Race Report

Race win for Team HRC’s Tim Gajser in Trentino

1 Nov 2020

GP of Trentino (ITA)

Pietramurata, Italy

MXGP 2020, Round 16

The first in the final trio of the 2020 FIM World Motocross Championship races set off today in the far-northern Italian province of Trentino.

The MXGP class saw championship leader Team HRC’s Tim Gajser take a comfortable start-to-finish win in race one further cementing his points tally in the premier class. Tim’s teammate Mitch Evans will miss the final 2020 races due to a wrist unjustly sustained at the recent Spanish GP, but Honda’s presence in the MXGP class was aided by Team SR Honda Motoblouz rider Jeremy Van Horebeek who brought his production CRF450R home in 13th in race one.

Race two saw Gajser start lap one in seventh position, which gave to likeable Slovenian quite a battle to progress up the field. ‘Tiga’ managed to climb his way up to a hard-earned fourth place at the finish giving him second overall – only one point away from the overall win.

Van Horebeek improved on his race one result with and 11th place finish in the second moto, giving the tough Belgian 12th overall with 18 championship points.

It was also a tough day at the races for Honda’s MX2 campaigners – mostly battling in the mid-pack, which makes for hard racing with limited results.

Honda 114 Motorsport’s new signing Morgan Lesiardo brought home the first CRF250R in race one – finishing in 11th place, 2.5 seconds ahead go his new teammate Bailey Malkiewicz in 12th.

In race two it was Team Honda Assomotor Frenchman Stephen Rubini who brought the first CRF250R over the line in 15th place, followed by Lesiardo in 17th and Team Honda Assomotor’s Alvin Östlund in 19th.

A challenging day overall for Honda’s MX2 campaigners, but all are hopeful to improve their results next Wednesday when the gate drops again in the beautiful Trentino mountains.

Gajser_Arco1_©hondaproracing_@shotbybavo_DSC_2960

Images are copyright free for editorial use. Honda Pro Racing/@ShotbyBavo

Gajser_Arco1_©hondaproracing_@shotbybavo_DSC_5988

Images are copyright free for editorial use. Honda Pro Racing/@ShotbyBavo

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

Overall I am quite happy with how things went. The first race was almost perfect, getting the holeshot and then making a gap at the beginning. Tony was pushing to start with but I managed to increase the gap every lap and controlled the race to take the win. In the second race I messed up the jump out of the gate and had a couple of difficult moments in the first lap as I battled through the field. I tried to take it easy at the beginning, not rush things and not make a mistake. In the end I came back to fourth place which was good enough for second overall. I did try everything to make the pass for third, which would have been good enough for first but I couldn’t quite make it happen. It was still a good result though and there are four motos left to go, so I will keep focused and try do my best.

Team HRC – MXGP

Morgan Lesiardo ⁴⁴

Today I had some mixed results. My qualifying wasn’t so good, which is an old problem for me that I want to work on and start using the bike 100%.

In the first race I started in around 15th place and felt very good. I was happy to finish the race in 11th. For the second race I started around 20th place but had a crash on the last lap and lost some positions so this put me down in 17th at the finish, but 14th overall - so not too bad.

I’m really happy to have the chance to ride for Honda and I’m feeling really good within the Honda 114 Motorsport team and with the CRF250R.

Team Honda 114 Motorsports

Gordon Crockard

Honda Off Road Racing Manager

Today really showed a heightened importance of getting good starts and keeping the bike on two wheels without crashing. For our guys we could see those were the keys to the race.

Timed practice for the MXGP men saw Tim on pole and career and season best positions for Dylan Walsh in P12 and his injury recovering team mate Benoit Paturel in P14.

Jeremy Van Horebeek suffered a snapped chain in time practice which left him unable to place a time, so was forced to line up disadvantaged on the grid with last choice of gate pick.

Tim showed he is the best by taking the holeshot, setting the fastest lap of the race and winning with a comfortable margin.

Valentin Guillod put in his season best ride with a fantastic 10th, Van Horebeek was fast but multiple crashes ruled out higher than 13th at the flag. Walsh also throwing away a good result by a crash on the last lap out of 12th.

For race two of MXGP the story was much different for Tim. Without the holeshot he was held up avoiding mayhem in the traffic of the early laps, doing all he could to avoid contact and crashing was smart - paying off in the end with 4th at the flag giving 2nd overall on the podium.

Walsh crashes out of 9th at the half way mark, sad to see after showing good management of himself up to that point.

MX2 was frantic in the mid pack, this seemed to be where our boys spent so much of the race fighting and battling for position.

Passing was a challenge and came with taking risks, which created some crashes through effort and pushing too hard, which is a better genre of crash than lack of concentration or physical skill.

