turned out really well. I like coming to Turkey as they always do a fantastic job with the facility and the track and this year was no different. 2022 has been a great year, and I can’t wait to begin 2023!         

    
       

    

Mitch Evans  43


It seems like every time I’m making progress, something happens and I lose that work. In the first race, it felt great to lead the field for the first half and I was riding really well. Unfortunately I hit a bit of a wall, and I couldn’t maintain that level and I dropped down the standings.


Then in race two, I once again got a good start and was battling for the lead, when I hit big bump just before the finish line and crashed. Thankfully I am just battered and bruised, so now I just need to have a few days to just relax and recover, before I head to America and try to win the Motocross of Nations with Team Australia.         

    
       
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager - MXGP


Tim winning this MXGP of Turkiye was the perfect way to end this 2022 season. Even though the title has already been decided, he still fought for every position, and posted the fastest lap in both races. He came through from way back in race one to finish third and then did enough in race two to take his 10th overall of the season.


A great effort! For Mitch, we really thought he could achieve his goal of a podium, and for the first part of race one it looked really likely. However, we are still proud of his efforts because he never gave up and put in all the work necessary to get back to the front of the field.



The results might not always show it, but he is one of the best motocross riders on the planet and we really hope he can put it all together at the Motocross of Nations.         

    
       
Race 1


1    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    25    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    35:35.228
2    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    22    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:04.307
3    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    20    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:09.782
4    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    18    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    0:14.401
5    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    16    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas    0:16.034
6    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    15    iXS MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:18.931
7    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    14    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    0:23.582
8    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    13    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    0:25.213
9    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    12    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    0:26.724
10    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    11    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna    0:32.646
11    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    10    JM Honda Racing    Honda    0:34.416
12    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    9    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:34.733
13    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    8    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha    0:47.222
14    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    7    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:57.502
15    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    6    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    1:03.171
16    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    5    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    1:08.941
17    LAPUCCI Nicholas     211    ITA    4    Steels - Dr. Jack Racing    KTM    1:39.154
18    KOUZIS Panagiotis     38    GRE    3    Wildcard Rider    Honda    15 laps
19    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    2    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda    19 laps
    
    
       
    
Race 2



1    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    25    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    35:28.577
2    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    22    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    0:02.084
3    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    20    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:20.116
4    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    18    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas    0:27.183
5    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    16    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna    0:29.654
6    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    15    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:33.305
7    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    14    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas    0:39.836
8    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    13    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha    0:50.034
9    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    12    iXS MXGP Team    Yamaha    1:00.040
10    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    11    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna    1:04.134
11    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    10    JM Honda Racing    Honda    1:17.802
12    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    9    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki    1:19.570
13    LAPUCCI Nicholas     211    ITA    8    Steels - Dr. Jack Racing    KTM    1:41.614
14    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    7    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha    1:52.131
15    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    6    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki    1 lap
16    KOUZIS Panagiotis     38    GRE    5    Wildcard Rider    Honda    2 laps
17    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    4    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha    8 laps
18    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    3    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda    17 laps
    
    


       
Rider Standings


1    GAJSER Tim     243    SLO    763    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
2    SEEWER Jeremy     91    SWI    657    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
3    PRADO GARCIA Jorge     61    SPA    589    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    GasGas
4    RENAUX Maxime     959    FRA    578    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
5    COLDENHOFF Glenn     259    NDL    575    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    Yamaha
6    BOGERS Brian     189    NDL    428    Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing Team    Husqvarna
7    VLAANDEREN Calvin     10    NDL    394    Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing    Yamaha
8    FERNANDEZ Ruben     70    SPA    382    Honda 114 Motorsports    Honda
9    JONASS Pauls     41    LAT    350    Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team    GasGas
10    EVANS Mitch     43    AUS    308    Team HRC - MXGP    Honda
11    FORATO Alberto     303    ITA    280    SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery    GasGas
12    WATSON Ben     919    GBR    275    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    Kawasaki
13    VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy     89    BEL    265    Beta SDM Corse MX Team    Beta
14    FEBVRE Romain     3    FRA    250    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
15    VAN DONINCK Brent     32    BEL    249    Riley Racing    Yamaha
16    JACOBI Henry     29    GER    236    JM Honda Racing    Honda
17    GUADAGNINI Mattia     101    ITA    204    Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddii    Husqvarna
18    TIXIER Jordi     911    FRA    197    JT911 KTM Racing Team    KTM
19    BEATON Jed     14    AUS    190    F&H Racing Team    Kawasaki
20    ÖSTLUND Alvin     161    SWE    122    JK Racing Yamaha Active    Yamaha
21    GUILLOD Valentin     92    SWI    100    iXS MXGP Team    Yamaha
22    KOCH Tom     226    GER    87    KTM Kozak Team    KTM
23    KJER OLSEN Thomas     19    DEN    73    Team Diga-Procross    KTM
24    MONTICELLI Ivo     128    ITA    64    Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing    Kawasaki
25    LAPUCCI Nicholas     211    ITA    43    Steels - Dr. Jack Racing    KTM
26    PATUREL Benoit     16    FRA    38    Honda SR Motoblouz    Honda
27    ROOSIORG Hardi     75    EST    32    Sahkar KTM 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