MXGP: Gajser wraps up 2020 title as Seewer wins race one in Pietramurata

Round 17 of the 2020 MXGP World Championship, the MXGP of Pietramurata, took place in the Ciclamino circuit for the second round of the final Italian triple header to close the season. Race one saw the first realistic opportunity Tim Gajser had found to take his fourth championship.

Jeremy Seewer made the holeshot in the first moto ahead, initially, of Antonio Cairoli. Brent van Doninck was able to pass Cairoli in the second turn, although the replacement in the Gebben van Venrooy team for Calvin Vlaanderen was shuffled back to fourth by the #222 and his teammate, the #77 of Alessandro Lupino, before the end of the first lap. 

While van Doninck was being forced backwards, Seewer was under pressure from Cairoli who closed towards the end of the opening lap. The Swiss responded, though, and well, as he pulled two seconds in the first official lap.

Behind Seewer and Cairoli remained Lupino for the first 15 minutes, while behind the #77 was Tim Gajser. Things were not straightforward for the #243, though, as he appeared to run into clutch issues which hindered his progress which, in the opening stages, was somewhat alarming for those at the front. 

Gajser’s options to win the championship in this first moto of the MXGP of Pietramurata were improved at the halfway point, when Cairoli tipped over as he closed in once more on Seewer. The crash for the Italian dropped him to seventh place, and the championship by this point was all but decided. 

One lap after Cairoli’s demise, Gajser’s chances of taking the title with a moto win were improved as the #243 moved ahead of Lupino for second place, and immediately started to close on Seewer who was holding firm out front. 

With five minutes to go it looked certain that Gajser would be able to overcome the #91, but Seewer defended smartly and strongly, and forced Gajser to give best and reconsider the potential significance of this race for the championship. 

Gajser’s concession to Seewer in the closing stages allowed the Yamaha rider to take his third race win of the season, while behind Gajser would take second place and with it the 2020 MXGP World Championship title. 

For the #243, this 2020 title success represented his fourth world title, his third in MXGP and his first successful championship defence, having come into 2020 off the back of a dominant 2019 campaign. Of course, 2020 has been much different to last season, with COVID-19 reshaping the championship and the – hopefully – unique situation with the triple headers and a calendar that will have seen, by the end of the week, six weeks of back-to-back races, as well as the one-day format – all of that contributed to make this one of the most complicated championships to win in MXGP history and it was Gajser who adapted to these strange scenarios the best of the premier class riders. 

While Gajser was busy winning his fourth world title, Alessandro Lupino was behind him and under pressure from a couple of Kawasakis, those of Clement Desalle and Romain Febvre, both of whom’s tempers were fraying. The Italian was able to hold onto third place in the end, for his best moto finish in MXGP, while Desalle beat his teammate to fourth. 

Antonio Cairoli rejoined the race in seventh after his crash, but after Brent van Doninck was eventually overtaken by Febvre he quickly fell back towards Cairoli who was able to deal with the Belgian quick enough to give himself time to jump onto the back of the Kawasaki duo ahead. Cairoli, though, was unable to make much of an impact once he arrived, and he did not have the time left in the race to work out a move. Of course, his sixth place was not enough to keep the championship alive for the rest of the day, and he is now also under pressure from Seewer for second in the points. 

Van Doninck was able to hold onto seventh place after dropping behind Cairoli, the Belgian finishing ahead of Brian Bogers in eighth, while Gautier Paulin and Jordi Tixier rounded out the top 10. 

Adam Sterry was fighting for that top 10 for much of the race, and it is probably fair to say that the 11th place he ended up with could be somewhat disappointing in that context, since the #811 has not yet achieved a top 10 in the 450 Grand Prix class. However, it was still Sterry’s best result in MXGP so far, and by far his best race. 

The Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee rider was ahead of Jeremy van Horebeek, who is riding his last GP for SR Honda Motoblouz in Pietramurata as he will return home at the weekend, the occasion of the final round of the season, as he and his wife are expecting a child. With no concrete plans in place for the #89 for 2021, it could be that the second moto later today will be the final time we see van Horebeek in a GP. 

Following van Horebeek over the finish was Michele Cervellin in 13th, the Italian finishing ahead of Ivo Monticelli and Arnaud Tonus who completed the top 15; while Dylan Walsh was 16th in front of Petar Petrov, Evgeny Bobryshev, Tanel Leok and Valentin Guillod who rounded out the top 20.