Gajser wins the French GP to reclaim MXGP Championship red-plate

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MXGP

Team HRC's Tim Gajser won an eventful MXGP of France after a second-moto rain deluge to take-back the MXGP championship lead once again, and show that when the conditions get tough, the Honda CRF450R rider rises to the occasion.

There was initial confusion after the race as the FIM officials had to assess some yellow flag penalties handed out to other riders, but once those had been sorted out, it was confirmed that the #243 was the victor of the 2024 MXGP of France, after his one-four results.

In race one, when the track surface was back to it's usual rutted, hard-pack self, Gajser put on a clinic to take his third moto victory of the season, moving quickly from third into first and pulling out a comfortable margin when he crossed the finish line. Winning that race gave him the virtual red-plate as he came into this GP tied, but he knew he'd have to perform in a similar fashion in race two if he wanted to leave the hillside venue of St Jean D'Angely grasping the actual plaque.

One hour before their gate-drop, the predicted rain hit the track in full force, turning the surface into mud and puddles, just like in the qualification race yesterday. This time around he got stuck in third place, and with the wet roost, and the single fast-line, he found himself unable to move forward and gain the positions that would have 100%-secured him the overall. Instead, with time running out to make a move, he ended up making a mistake on a downhill and remounted down in sixth place, which is where he eventually crossed the finish line. However, the FIM officials had spotted that the two riders in front of him had jumped on yellow flags, which moved him up into fourth and gave him enough points to take his first overall of this 2024 campaign.

The Slovenian now holds a five-point gap over his closest rival as they head into an off-weekend, before the series returns on June 1-2 for the MXGP of Germany in Teutschenthal, another track which Gajser has a good history on and one where he'll once again have the red-plate adorning his Honda CRF450R.

MX2

Ferruccio Zanchi put in two excellent rides in changing conditions, going seven-eight for seventh overall in a very challenging MXGP of France. The youngster belied his years by riding smoothly in both dry and wet conditions, putting in a number of moves on the first lap to get himself well inside the top 10 and then holding on with some solid laptimes.

Considering it is only the Italians' fourth GP, he is already becoming a staple performer in and around the top 10, and as he gets more and more bike-time, he'll be looking to progress even further up the race standings at every opportunity. Next up will be the MXGP of Germany, where Zanchi won a moto in the EMX250 class, so he'll be using this weekend off to prepare for that, before heading to Teutschenthal with even more confidence.

Race 1
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 35:26.564;
2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:10.145;
3. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:16.488;
4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:23.556;
5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +0:30.241;
6. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:47.461;
7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:12.661;
8. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:14.544;
9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Fantic), +1:22.605;
10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.602;

Race 2
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), 34:49.450;
2. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:24.167;
3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GASGAS), +0:29.849;
4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:35.695;
5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), +0:38.711;
6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Triumph), +1:03.981;
7. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:09.865;
8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:13.200;
9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:15.240;
10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:27.202;

Overall
1. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 50 points;
2. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 42 p.;
3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 40 p.;
4. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 38 p.;
5. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 31 p.;
6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 31 p.;
7. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 27 p.;
8. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 24 p.;
9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM),
21 p.; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 21 p.;

