Tim Gajser: Confidence and Patience

Team HRC factory rider Tim Gajser came into last weekend’s British Grand Prix with a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations. A clear favourite because of the injuries to defending World MXGP champion and 2021 runner-up, Gajser who finished third in last year’s amazing championship battle didn’t disappoint as he scored 1-2 results to win the opening round of the 2022 MXGP title race and scored his 34^th GP victory.

Coming into Matterley Basin, Gajser felt comfortable with what he had done in his preparation and also looked at this 2021 third place finish as a very good learning year. Full of confidence and looking for another Grand Prix victory, pressure was never a problem for the Slovenian.

“I learnt a lot,” Gajser said. “Especially the pressure, because those last couple of GPs in 2021, the pressure was high, and the racing was intense. We did all make mistakes and also, we had bad luck, I mean me going off the track and getting a penalty. So, I think that was where I lost the championship. I didn’t lose a lot of points, but I was too many points behind and mentally, I was like I have a chance, but it will be difficult. I think mentally we all grew, and I enter this season confident. We had a good off-season and I feel really good with the bike, we made some nice changes. It is also nice that we have a normal season back, two days format, starting in February and ending in September.”

What stood out for many watching last weekend was the way the four-time World champion controlled the two races. While he didn’t get a 1-1 result, he was easily the fastest guy in the MXGP class and when you know that, then taking your time and not rushing anything comes easy. His race craft was first class and something he had been working on.

“Yes, 100% and that is something I have been working on. When I saw I didn’t take a good start in one of the races, I just took a deep breath and knew the race was going to be long, I didn’t need to do everything in the first lap and for sure in that first race, when I was around 10th place or something like that, then I just waited and let the race come to me. I was searching for good lines. I am so happy we are back to two days, because the track is so rough on the race days, so many lines. With the two days the tracks become a lot more technical and not as fast. You have to find the good lines, and this was a good way to start the season. I am a bit disappointed with the mistake with three laps to go in the final race, crashing and giving the lead back, I need to work on that not happening. It was just a little mistake, and I lent the bike over too much and I touched the rear brake on the rut, then the bike just stopped, and it threw me over the handlebars.”

So now, with the red plate, and more pressure, Gajser will head to Mantova in Italy, a place that wasn’t too kind to him in 2021. Will the confidence of the opening round moto give him that extra motivation to take his 35^th GP win? We will find out in a few days.