The next two days will give an opportunity for assessment and reflection of what could have been carried out differently today to make for better results - and our young guns have to focus on fast learning and adjustment if they are to better themselves on Wednesday’s race. It’s not easy as so many races have been in such a short period of time over the last weeks, but it’s a reality that by this time next week the season will be over and there will be plenty of time for a rest then.

Honda Motor

1 Nov 2020

GP of Trentino (ITA)

Pietramurata, Italy

MXGP 2020, Round 16

Cloudy / 16

Sunday 1 Nov 2020, 14:59 UTC

Track Condition: Hard Pack
Air Temp: 16°C

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Clement Desalle	25	BEL	25	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	35:15.111
2	Antonio Cairoli	222	ITA	22	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+2.221
3	Gautier Paulin	21	FRA	20	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+9.072
4	Tim Gajser	243	SLO	18	Team HRC – MXGP	Honda	+12.282
5	Jeremy Seewer	91	SWI	16	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	+19.978
6	Romain Febvre	3	FRA	15	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	+44.120
7	Alessandro Lupino	77	ITA	14	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha	+45.684
8	Ivo Monticelli	128	ITA	13	Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team	Gas Gas	+57.306
9	Brian Bogers	189	NDL	12	Marchetti Racing Team KTM	KTM	+58.992
10	Brent Van Doninck	32	BEL	11	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna	+1:00.107
11	Jeremy Van Horebeek	89	BEL	10	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	+1:02.453
12	Jordi Tixier	911	FRA	9	Wildcard Rider	KTM	+1:19.998
13	Arnaud Tonus	4	SWI	8	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+1:26.041
14	Zachary Pichon	201	FRA	7	Wildcard Rider	Honda	+1:28.091
15	Michele Cervellin	747	ITA	6	SDMCorse Yamaha	Yamaha	+1:30.368
16	Tanel Leok	7	EST	5	A1M Husqvarna	Husqvarna	+1:31.407
17	Petar Petrov	152	BUL	4	Team VRT Nordpesca Holland	KTM	+1:32.290
18	Adam Sterry	811	GBR	3	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM	+1:37.995
19	Valentin Guillod	92	SWI	2	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	+1:42.906
20	Jose Butron	17	SPA	1	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM	+1:44.196
21	Benoit Paturel	6	FRA	0	JM Honda Racing	Honda	+1:47.168

Cloudy / 13

Sunday 1 Nov 2020, 11:57 UTC

Track Condition: Hard Pack
Air Temp: 13°C

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Tim Gajser	243	SLO	25	Team HRC – MXGP	Honda	35:06.977
2	Antonio Cairoli	222	ITA	22	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+0:07.891
3	Jeremy Seewer	91	SWI	20	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	+0:30.105
4	Gautier Paulin	21	FRA	18	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+0:34.388
5	Arnaud Tonus	4	SWI	16	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+0:40.260
6	Clement Desalle	25	BEL	15	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	+0:44.522
7	Alessandro Lupino	77	ITA	14	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha	+0:48.919
8	Jordi Tixier	911	FRA	13	Wildcard Rider	KTM	+0:53.606
9	Ivo Monticelli	128	ITA	12	Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team	Gas Gas	+1:13.961
10	Valentin Guillod	92	SWI	11	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	+1:23.450
11	Michele Cervellin	747	ITA	10	SDMCorse Yamaha	Yamaha	+1:34.579
12	Brian Bogers	189	NDL	9	Marchetti Racing Team KTM	KTM	+1:35.441
13	Jeremy Van Horebeek	89	BEL	8	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	+1:36.395
14	Romain Febvre	3	FRA	7	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	+1:37.751
15	Petar Petrov	152	BUL	6	Team VRT Nordpesca Holland	KTM	+1:40.841
16	Brent Van Doninck	32	BEL	5	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna	+1:44.258
17	Tanel Leok	7	EST	4	A1M Husqvarna	Husqvarna	+1:47.152
18	Samuele Bernardini	321	ITA	3	Ghidinelli Racing Team	Yamaha	+1:49.481
19	Jose Butron	17	SPA	2	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM	+1:53.381
20	Zachary Pichon	201	FRA	1	Wildcard Rider	Honda	+1 Lap

