MXGP: Gajser runs riot in Russian season opener

The MXGP of Russia in Orlyonok played host to the first round of the delayed 2021 Motocross World Championship. Seven months on from Trentino at the end of 2020, Tim Gajser could finally begin his world title defence, now as a three-time winner of the MXGP World Championship.

It was Jorge Prado who, unsurprisingly, made the holeshot. But the Spaniard’s time at the front was short-lived, as a bobble the first time through the second turn after the finish allowed Tim Gajser to take point, and the lead was something the #243 never gave up for the rest of the race. A dominant ride by the reigning champion, who asserted his authority early on in his campaign in search of his fourth premier class title. 

Behind Gajser, Romain Febvre overcame Antonio Cairoli for second place, after a mistake from the Italian in the closing stages broke his own defence. Jeffrey Herlings was fourth after a fight through the field – nothing special from the #84, but a solid opening. The Dutchman was ahead of Alessandro Lupino, who was strong in fifth, having been running in fourth for much of the race before Herlings arrived. The Italian showing in the first moto the value of a trip to the US a couple of weeks ago for the first round of the AMA Pro Motocross championship. 

Jeremy Seewer was unassuming in sixth, making little impact on the race. He finished ahead of Brent van Doninck who was impressive in seventh, while Thomas Kjer Olsen was the top rookie in eighth. 

A crash on the second lap for Jorge Prado dropped him back to 22nd, but the Spaniard was able to recover to ninth, ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff who rounded out the top 10 on his Yamaha debut. 

Pauls Jonass retired early on after getting tangled up with Ivo Monticelli in the first turn. Monticelli himself dropped out later on after a crash in one of the depressions along the front straight. 

At the start of the second moto, Jorge Prado again made it to the first turn in front, but contact forced him wide and down the order. Unfortunately for Tim Gajser, he was caught up in the incident, too, and forced down to 23rd by the first timing split.

Herlings took the lead after the melee at the start, ahead of Antonio Cairoli and Pauls Jonass. However, a crash on lap two for Herlings dropped him down the order and left Cairoli out front from Jonass and Romain Febvre. 

Herlings was in behind Febvre when Gajser arrived on the scene. Quite amazingly, Gajser had been able to go from 23rd at the first timing point to ninth by the end of the first lap, and was soon on the back of the lead battle. 

Herlings was unable to find a way through on Febvre, until the Frenchman caught a bobble in the turn just before the step-down towards the end of the lap. Febvre’s rear wheel launched, so he couldn’t brake, and he ran into the back of Jonass, who was fortunate to stay on. The Kawasaki rider got caught in the fence on the outside of the track, and dropped to 15th, while Herlings inherited third, and Gajser fourth. 

Herlings was then able to get past Jonass with 22 minutes to go, and Gajser followed the Dutchman through almost immediately. The gap to Cairoli, who had been able to escape, was now 4.8 seconds. 

Herlings was unable to make much of an impact on Cairoli’s lead, and Gajser went through in the bottom turn after the three tables with 19 minutes left on the clock. 

Gajser’s pace was superior to Cairoli, but the Italian was able to mostly respond, until with eight minutes to go his resistance was broken. Cairoli had ridden well, but the pace of the #243 Honda was simply irresistible. 

From there, not much changed in the top positions until Cairoli went down on the take-off of the finish jump with around three minutes to go. He was not the first to do so: Isak Gifting had gone down there in the second MX2 race, and Jorge Prado was one of three or four riders to go down there in the second MXGP moto. Unfortunately for Cairoli, while he appeared to be fine, his bike was not. The bars were bent down and the clutch was non-functional, so he was out. 

That was good news for Jeffrey Herlings and Pauls Jonass, who moved up to second and third in the moto, respectively, as well as for Romain Febvre who replaced Cairoli on the overall podium. 

Alessandro Lupino impressed again with fourth in race two, finishing ahead of the factory Yamaha of Jeremy Seewer who completed the top five. Romain Febvre recovered from 15th after his incident with Jonass to finish sixth, ahead of top rookie Thomas Kjer Olsen and Jorge Prado who came back to eighth after ending the first lap in 12th, recovering to seventh, then crashing and dropping and ninth; while Arnaud Tonus and Jordi Tixier completed the top 10 of moto two. 

For the overall, this meant Tim Gajser kicked off his third world title defence with a perfect 1-1 scorecard and 50 points, 10 points clear of Jeffrey Herlings who took second in his first GP since Faenza one last September. Romain Febvre completed the podium with 37 points. 

Alessandro Lupino took an impressive fourth overall, only three points shy of the podium, while Jeremy Seewer was fifth, and Thomas Kjer Olsen finished sixth on his grand prix debut on the 450. Jorge Prado was a disappointing seventh, considering his form towards the end of 2020, and he was ahead of Pauls Jonass, Jeremy van Horebeek and Antonio Cairoli who completed the top 10, with each of those latter three scoring 20 points. 

The performance of van Horebeek and Beta should be applauded – finishing ninth overall in the first GP with the new bike is impressive, and surely things will only trend upwards from here. 

The first motocross grand prix of 2021 has shown one rider to be above the rest, as Tim Gajser put on an excellent display to kick off the season in the best way possible for him, and for HRC in spite of the absence of teammate Mitch Evans, who is still recovering from the wrist injury he picked up last year in Arroyomolinos. While it might be unfair to expect this level from Gajser to continue, and for him to keep this kind of advantage over his rivals for a significant number of races, it certainly shifts some pressure away from the reigning champion ahead of Matterley Basin at the end of June. 

Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli will both fancy their chances of taking it to Gajser over the course of the season, Herlings based on previous form (and, let’s consider, he had dropped only 10 points in Russia despite the dominance of the #243), and Cairoli in consideration of his decent starts, speed and consistency in Russia. Aside from the crash towards the end of moto two that cost him the podium, the Italian veteran was arguably the ‘best of the rest’ at round one. 

Additionally, Romain Febvre had good speed in Russia, but like Cairoli was undone by a mistake. Whether the Frenchman can consistently maintain that kind of performance, of course, remains to be seen, but it was definitely a positive start for the #3.

On the contrary, Matterley Basin will be a round of recovery for Jorge Prado, who surely will feel he has more to offer than what he showed in Russia. The #61 was unlucky at the start in race two, but for sure the mistake in the beginning of moto one was all his own doing, and it is those mistakes that need to go if he is to challenge the likes of Gajser and Herlings for the title.