We talk to Tim Gajser and the HRC Team about his 2019 Honda CRF450RW MXGP race weapon!
THE RIDER – TIM GAJSER
It’s a pleasure to have been with the Honda family for six years so I’m really happy to continue this relationship and we are just one big family. I know everybody in the team and I feel really comfortable because they all want to help me do better each weekend. Straight away I could tell that the 2019 Honda CRF450RW was good, but we had some final tests before the pre-season races to try and improve it even more.
Overall I’m quite happy with how those first few races of the year [in the Italian championship] turned out. Riola was okay, Ottobiano was better and then Mantova was even better than that, so it was good to see step-by-step improvements each race. I was feeling better each time I rode my Honda CRF450RW and that is important and it makes me look forward even more to Argentina, to finally start the MXGP season. I am ready to give my best!
THE MANAGER – MARCUS PEREIRA DE FREITAS
With one year under our belts with this rider line-up, I believe that we can do even better and maintain the progress and consistency. Tim finished 2018 strongly and he is really excited for the season to get started so he can continue that good form. Calvin [Vlandeeran, MX2] is also extremely motivated to add to his victory at the MXGP of Indonesia last year and has worked very hard over the off-season to try and make that happen.
As for Brian Bogers, his attitude has been impressive after missing almost all of last year and he’s looked really good on the Honda CRF450RW in all our testing so far. There is a real energy with this whole team and I can’t wait for the first gate drop in Argentina!
I am very happy with how the Italian Championship went for Team HRC. All three riders got some valuable race time and some all-important gate drops, in preparation for the first round of the MXGPs, which start in a couple of weeks. Tim showed really good speed in all three rounds and it was great to see him rewarded with a moto win in the final MX1 race. It has been a good few weeks of training and racing and I am extremely excited to get down to Argentina for the first round.
THE FACTORY – HONDA RACING CORPORATION
The Honda CRF450RW is the works machine developed by Team HRC’s engineers and the technical might of HRC and Honda’s R&D department in Japan. The 2019 bike is the latest evolution of Gajser’s 2016 world championship-winning machine and based on the new-for-2017 CRF450RW.
One of the lightest stock machines in its class, it carries these characteristics into race trim following Honda’s ethos of mass centralisation, combining light weight and effortless manoeuvrability with useable power delivery. Its slim proportions feature finely tuned aerodynamics and a low centre of gravity for greater control in the air.
The factory bikes are shod with Pirelli tyres, Showa’s SFF Air suspension and a number of custom performance parts such as billet titanium footpegs, titanium bolts to reduce weight, factory-spec cylinder head and camshaft and custom Yoshi exhaust.
5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT TIM GAJSER
1 Gajser was born on September 8, 1996 in Ptuj, Slovenia.
2 He joined Honda in 2014 and won the MX2 Championship in 2015 before winning the MXGP title the following year.
3 His race number, 243, is in honour of his brother (born March 24) who died at the age of three in 1995.
4 Gajser suffered a broken jaw at the beginning of last season, forcing him to miss the opening rounds. He recently had surgery to remove titanium plates that allowed him to race the remainder of the season.
5 His 450 teammate is Brian Bogers, whom Aussie Todd Waters filled in for last year.