We take a look at Tim Gajser’s journey from 65cc ripper to MX2 world motocross champion…
Just over 10 years ago, the name Tim Gajser was recognised in Europe after he finished third in the European Championship 65cc class at the tender age of seven years old. In 2007, the Slovenian entered that same championship and blitzed everyone for his first European Championship title.
The jump to the 85cc class didn’t go as smoothly as the Slovenian had hoped but after one year of racing on the bigger bike he had finally come to grips with it and won the European Championship 85cc title in 2009.
In 2010 he continued to use the European Championship as a stepping-stone to the pro ranks and made his debut in the premier amateur series the EMX125. It only took Gajser a year to make waves on the 125cc, for the next year he finished second in the European Championship. In 2012, the then 15-year-old dominated everything. He added the European Championship EMX125 title to his resume and was also the FIM Junior Motocross 125cc World Champion in that same year.
2013 saw Gajser make his debut in the FIM Motocross MX2 World Championship where 11th was his best result, at the MXGP of Germany, and after missing a few rounds he finished 20th overall. In 2014, Gajser was picked up by the team at Honda Gariboldi and with their support he was the break-out star of the year, his first full season in MX2, with nine top five overalls and an amazing six podium finishes.
After finishing fifth in 2014, Gajser lined up this year as a name to watch and despite not getting off to the best start to the season he started to turn things around upon his return to Europe when he claimed his first ever MX2 race win and first ever grand prix overall at round four, the MXGP of Trentino.
A couple of rounds later, a concussion denied the British fans a chance to see him battle with Anstie, Guillod and Herlings at Matterley Basin. The lack of points at the British GP left him just inside the top 10 of the standings, ahead of Lieber and Anstie and trailing Herlings who was 139 points in front of the Solvenenian with what looked like a firm grip of the red plate.
But the following week in Villars sous Ecot – the MXGP of France – Gajser bounced back for second overall. Proving his worth, Gajser kept the ball rolling at the following three rounds with a trio of grand prix victories, which launched him to second place in the championship standings.
After his victory at the MXGP of Sweden things started to crumble ever so slightly as he struggled to crack the top five. Fortunately the 18-year-old was able to regroup heading into the final four rounds where he managed to put in a strong finish to the season for his first ever FIM Motocross World Championship title, MX2.
