With 48 Grand Prix wins, three of those coming in 2024, Tim Gajser is on the cusp of even more greatness. Five World titles and all those Grand Prix victories already have him as an all-time great of the sport, inside the top ten of our best ever, but another title and another three GP wins would see him pass Joel Robert as the third most successful rider in the sports history.

While those stats mean nothing to Gajser, who isn’t like so many of the current generation, and checking social media to see if he is loved or hated, no, he takes himself back to Slovenian, keeps away from any media or computers and just puts his head down and grinds. He works hard and for me, is still probably mentally the strongest of the class of 2024. But those nerves are being tested and they were tested in Lommel and also in Arnhem and they will be tested in Switzerland, you can count on that.

I think it is fair to say, Gajser has a lot of pressure heading into Switzerland this coming weekend. Typically, of this year’s MXGP championship, just when you think one of the big three has an advantage, another takes that advantage away and after winning the MXGP of Loket, it seemed that the five time World motocross champion was in a great place and extending his points lead over Jorge Prado and Jeffrey Herlings, but then came the sand.

Victories by Herlings in Lommel and Arnhem and by Prado in Sweden, the whole dynamic of the championship took another swing in the favour or Prado, who is now just nine points off the HRC red plate and gaining momentum fast.

What shouldn’t be forgotten though, the Slovenian still owns the red plate and despite Herlings and Prado winning the last three GPs, if we go by the season so far, its Gajser’s turn to win again.

The sand has been pretty nasty to Gajser, where he has finished with less than his best results. In fact, since that 1-3-1 results over the weekend in Loket, he has gone 3-5-4-1-2-3-5-4-3, not terrible, but not the same consistency of most of his season and for sure not, as consistent as Prado, who has been either first or second in most of those races.

On the Saturday in Arnhem Gajser had his worst qualification race of the season. In fact, he hadn’t been outside the top three on a Saturday, until Arnhem. After second place in timed practice, the Slovenian was in high hopes heading into the qualification race, but he wasn’t able to get a good enough start around the tight left-hander and instead had to come through from outside the top 10 to finish fifth.

“It was an okay result,” Gajser said. “Considering where I started. I felt like I found some rhythm near the end of the race, but I was out of touch of those in front, so I didn’t want to push too much today. I know my start can be a lot better and if I can get out front with those guys, I’m sure I can have a good battle and fight for another podium performance.”

Motivated to show everyone his sand skills, Gajser immediately looked more comfortable than the last time on the soft stuff in Lommel, Belgium and put in some really fast laps in free and timed practice. One of those was good enough for second gate-pick heading into the qualification race, with the hope to challenge at the front of the field and keep his good run of Saturday results going.

Unfortunately, after fighting up to ninth by the time they rounded the first lap, he gave himself too much to do to get up to the leaders and although he overtook some high-quality riders, he had to settle for fifth by the time he received the chequered flag. It was still a decent result for the championship, and he still leads the series by 15 points, but he’ll be hoping to be closer to the podium positions tomorrow when the GP-scoring motos take place.

On Sunday, Gajser battled hard in the Arnhem sand, going four-three for third overall and keeping hold of the 2024 MXGP Championship lead. After a fifth place in yesterday’s qualification race, Gajser put in two strong races and now heads to Switzerland with more confidence that he is at the level required to win his sixth world title.

Gajser had a moment during the weekend that he and Prado nearly collided over the finish line jump. Holding the lead position the HRC man was surprised to look over and see his rival centimetres away from his back wheel.

“I was in front, and I scrubbed hard on the finish line jump, and I looked to my left and Jorge was there and scrubbing the other side, so basically, it was very close, a couple of centimetres. Luckily, we stayed on two wheels, because if we touched, it definitely would not have been nice.”

Having fifth gate-pick, the Slovenian wasn’t able to get such a good start in race one, but a good first lap meant he was up to fourth by the time they crossed the line for the first time. Another good pass moved him up into the podium spots but after riding a good pace and keeping the leaders in sight, he eventually dropped a spot and had to settle for fourth.

Motivated to improve upon that result in race two, Gajser got an excellent start on his Honda CRF450R and within a couple of laps was in the lead. Looking much more comfortable and consistent than his last sand-outing in Lommel, the #243 was able to lead for a couple of laps and show that he is a top rider in the loose stuff. However, he did lose his rhythm as they approached the lappers and that allowed two riders to go through. Keeping pace with them for the majority of the rest of the moto, a small error did allow the fourth-place rider to close right in, but Gajser showed his determination to hold him off and make sure he claimed third spot on the podium.

“It was a solid weekend,” Gajser said. “And I definitely felt like my riding was a lot better this weekend than in Lommel. We did a lot of testing, the bike was feeling better, I was feeling more at one with the bike. It was a shame I made a mistake in that second race, I felt my pace was okay, made some good points, lost some points (to Prado) but I’m happy with the rest of the moto and it was good to get third place and stand on the podium. We have four rounds still to go and I’m still in the lead so I’m excited to go to the next race in Switzerland and put in another strong performance. I feel I am in good shape, and I know sand tracks are not my strongest point, but I did my best. We have four rounds to go, and I think on tracks we will all ride well on. It will be interesting, the end of the season We all want to win, and I am going to try my best to win, and we are going to see.”

Heading to Switzerland, Turkey, China and Spain, you know he will be back to his best as these tracks should suit him well and the next one in Switzerland, another race where Gajser will have huge support from his adoring Slovenian fans and a race, where he needs to put together another Loket performance and try and extend his championship points lead.

As is often the case with Gajser, when his fans turn up, so does he, he has shown it time and time again at Trentino, and he showed it in Loket, where Slovenian flags waved in the wind and his beloved fans were in huge numbers. So, if you are a Slovenian and you love your rider, get to Switzerland, because, it is clear, he loves your support and currently needs it.

Bavo Swijgers images