The scenic Portuguese circuit of Agueda hosted today’s FIM World Motocross Championship, the fourth round of the 2022 season.
In the MXGP class it was Team HRC’s Tim Gajser who took his Honda CRF450R to a podium finish in race one after recovering from an average start. Gajser took time to build his speed in the moto and towards the race end he posted the fastest sector and lap times, bringing down a seemingly unassailable deficit in the early laps to just 2.5 seconds at the finish. The Slovenian finished the moto in third place, adding valuable points to his championship lead.
Team Honda 114 Motorsport’s Rubén Fernández had a brave ride in race one, completing lap one in tenth place and pushing hard throughout the moto to earn the Spaniard sixth at the finish.
In race two Gajser took a better start and dropped immediately into second place. The 25-year-old showed patience and maturity on the challenging Portuguese circuit and close to the halfway point in the race easily took the lead, going not win by a comfortable five seconds. Gajser has now extended his MXGP lead to 21 points and the championship leader’s red plate stays on Team HRC’s #243 CRF450R for another GP.
Rubén Fernández had a tougher outing in race two. Although he had a slightly better start, he struggled to settle into a rhythm and was suffering with pain after Saturday’s crashes. He eventually finished the race in ninth after holding onto eighth for a number of laps.
Team HRC’s Mitch Evans finished the day in 12th overall after some luckless early laps in both motos making it hard work to cut through the disorder and roost further down the field. The likeable Australian went 15-12 in the races respectively as he continues his recovery from a 2020 wrist injury forcing him out of the entire 2021 season.
In the MX2 class frenchman Stephen Rubini took his Shiptocycle Honda SR Motoblouz Honda CRF250R to a great result in race one. He started in sixth place and pushed up to fifth by lap two, eventually finishing the race in sixth.
In race two Rubini was tangled up in an early incident and started the race from last place. Within a lap he’d pushed up to 19th place and continued to pick off positions to eventually finish in 13th. A disappointment for the overall result, but showing good speed and potential to break into the top five as he looks for future podium results.
Round five of the 2022 FIM World Motocross Championship will take place at another beautiful location high in the mountains of Trentino, northern Italy next weekend. All Honda riders will reset and regroup as the gate drops again on another Grand Prix and an opportunity for Honda teams to showcase their race-winning motorcycles at the highest level of motocross competition.
I had a really good day today winning that second race and just really enjoying my riding on what was a difficult track. It wasn’t quite enough to take the overall but I am still very happy with how it went and how I was able to come out and perform in the second moto. The first gate-drop didn’t go so well and it took me a bit of time to get my rhythm and make the passes I needed and finishing third I knew it would be difficult to take the overall. Still, it was a good day, with a lot of fans cheering me on and it was nice to be back in Agueda because I really enjoy riding here. Next up is Trentino, which I’ve heard will be a different layout so that should be interesting for everyone. A big thanks to the team for all their work so far this season and let’s keep this momentum going!
Tim Gajser
Today definitely didn’t go to plan as both races were pretty much ruined after the first turn. I wasn’t able to come through it cleanly and that meant I had a lot of work to do in the rest of the race to even get to challenge the top guys. In race one I was 23rd after one lap and in race two I was 22nd so that tells the story of how my motos started. However, I didn’t give up in either race, keeping a good pace and trying to pass as many guys as possible. This resulted in 15-12 results for 12th overall, which aren’t where I want to be, but it still gives me a bit of satisfaction because of where I started. Hopefully next week in Trentino I can get better starts and show my speed nearer the front of the field, because that’s where I feel I belong.
Mitch Evans
Credit – Honda Racing
