In hot, sunny and dry conditions, the Loket track was at its roughest and toughest, causing riders problems as they tried to keep their 450cc machines under control. For Gajser, he was able to make solid starts in both races onboard his Honda CRF450R and was inside the top three in both motos on lap one. In the first race, with passing once again difficult, he was in second early-on, before dropping back to third for a few laps. As the track got harder, he made a push once again and moved into second place, setting his sights on the leader. Unfortunately, he was never really able to put in the laptimes that he wanted and had to cross the line in second place. A victory in race two would have still given him the overall, but he never really felt comfortable to ride the pace of the leaders and instead settled for third, knowing that another round had been completed and he was still in command of this 2022 MXGP World Championship.
After his season-best performance in Indonesia, Evans came in looking to continue his good form and keep pushing towards the podium positions. After a second in timed practice, things were certainly trending in that direction and a sixth in race one gave him another opportunity to get his best points tally of the season. A great first lap put the Australian in fifth position, and despite pressure from behind, he maintained his pace and looked well on course to match those results from the previous round. Unfortunately, near the end of the race, the hard, bumpy track took its toll on his hands and blisters caused him to drop a couple of places. Seventh was still a great result and there were a lot of positives to take away from his first motos at the Czech facility, and he’ll be looking forward to another new experience when he takes on the deep sands of Lommel next weekend.
In what will be the 14th round of this championship, the riders will head to Belgium straight away to prepare themselves for what is known as the toughest test in motocross. Gajser has won there on a couple of occasions before and he’ll be looking for the top step again next weekend, while Evans will be hoping that all the work he’s done this season will pay-off, and he can keep up the momentum that has seen him challenging the top five. While the heatwave that will hit northern Europe should be over, it is still expected to be good weather for when the riders hit the track on July 23-24.
Tim Gajser
"It was a tough day out on the track today. I never really felt comfortable and couldn’t push like I wanted to, and so I couldn’t close that gap on the riders in front. It was still good to get on the podium, and I still remain 125 points ahead in the championship, so in that respect I am happy, but I wanted to perform a little bit better for all the fans that came to support me. It was great to see and hear them all around the track and I appreciate everyone of them for making the journey to come and see me ride."
Mitch Evans
"Overall I am happy with how the races went, going six-seven for seventh overall. Whilst the results weren’t quite as good as my results in Indonesia, I felt that I was able to keep the pace of the top guys and other than the end of the second moto when I had really bad blisters, I felt like I was doing a good job of matching their speed. I was in fifth for the majority of that second moto and if I would have stayed there, I would have been fifth overall so it is all positive. Now I have to let my hands heal a bit before heading to Lommel and doing my first ever laps on that track this coming weekend."
Marcus Pereira de Freitas - HRC General Manager - MXGP
"Despite not performing at the highest level that he has set himself, Tim still was able to come in third and maintain his championship lead. He has shown real maturity not to push too hard when he’s not feeling it and that’s why he is such a good championship rider. We are all very proud of him though and are sure he’ll be challenging for victory next weekend. For Mitch, he is also showing that he is right there with the top guys, battling with them for the entire motos and that is great to see two Honda’s at the front of the field. Lommel next week will be a completely different challenge but we are sure that the guys will adapt and come out swinging. A big thank you to all the work that our team have gone through since Indonesia, they all continue to maintain a really high standard and it is great to see them keep working so well together."