In Montevarchi, the best motocross riders in the world raced for the Italian Grand Prix, from which, after yesterday’s historic qualifications, in which they Team Gajser (Yamaha) and Jan Pancar (KTM) impressed in the MXGP class with the first two places, Slovenian fans of this (motor)sport also had high hopes. But our aces did not make the most of a great starting point.
Pancar fared better in the first run, finishing in eighth place with a gap of 44.597 seconds, while Gajser again had a lot of bad luck. After a bad start, he tangled with one of his rivals and completely destroyed his front wheel in the collision. Because of this, he had to go to the garage to get a new one, and for the sake of the change, he lost a lot of time, so that he could not get more than 21st place with a lap behind. As the first, he remained without a point.
The Dutch star was the fastest Jeffrey Herlings (Honda), who beat the second-placed Frenchman by 1.384 seconds Maxime Renaux (Yamaha), and the third was a young Belgian Lucas Coenen (KTM, + 2,949), which leads the overall classification for the World Championship.
Jan Pancar finished eighth in the first race in Montevarchi, and was even better in the second. PHOTO: Maarten Straetemans/Reuters
Gajser returned the blow in the second
In the second run, Gajser showed his teeth. He started much better and quickly made his way to second place behind the Italian Andrea Adamom (KTM), who was leading until the fifth lap, when he made a mistake and drove too far to the edge of the track, which our champion coolly took advantage of and sprinted right next to him into the lead. In the continuation, he repelled all Herlings’ attacks, moved away from him and in the end reliably crossed the finish line as the first.
Second place was won by Herlings, who won the race, with a gap of 6.941 seconds, while Coenen was third (+ 13.334). Pancar (+ 28.358) also performed very well, achieving his best ranking of this year’s world championship season with seventh place.
As already mentioned, Herlings (47 points) was looking forward to the victory at the Italian Grand Prix, Coenen (40) was second, and Renaux (37) was third. Pancar finished in eighth place ahead of ninth-ranked Gajser. “It’s a shame for the first run, because I think I was the fastest this time. But this is a sport in which we have no influence on certain things,” explained Gajser.
The next test for the World Championship will be next Sunday in Agueda, Portugal.
Jaka Peklaj without points
It is in the MX2 class Jaka Peklaj (Husqvarna) the first ride won by the Spaniard Guillem Farres (Triumph), finished in 28th place, and in the second he also finished 21st with a lap behind. He was the fastest South African in the second Camden McLellan (Triumph), and the Belgian was looking forward to the overall victory in the race Sacha Coenen (KTM).
