Gajser starts off season with solid podium in Argentina

Honda HRC's Tim Gajser kicked off his 2025 MXGP campaign with two solid motos, backing up his third yesterday with another pair of thirds today, for third step on the MXGP of Argentina podium.

Taking place for the first time at a new venue in Cordoba, rain hit the track hard overnight in a heavy thunderstorm, which persisted during the morning, stopping just before the MXGP riders took to the track for the first moto. Having third gate-pick, Gajser was well-placed to try and challenge the top two, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to navigate the first few turns as well as he normally does and had to fight his way through the field in both motos. Each time he did so, the leader(s) had already pulled away by the time he was in third and despite closing right up in the final stages, he had to settle for forty points from today's proceedings.

Fellow Honda CRF450R rider Ruben Fernandez also struggled to get out of the gate well, getting caught up with a rider in the second turn in the second race and only being able to remount in dead last. The Spaniard did well to charge through to 13th place on a track that wasn't easy to pass on, salvaging 10th overall after a solid ninth in the first moto. He'll be hoping to put on a better showing at his home GP in Cozar, Spain next time out.

In the MX2 class, Valerio Lata began his Honda career with decent opener, riding better than his results suggest. A seventh in race one, when the track was still muddy was a good beginning, and then in race two he roared out of the gate on his Honda CRF250R to battle inside the top two for the first five laps. He wasn't able to hold onto that position and slipped down the field, but ninth overall is still a nice debut for the Italian rookie.

After having to pullout of the MX2 qualification race yesterday, Ferruccio Zanchi was always going to struggle to make an impact in today's races purely because of the last gate-pick that he was having to deal with. However, in both races he fought hard for the duration of both races, making a number of passes – especially in race one – to finish the day 16th overall after a pair of 15th place finishes.

There is definitely more to come from all four riders and they'll be given the opportunity to prove that on March 15-16 when the second round of the 2025 MXGP World Championships take place in Cozar, Spain, a couple of hours south-east of Madrid.

MX2 Race 1

1. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:16.483; 2. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:08.992; 3. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:30.085; 4. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +0:53.078; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:54.343; 6. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:56.987; 7. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:00.823; 8. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:06.366; 9. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +1:07.114; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:26.340;… 15. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);

MX2 Race 2

1. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 34:07.634; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.680; 3. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:27.725; 4. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:33.840; 5. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:35.819; 6. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:39.702; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:42.669; 8. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:42.972; 9. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:47.213; 10. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:57.719;… 12. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:05.080; … 15. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +1:37.164;

GP Classification

1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 41 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 37 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 33 p.; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 29 p.; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 25 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 23 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 23 p.; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; … 16. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 12 p.;

MX2 Championship

1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 49 points; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 46 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, KTM), 44 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 29 p.; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 26 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 25 p.; … 12. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 23 p.; … 17. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 12 p.;

               Tim Gajser  243

Solid day, and we leave Argentina healthy which is the main goal. I felt I had the speed of the top two, but I couldn't get the starts and battle up front with them. By the time I got into the podium spots in both races, the leader had gone so it hard to try and catch them. Still, I'm happy with the weekend and they did a very good job with the track here and even with all the rain, it was still a fun circuit.

Ruben Fernandez  70

Not the day I was hoping for really, but I tried to come through and score as many points as possible in that second moto. I was right at the back of the field, and I think 30th after the first lap so to get to 13th is a good result, even if I wanted more before we came here. I know there is more to come and I will continue to fight to get nearer to those podium spots. Next up is Cozar, which is another Spanish-speaking round, so I'm happy to see all my fans there and hopefully get some better results.

Valerio Lata  18

It felt really good to be racing in second place in that second moto. It is confirmation that I am on the right path and that I am already feeling good with my Honda CRF250R. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay there for the whole moto, but I am staying positive and this was still a very big step for my first round with Honda HRC. Argentina has been a great experience and I look forward to many more this season.

Ferruccio Zanchi  73

Not the weekend I wanted, as nothing seemed to go my way. However, I am still fit and healthy and I know that things will go better in the future. Having last gate-pick really made things difficult and then in the first race I really messed up my start so I was dead last and I was able to come back to 15th. Then in the second race, I wasn't able to push on as much as I would have liked, despite a much better start. Overall, I know that I need to do better on the Saturday and then that'll give me a fighting chance to fight with the top guys on the Sunday.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager – MXGP

A new circuit always brings new challenges, but I think everyone in the team raised their game and we coped with everything over the course of the weekend, even the change in the weather. I think each of the four riders know that they can get better results, and will be thinking about that on the long-flight home. There were some positives though, and we will pack up here and make sure we're ready to fight once again in the second round in Spain in a couple of weeks' time.

