Gajser update – painful upper body

Tim Gajser says he hit his upper body hard after crashing out of the lead in Turkey but soldiered on despite the pain to finish 13th to ensure a better gate for tomororow’s main races.

Gajser commented: “I felt good today and the Honda CRF450RW was working amazingly well. I also like the track because it is nice and technical with many lines. In the qualification race I had an amazing jump out of the gate and grabbed the holeshot and was leading the race quite easily. I wasn’t pushing too much but I was having problems with the shadows as the sun was quite low and some corners you couldn’t really see the ruts. So in the back chicane section I didn’t see the line correctly and lost my front end, hitting my upper body quite hard. It was quite painful for three laps so I took it steady, not really moving too much, but I didn’t want to pull off as then I’d have last gate pick. So I was just circulating and hoping it would get less painful and it did, so the last couple of laps I rode a bit more normally so I was able to finish 13th, which is much better than 27th. I am a little disappointed because I know I had the speed to win but tomorrow is the day that counts and after my massage I feel a lot better already so I should be good for tomorrow.”