It has to be said, while Jorge Prado had dominated those opening four rounds of the 2024 MXGP championship, the road to the red plate by Tim Gajser has been an interesting one. The Slovenian won the opening race of the 2024 season, on the Saturday in Argentina and has since won another four motos, his stats are along way from many of those of Prado.

When it comes to moto wins, Prado has the most of the season so far, with 11 moto wins, Prado also obviously has the most GP wins with five, winning in Argentina, Spain, Sardinia, Italy and again in Spain. Tim of course, has the French GP win, and while I will never say not deserved, he did get a little lucky with the riders being docked points and handing the win to the Slovenian.

What Gajser does have is consistency with his worst results being a 10th in the mud in Portugal, other than that, he has a sixth, a fifth and two fourths. The rest of his results are top three finishes and that my friends is why he holds the red plate now and not Prado. Consistency has always been a strong point for the HRC man, and despite having some crashes this year, crashes that has cost him GP wins and major points, he has been the most level of the big four, thus the reward of a red plate on his bike in Spain and now in Germany. They often say sport is 70% mental, and this five time World motocross champion is as mentally strong as anyone in the sport. Now, in the coming weeks and months, we might see if he can capture that magical 50th Grand Prix and sixth World motocross championship. The pressure is truly on for the always friendly and likeable Slovenian.

Tim Gajser Moto Results: 1-5-1-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-1-1-10-2-6-3-2-1-4

While Prado has shown at times that he is near unbeatable and in conditions that suit, he has been unbeatable, his wet weather form has been, to say the least, very poor. Europe just loves the rain, and this past winter and spring has allowed many of to do some serious lawn mowing as the water that fell on Portugal and France, has been falling throughout Europe. Seventh, 15th and 12th in the mud in Portugal and fourth, second and fifth in the mud in France are not what Prado wanted and more rain is coming, believe me. Outside of that, it has nearly been victory after victory. He has that fourth in the opening qualification race of the season in Argentina, and a second in the opening Sunday race in Argentina and a third place in Trentino, outside of that, it’s been one win after another. Still possibly the favourite for the championship, despite not having the red plate, but man, Gajser is piling on pressure since that muddy race in Portugal, there has been nothing between Prado and Gajser for speed. Watch Prado fight back in what should be dryer and warmer conditions in Germany in two weeks time.

Jorge Prado Moto Results: 4-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-17-3-1-7-15-12-1-1-1-4-2-5

What about the guy who probably deserved the GP victory last weekend, Romain Febvre. The 2015 MXGP champion has been consistent, but just not consistent with winning. He does have three motos wins, and apart from that unfortunate DNF in the qualification race in Sardinia, his stats are not too bad. An eight in qualification in round two in Spain, a sixth and fifth in Sardinia, and generally good, but not great overall finishes. He clearly belongs in the big four and isn’t far off Prado and Gajser when it comes to speed, he just might need some luck, and after last weekend, you wonder if that luck will come in 2024. Like Herlings, when you think Febvre is losing ground, he comes out and puts in a good result, like in Trentino and like in France last weekend.

Romain Febvre Moto Results: 2-2-3-8-4-3-DNF-6-5-1-1-5-3-3-4-4-2-4-1-3-2

And then there was Jeffrey Herlings. The once fastest man on the planet and just when we are about to give up on him, and rule him out of contention, he fights back. As he said on the weekend, its like he has been given the eight count in a boxing match maybe two or three times and he fights back. Gets off the ropes and starts punching, but then again, do we expect anything else from the bionic man, a rider who has come back from so many disappointments and major injuries. His stats haven’t actually been too bad, but his starts have been terrible. A DNF while running second to Gajser in the opening moto in the mud in Portugal, a GP where he came back to win his first race of the season and like Febvre last weekend, was unlucky not to win in Portugal. He has a less than impressive 10th in the Saturday qualifier last weekend and was holding down sixth when he crashed on the final lap. His 1-3-4-2-10-6-1 from the last seven rounds shows some progress but being 61 points down in Gajser is a long road back. He was 139 points ahead of Gajser in that 2015 MX2 championship, and Gajser came back after Herlings was injured, so anything is possible in this sport. Still, I really think, Germany, Latvia and Maggiora are races he can win, and he will need to, otherwise, this 2024 championship challenge might be over.

Jeffrey Herlings Moto Results: 6-8-7-4-3-4-3-3-3-4-3-7-2-DNF-1-3-4-2-10-6-1

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