The Honda CRF450R duo of Tim Gajser and Ruben Fernandez put in excellent rides to finish first and third in the MXGP of Sardegna’s qualification race, held at the deep-sand track of Riola Sardo of the Italian island.
Coming into today, Gajser had won five the last six gate-drops, and he made it six from seven, with a come-from-behind performance that shows he sand skills are up with the best in the world. The #243 was fastest in timed practice, but didn’t get the best jump, especially compared to teammate Fernandez, who roared out of the gate and crossed the holeshot line in first place.
While Fernandez tried to pull away, Gajser made a number of moves to get himself into third place by the end of the first lap as the Honda pair made-up two of the three podium positions. Midway through the moto, Gajser passed his teammate for the lead and while the #70 did slip to third, it was still an excellent ride for the Spaniard, and one that should give him a lot of confidence for the longer motos tomorrow. Gajser then tried to pull out a gap, but unbeknownst to him, the second-place rider was staying within striking distance. On the last lap, as lappers blocked the Slovenian, he suddenly realised how close it was up-front so increased his speed and held on for the win – his second qualification victory of the season, also moving him to 39 points ahead of his nearest rival in the championship standings. The MXGP pair are very happy with how things went and will be trying to make sure they can repeat their efforts for the GP-scoring motos tomorrow.
In the MX2 class, Ferruccio Zanchi and Valerio Lata didn’t quite have such a good day as the pair finished eighth and 11th respectively. Lata had shown good speed in timed practice to place fifth, but he wasn’t able to translate that in the qualification race and instead was battling just outside of the points-scoring positions.
Zanchi fared better in the race, after being 10th in timed practice, but the young Italian still wasn’t happy to only cross the line in eighth place, after a race filled with battles. Both riders will be looking for improvements tomorrow, and with the deep-sand track only getting more difficult, the Honda HRC crew will be working as hard as they can to help them achieve their desired results.
