Gajser, Vlaanderen and Waters on Loket
Tim Gajser 243
“Yes, I’m quite happy with my performance this weekend. The podium is always the goal so I’m happy we got there. I was consistent in both races and managed to stay in the top-five after the start, which is especially important on a track like Loket. My riding was good, although I’ve had a bit of arm pump towards the end of both races, so I think we must work on that. I’d also like to say thank you to everyone who supported me here, to my team who are working so hard with me to get these results and to all the fans that made the trip from Slovenia. Next up is Lommel, which is one of the toughest GPs of the season: it is in summer and in the deep sand, so I’m planning to get as much sand riding done in this weekend off as possible in order to prepare for it. I am looking forward to it though and I hope I can get another podium.”
Todd Waters 42
“I got a good start to race one and it was nice to battle with Tommy Searle and other opponents around the top-ten, but then I hit a wall in terms of fitness and that carried into the second race as well. The bike was perfect, nothing wrong with it, it was all me. Unfortunately, we’re not where we want to be so we need to train even harder in order to get closer to the type of form we need to be racing at this level. Lommel is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar, so we’ll be riding as much as we can before the weekend and be as ready as possible.
Calvin Vlaanderen 10
“I feel really good, I had such a good weekend. I was disappointed about yesterday and the crash with Pauls which resulted in the 21st gate-pick. I woke up this morning and felt really good, though; I thought this was the kind of day in which I could prove myself and try to win, and I think my riding showed it. I felt I could do anything I wanted on the bike. The time I’ve been spending at the front aboard the CRF is giving me a lot more confidence, and with confidence comes the motivation to train even harder and give it all on the track. We are working really well as a team and I feel we’re in a very good place right now. We have a weekend off now before Lommel, which is a pretty brutal track for us riders, but if we can keep the same momentum there it will be a good weekend I’m sure.”
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
“Calvin has been absolutely incredible on the track today. He was able to turn a poor qualifying into two impressive performances and he was really close to getting his second overall win had he not lost a bit too much time trying to overtake Jonass in race two. We’re very happy to see him so comfortable, quick and aggressive out there: I know he wanted the win and that didn’t come, but it’s 45 points anyway and now the top-three is getting closer, so we must keep going this way. Thank you to the team for the outstanding work: the bike was set-up perfectly and a pleasure to watch on track.
“Tim had a good weekend overall and he rode really good around Loket, despite suffering some arm pump in the final stages of both motos – something that happened yesterday already. This is something we have to look into, but we have some testing planned before the next round to do so. Todd unfortunately had to deal again with the lack of fitness, but he is showing some improvements and hopefully he’ll be ready for Lommel, because that is going to be a demanding GP for everybody. I would like to thank the team for the great job.”
Words: Honda Pic: Bavo