Race 1
Pos.    Rider    Num    Nation    Points    Team    Time/Gap
1    
GAJSER
Tim    243    SLO    25    Team HRC - MXGP    35:12.805
2    
PRADO GARCIA
Jorge    1    SPA    22    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    0:06.468
3    
FEBVRE
Romain    3    FRA    20    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    0:19.064
4    
SEEWER
Jeremy    91    SWI    18    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    0:22.952
5    
JONASS
Pauls    41    LAT    16    Standing Construct Honda MXGP    0:24.196
6    
HERLINGS
Jeffrey    84    NDL    15    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    0:24.659
7    
VLAANDEREN
Calvin    10    NDL    14    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    0:36.055
8    
COLDENHOFF
Glenn    259    NDL    13    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    0:53.738
9    
BOGERS
Brian    189    NDL    12    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    0:54.945
10    
BONACORSI
Andrea    132    ITA    11    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    0:55.416
11    
HORGMO
Kevin    24    NOR    10    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz    0:58.639
12    
PATUREL
Benoit        FRA    9        1:17.397
13    
GUADAGNINI
Mattia    101    ITA    8    Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing    1:19.301
14    
PANCAR
Jan    253    SLO    7    TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team    1:19.842
15    
TROPEPE
Giuseppe        ITA    6        1:30.216
16    
WATSON
Ben    919    GBR    5    MRT Racing Team Beta    1:35.391
17    
GILBERT
Josh    326    GBR    4    Gabriel SS24 KTM    1:52.205
18    
MONTICELLI
Ivo    128    ITA    3    MRT Racing Team Beta    1:57.611
19    
BRUMANN
Kevin    87    SWI    2    SixtySeven Racing Team    2:02.709
20    
SCHEU
Mark        GER    1        1 Lap
Race 2
Pos.    Rider    Num    Nation    Points    Team    Time/Gap
1    
HERLINGS
Jeffrey    84    NDL    25    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    36:25.903
2    
FEBVRE
Romain    3    FRA    22    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    0:06.998
3    
JONASS
Pauls    41    LAT    20    Standing Construct Honda MXGP    0:26.722
4    
GAJSER
Tim    243    SLO    18    Team HRC - MXGP    1:02.795
5    
PRADO GARCIA
Jorge    1    SPA    16    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing    1:15.842
6    
SEEWER
Jeremy    91    SWI    15    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP    0:45.220
7    
HORGMO
Kevin    24    NOR    14    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz    0:48.024
8    
VLAANDEREN
Calvin    10    NDL    13    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    1:25.419
9    
BONACORSI
Andrea    132    ITA    12    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team    1:32.962
10    
PATUREL
Benoit        FRA    11        1:39.492
11    
GUILLOD
Valentin    92    SWI    10    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz    1:48.893
12    
BOGERS
Brian    189    NDL    9    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    1:58.829
13    
COLDENHOFF
Glenn    259    NDL    8    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    2:05.562
14    
PANCAR
Jan    253    SLO    7    TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team    1 Lap
15    
BRUMANN
Kevin    87    SWI    6    SixtySeven Racing Team    1 Lap
16    
MONTICELLI
Ivo    128    ITA    5    MRT Racing Team Beta    1 Lap
17    
GUADAGNINI
Mattia    101    ITA    4    Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing    1 Lap
18    
NICKEL
Cato    131    GER    3    Wildcard Rider    1 Lap
19    
GILBERT
Josh    326    GBR    2    Gabriel SS24 KTM    1 Lap
20    
WATSON
Ben    919    GBR    1    MRT Racing Team Beta    1 Lap
Rider Standings
Pos.    Rider    Num    Nation    Points    Team
1    
GAJSER
Tim    243    SLO    348    Team HRC - MXGP
2    
PRADO GARCIA
Jorge    1    SPA    343    Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing
3    
FEBVRE
Romain    3    FRA    319    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
4    
HERLINGS
Jeffrey    84    NDL    287    Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
5    
JONASS
Pauls    41    LAT    253    Standing Construct Honda MXGP
6    
SEEWER
Jeremy    91    SWI    234    Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
7    
VLAANDEREN
Calvin    10    NDL    223    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
8    
COLDENHOFF
Glenn    259    NDL    200    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
9    
HORGMO
Kevin    24    NOR    145    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz
10    
GUILLOD
Valentin    92    SWI    130    Team Ship To Cycle Honda SR Motoblouz
11    
BOGERS
Brian    189    NDL    112    Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
12    
WATSON
Ben    919    GBR    105    MRT Racing Team Beta
13    
TONDEL
Cornelius    17    NOR    91    Schmicker Racing
14    
PANCAR
Jan    253    SLO    79    TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
15    
GIFTING
Isak    517    SWE    77    JK Racing Yamaha Active
16    
RENAUX
Maxime    959    FRA    63    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
17    
BONACORSI
Andrea    132    ITA    61    Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
18    
PATUREL
Benoit        FRA    61    
19    
ÖSTLUND
Alvin        SWE    56    
20    
MONTICELLI
Ivo    128    ITA    54    MRT Racing Team Beta