Sunny / 12

Sunday 1 Nov 2020, 09:24 UTC

Track Condition: Hard Pack
Air Temp: 12°C

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Tim Gajser	243	SLO	Team HRC – MXGP	Honda	1:40.057
2	Arnaud Tonus	4	SWI	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+0:00.304
3	Ivo Monticelli	128	ITA	Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team	Gas Gas	+0:00.455
4	Antonio Cairoli	222	ITA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+0:00.768
5	Gautier Paulin	21	FRA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	+0:01.184
6	Jeremy Seewer	91	SWI	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha	+0:01.214
7	Romain Febvre	3	FRA	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	+0:01.245
8	Jordi Tixier	911	FRA	Wildcard Rider	KTM	+0:01.343
9	Brian Bogers	189	NDL	Marchetti Racing Team KTM	KTM	+0:01.448
10	Clement Desalle	25	BEL	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki	+0:01.758
11	Alessandro Lupino	77	ITA	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha	+0:01.872
12	Dylan Walsh	53	GBR	JM Honda Racing	Honda	+0:02.414
13	Tanel Leok	7	EST	A1M Husqvarna	Husqvarna	+0:02.418
14	Benoit Paturel	6	FRA	JM Honda Racing	Honda	+0:02.442
15	Brent Van Doninck	32	BEL	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna	+0:02.698
16	Michele Cervellin	747	ITA	SDMCorse Yamaha	Yamaha	+0:03.187
17	Evgeny Bobryshev	777	RUS	PAR Homes RFX Husqvarna	Husqvarna	+0:02.934
18	Adam Sterry	811	GBR	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM	+0:03.459
19	Petar Petrov	152	BUL	Team VRT Nordpesca Holland	KTM	+0:03.544
20	Valentin Guillod	92	SWI	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda	+0:03.620

Rider Standings

Sunday, 1 Nov 2020 - Open world standings grid

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.
1	Tim GAJSER	243	SLO	626	Team HRC – MXGP	Honda
2	Antonio CAIROLI	222	ITA	553	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
3	Jeremy SEEWER	91	SWI	535	Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team	Yamaha
4	Romain FEBVRE	3	FRA	487	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki
5	Jorge PRADO GARCIA	61	SPA	476	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
6	Gautier PAULIN	21	FRA	441	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha
7	Clement DESALLE	25	BEL	402	Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki
8	Glenn COLDENHOFF	259	NDL	375	Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team	Gas Gas
9	Jeremy VAN HOREBEEK	89	BEL	307	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda
10	Jeffrey HERLINGS	84	NDL	263	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM
11	Brian BOGERS	189	NDL	254	Marchetti Racing Team KTM	KTM
12	Arminas JASIKONIS	27	LTU	248	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing	Husqvarna
13	Jordi TIXIER	911	FRA	234	Wildcard Rider	KTM
14	Mitch EVANS	43	AUS	228	Team HRC – MXGP	Honda
15	Calvin VLAANDEREN	10	NDL	206	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha
16	Ivo MONTICELLI	128	ITA	186	Standing Construct GasGas Factory Racing Team	Gas Gas
17	Arnaud TONUS	4	SWI	146	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha
18	Henry JACOBI	29	GER	134	Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori	Yamaha
19	Alessandro LUPINO	77	ITA	110	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha
20	Michele CERVELLIN	747	ITA	100	SDMCorse Yamaha	Yamaha
21	Tanel LEOK	7	EST	81	A1M Husqvarna	Husqvarna
22	Petar PETROV	152	BUL	76	Team VRT Nordpesca Holland	KTM
23	Evgeny BOBRYSHEV	777	RUS	75	PAR Homes RFX Husqvarna	Husqvarna
24	Brent VAN DONINCK	32	BEL	69	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
25	Dylan WALSH	53	GBR	67	JM Honda Racing	Honda
26	Valentin GUILLOD	92	SWI	65	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda
27	Adam STERRY	811	GBR	47	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM
28	Benoit PATUREL	6	FRA	45	JM Honda Racing	Honda
29	Shaun SIMPSON	24	GBR	31	SS24 KTM MXGP	KTM
30	Pauls JONASS	41	LAT	26	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing	Husqvarna
31	Jose BUTRON	17	SPA	24	JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team	KTM
32	Pascal RAUCHENECKER	760	AUT	19	Wildcard Rider	Honda
33	Karlis SABULIS	116	LAT	18	Wildcard Rider	KTM
34	Thomas COVINGTON	64	USA	15	Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha Racing	Yamaha
35	Nicholas LAPUCCI	211	ITA	15	Wildcard Rider	KTM
36	Samuele BERNARDINI	321	ITA	12	Ghidinelli Racing Team	Yamaha
37	Harri KULLAS	151	EST	11	Wildcard Rider	Honda
38	Zachary PICHON	201	FRA	10	Wildcard Rider	Honda
39	Nathan WATSON	991	GBR	10	Honda SR Motoblouz	Honda
40	Tom KOCH	226	GER	9	KTM Sarholz Racing Team	KTM
41	Freek VAN DER VLIST	88	NDL	9	Wildcard Rider	KTM
42	Lars VAN BERKEL	107	NDL	9	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
43	Milko POTISEK	232	FRA	6	Wildcard Rider	Yamaha
44	Ander VALENTIN	920	SPA	4	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
45	Artem GURYEV	555	RUS	2	JM Honda Racing	Honda
46	Rene RANNIKKO	191	FIN	2	Wildcard Rider	Husqvarna
47	Anton GOLE	297	SWE	2	JWR Racing	Honda
48	Kay EBBEN	228	NDL	2	Wildcard Rider	KTM