Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez was in demand at round 10 of the MotoGP series that took place at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg in Austria. The 23-year-old Spaniard mingled with guests and head honchos of the drinks brand but also took the time to meet MXGP FIM World Championship (and Monster Energy athlete!) Tim Gajser. Both the Catalan and the Slovenian are HRC riders and Gajser was taking profit of a rare free weekend to make his first visit to a MotoGP event.
“I’m a big fan of motocross and it’s my passion. We spoke a bit about his championship and it reminded me a little of when I arrived in MotoGP and I won,” said Marquez who is a keen motocrosser and follower of the MXGP and Supercross racing scene.
He was able to compare Gajser’s fantastic rookie season where he has won 50 per cent of all motos on the CRF450RW, eight Grands Prix and missed the podium just once with his own startling first MotoGP year in 2013 when #93 grasped six victories from 18 and was off the box on just two occasions. “He has arrived on the 450 and is leading and it looks like if nothing happens then he will win,” he added. “We spoke a little bit about the U.S. and some races and it was good to talk.”
Gajser goes into this week’s Grand Prix of the Netherlands, round 16 of 18, needing to score just one more point than Tony Cairoli to be the first back-to-back winner of championships in different classes this century.
