Both Team HRC riders Ruben Fernandez and Tim Gajser will make the trip to the Scandinavian country of Sweden for the 15th round of the 2023 MXGP World Championship after having a weekend-off to recover and prepare for the picturesque Uddevalla track near Gothenburg.
After a big incident in the first moto in Finland, that meant the Spaniard ‘Did Not Start’ the second race, Fernandez has used the available time just to recuperate from all the bumps and bruises he received after going over the handlebars on the landing of a jump at Vantaa track, whilst running an impressive fifth. It was a big shame for the #70 as he had been showing good speed in the race, but now he’ll be heading to Sweden trying to do the best he can in what will be challenging conditions.
Alongside him for the fourth race in a row will be Gajser who is gradually working his way up to the front of this competitive MXGP class, after going six-six for sixth in Finland last time out. The Uddevalla track is a bit more to his liking so the Slovenian will be hoping he can continue his upward trend and put his Honda CRF450R nearer to the podium as the season enters its final quarter.
With Lommel and Vantaa proceeding it, and Arnhem following on next weekend, this will be the only hard-pack track the series visits this month, giving everyone on the team slightly different settings to work with as they prepare for the rocky terrain. While the forecast isn’t great leading into the weekend, the weather does look like it should be okay by the time the riders hit the track on Saturday morning where once more there will two support classes mixed into the weekend schedule.
Finland was a tough one, that’s for sure. I was riding well in the first moto and then went over the handlebars on a jump and landed hard. I got pretty banged up, but thankfully nothing was too serious, so I’ve just spent this weekend off just resting and recovering and trying to make sure I’m feeling as good as possible for Uddevalla. I haven’t had the best results there in the past but this is a chance to change things and I will do my best to make that happen.
Ruben Fernandez
Solid, if not spectacular results in Finland, but another step on the ladder to getting back to the front of the field. Unfortunately we’ve had a lot of rain here in Slovenia this past week or so, and there has been a lot of flooding, so I hope those who have been affected are okay. Obviously this has meant that I haven’t been able to train as much as I’d have wanted, but I am still heading to Sweden in a positive frame of mind and excited to do another race this year.
Tim Gajser
Honestly, we are all just really glad that Ruben is okay after Vantaa. It is never nice seeing any rider on the ground like that, especially one that is under your awning so we are very thankful that it wasn’t anything too serious. It did mean that our plans with him for this break had to change, so recovery became the focus and anything he achieves in Sweden will be a bonus. Tim improved in Finland, as we expected, but we know he isn’t at the level that he expects from himself so we’ll keep working to help him get there.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