Race 1

Pos.       Rider     Num     Nation  Points   Team     Time/Gap

1            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       25          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP               34:51.272

2            Renaux Maxime             959       FRA       22          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      0:03.550

3            Gajser Tim         243       SLO       20          Honda HRC – MXGP      0:06.060

4            Guadagnini Mattia        101       ITA         18          Ducati Factory MX Team               0:42.369

5            Coldenhoff Glenn         259       NDL      16          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP               0:47.728

6            Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       15          Ducati Factory MX Team               0:50.042

7            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       14          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    0:53.946

8            Geerts Jago       93          BEL       13          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team     0:54.755

9            Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       12          Honda HRC – MXGP      1:00.620

10          Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        11          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP  1:05.489

11          Bonacorsi Andrea         132       ITA         10          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP               1:12.881

12          Gifting Isak        517       SWE      9            JK Racing Yamaha Active           1:17.122

13          Pancar Jan        253       SLO       8            TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team   1:30.609

14          Bogers Brian     189       NDL      7            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    1:35.400

15          Tondel Cornelius           17          NOR      6            JWR Honda Racing        1:40.704

16          Watson Ben      919       GBR      5            MRT Racing Team Beta               1:42.447

17          Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      4            Honda SR Motoblouz   1:45.272

18          Koch Tom           226       GER      3            MRT Racing Team Beta               1:46.596

19          Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      2            Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      1:46.882

20          Forato Alberto 303       ITA         1            Honda SR Motoblouz   1:57.633

Race 2

Pos.       Rider     Num     Nation  Points   Team     Time/Gap

1            Renaux Maxime             959       FRA       25          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      35:40.365

2            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       22          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP               0:04.260

3            Gajser Tim         243       SLO       20          Honda HRC – MXGP      0:06.216

4            Guadagnini Mattia        101       ITA         18          Ducati Factory MX Team               0:48.464

5            Guillod Valentin             92          SWI       16          Wildcard Rider 0:54.712

6            Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      15          Honda SR Motoblouz   0:57.146

7            Coldenhoff Glenn         259       NDL      14          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP               0:59.156

8            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       13          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing    1:05.461

9            Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        12          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP  1:07.053

10          Bonacorsi Andrea         132       ITA         11          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP               1:09.126

11          Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      10          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team      1:11.901

12          Geerts Jago       93          BEL       9            Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team     1:14.508

13          Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       8            Honda HRC – MXGP      1:27.380

14          Pancar Jan        253       SLO       7            TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team   1:35.903

15          Watson Ben      919       GBR      6            MRT Racing Team Beta               1:37.502

16          Aparecido dos Santos Fabio                   BRA       5                           1:48.798

17          Bogers Brian     189       NDL      4            Fantic Factory Racing MXGP    2:08.032

18          Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       3            Ducati Factory MX Team            1 lap

19          Koch Tom           226       GER      2            MRT Racing Team Beta               1 lap

20          Brumann Kevin               87          SWI       1            Wildcard Rider 1 lap

Rider Standings

Pos.       Rider     Num     Nation  Points   Team

1            Renaux Maxime             959        FRA       57          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

2            Febvre Romain               3            FRA       56          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

3            Gajser Tim         243        SLO       48          Honda HRC – MXGP

4            Guadagnini Mattia        101        ITA         40          Ducati Factory MX Team

5            Coldenhoff Glenn         259        NDL      35          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

6            Coenen Lucas 96          BEL       27          Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

7            Seewer Jeremy               91          SWI       25          Ducati Factory MX Team

8            Horgmo Kevin 24          NOR      25          Honda SR Motoblouz

9            Jonass Pauls    41          LAT        25          Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP

10          Geerts Jago       93          BEL       22          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

11          Fernandez Ruben          70          SPA       21          Honda HRC – MXGP

12          Bonacorsi Andrea         132        ITA         21          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

13          Guillod Valentin             92          SWI       16          Wildcard Rider

14          Vlaanderen Calvin        10          NDL      15          Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team

15          Pancar Jan        253        SLO       15          TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team

16          Bogers Brian     189        NDL      11          Fantic Factory Racing MXGP

17          Watson Ben      919        GBR      11          MRT Racing Team Beta

18          Gifting Isak        517        SWE      9            JK Racing Yamaha Active

19          Tondel Cornelius           17          NOR      6            JWR Honda Racing

20          Koch Tom           226        GER      5            MRT Racing Team Beta

21          Aparecido dos Santos Fabio                   BRA       5

22          Brumann Kevin               87          SWI       1            Wildcard Rider

23          Forato Alberto 303        ITA         1            Honda SR Motoblouz

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