Who is going to stop Tim Gajser this weekend in Loket?

Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser. What can be said that hasn’t been said already? The kid is crushing it and looks to be the safest bet for the title this year. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre should be back this weekend, and is likely to be Tim’s biggest problem, even though it doesn’t have to be since he has a massive points lead. But, if there is one thing we have learned about Tim Gajser, is that he has an all or nothing riding style and he races to the flag regardless of what is on the line. As for Romain, it will be good to have him back after his ugly crash at the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain.

While Tim and Romain have been dominating the MXGP class more often than not, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli has captilized on Febvre’s error and is now sitting second in the championship standing. Tony has proved on a few occasions he has the goods, and feels as though he has some unfinished business in the premier class. He is 92 points down on Gajser, so his goal may no longer be ‘winning the championship’ but instead, rounding out the season in winning form.

Another rider who is looking to bounce back is Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle, also known as the ‘MX Panda’. The MX Panda could really use a win before the season is out, as he has been smacking his head against the wall this year with an array of injuries suffocating his speed. In saying that, the Kawasaki ace finally made it onto the box at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy, which could be a sign of danger for the rest of the guys in MXGP especially since he loves this track as the venue at which he landed on the box for the first time in his career and has also won two grand prix’ here, 2009 and 2013.

Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin is also fond of the hard clay here in Loket. He won the MX2 grand prix here in 2009 and is known to have impeccable throttle control which works well on this kind of surface. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is in the same boat. In fact, back in 2014 he won his first and only MXGP round right here!

Also look out for Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Valentin Guillod. He was the winner of the grand prix here in Loket last year, in the MX2 class, and also won here in the European Championship’s premier class, the EMX250 back in 2013.

As for the ‘Yellow’ guys, Team Suzuki World MXGP, Kevin Strijbos should be back this weekend, which is exciting for him as a two-time grand prix winner here. He will also be joined by Arminas Jasikonis, a young gun fresh out of Lithuania, who will be making his MXGP debut.

2015 MXGP of Czech Republic, Loket, MXGP Top 3

Romain Febvre
Evgeny Bobryschev
Clement Desalle

MXGP Championship Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 532 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 440 p.; 3. Romain Febvre (FRA, YAM), 408 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, HUS), 401 p.; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 396 p.; 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, YAM), 351 p.; 7. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 267 p.; 8. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), 230 p.; 9. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 212 p.; 10. Clement Desalle (BEL, KAW), 210 p.

Words and Images by MXGP