SPECIALFEATURE TIM GAJSER 2015 HONDA CRF250R

IT’S NOT VERY OFTEN THAT MXGP MAGAZINE GETS TO WRITE A FEATURE ON A ‘VINTAGE’ BIKE OF HISTORICAL INTEREST WHEN ITS RIDER IS STILL COMPETING IN THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE THIS TIME AROUND. TIM GAJSER HAS WON EVERYTHING FROM EMX65/EMX85 TITLES, TO EMX125 AND JUNIOR WORLD TITLES TO MX2 AND MXGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, AND HE IS STILL GOING STRONG.

At the end of 2013 Tim signed with Giacomo Gariboldi Honda and placed 5th overall, and the following year he went on to win the MX2 title, and it’s his 2015 Honda CRF250R that we will feature in this issue of MXGP Magazine.

Prior to his move to Gariboldi Honda, the 2013 season saw Tim Gajser originally line up to contest the EMX250 championship for Marchetti Racing KTM, but after an 8th in the opening round - when EMX250 was just a one race per round series - Gajser switched to MX2 to gain experience in readiness for a potential shot at world championship glory. Tim competed in all but six rounds on his way to 20th overall, his best finish was a 6th in race one at Bastogne in Belgium, and from there, it didn’t appear to be too many options going forward. Before the season was over though, Tim’s future had been secured, as he explains:

‘I did the Nations in Germany at the end of 2013 with KTMthat was my last race on that bike. Also, there we signed the contract with Gariboldi, so I think the following week we went down to Milan, Italy, where they had a workshop and we collected the bike.

In the beginning I rode with the 450cc from David Philippaerts, who was riding in MX1, so they gave me that one because I still had one race of the Slovenian Championship to do, so I did training, in the beginning let’s say on the 450cc and then somewhere in the middle of November the new Honda 250cc came out. I got the 250cc for training during the winter.’

Casting his mind back to his first impressions of the Honda CRF250R, Tim remembers: ‘Wow, it’s already like 10 years ago, but I rode KTM for almost all the years until 2014 when I tried for the first time the Honda. So, it was actually the first time trying it at the end of 2013 let’s say, when I got the bikes. I immediately felt super good, especially the handling - I think Honda is one of the best - but back then, we know that Hondas were not the strongest bikes, so it was lacking a little bit of power, but about the handling, it was one of the best bikes I’d ever ridden.’

According to Massimo Castelli, who was chief mechanic at that time, explains that the 2014 CRF250 that Tim rode ‘was almost a complete standard bike, with some special parts. We had standard frame, standard linkage, standard sub-frame and standard swingarm.’

‘And then we had factory wheels, factory triple clamps - some parts like that. And also a few special parts for the engine, but not HRC.’

In 2014, Gajser rode to 5th in the MX2 world championship, took 6 podiums and collected 2 race wins from the last four races of the season.

For 2015 though, there were some upgrades and a bit of extra support came via HRC, but was it a full HRC bike? Castelli recalls:

‘He was HRC, but not full HRC. The base was like a standard bike, I mean the frame was a standard frame, not HRC, but we had more special parts, more HRC parts for the engine and also a different linkage. So, we had more support from HRC. The cases and the cylinder were standard, and also the gearbox was standard. We had special crank shaft and special cylinder head, with special valves and special piston, and special camshaft. That’s the spec we used.’

‘Suspension was factory, factory Kayaba, because that time we used KYB, so the fork and shock was full factory. The fork was 46mm but it was really, really factory from Japan. Not a kit or anything like that. The linkage was HRC.’

‘The swingarm was standard. For the rear shock we had more possibilities to adjust, as we had three adjusters at the top, not just the one. We had an adjuster in the bottom and then the shaft was bigger. And then of course, the material was completely different, the material of the body was made in one piece by machine.’ HRC also supplied titanium foot pegs.

The gearbox came with 5 gears and the clutch was supplied by Rekluse. As for brakes, Castelli remembers: ‘we used factory Nissin, and the callipers were really factory like we use now, special hand made from one aluminium piece. Factory discs from Nissin - the front was

260mm with factory material. Front and back completely factory Nissin. The rear disc was 220mm, same as standard. Just the material was very light. The disc pads were the normal ones from standard.’

Another change was the exhaust; in 2014 the team had been running Termignoni but for 2015, Yoshimura came on board, changing the characteristic of the bike even further. As for electronics, according to Castelli, ‘this was complete HRC CDI and everything. We had one Japanese guy working all the mapping and everything, it was a full factory electronics system.’

When asked about how much the bikes’ performance improved over his 2014 bike, Castelli reckoned ‘around 25-30% - I remember the engine wasn’t a lot much powerful but it revved a lot compared to the standard one - more overrev - and also because Tim at that time used a lot the revs to the engine, stay a lot with the gearing, so we needed the engine to continue pulling and stay up, up, up.’

As for Gajser, switching from the ’14 to the ’15 was a notable difference, as he recalls:

‘Definitely there was a difference; we changed some parts, changed a little bit the chassis to make the bike handle better. Changed the exhaust pipe, which was a big difference - but the rest I don’t remember that well, but I know that the bike was better. I would be lying to say how much percentage it was better. Compared to the factory KTM or Kawasaki or Yamaha bikes of Dixon, then we were let’s say a step behind power-wise, and we all know in 250’s the power is really important. So, let’s say I had to risk quite many times to stay with the guys, to win some races, but overall, with HRC, with all the support we got from HRC, they made a difference between ’14 and ’15.’

‘I know that we had a good set up, I was feeling comfortable and the bike was handling really good.’

As for the season, a 4-7 in the season opener in Qatar placed him 4th overall, and after taking a 3rd in race one a week later in Thailand, Tim was unable to line up for race two having become dehydrated and needed an IV infusion. By round four though, TIGA was on song and went toe-to-toe with Jeffrey Herlings to win at Trentino with a 2-1. It was his first grand prix victory.

Seventeenth, fifth and a DNS at the next three rounds left him 8th in the standings after seven rounds, but they say it’s how you bounce back that matters, and the next four rounds saw Tim visit the podium at every single one. The highlight being three wins-in-a-row in Italy, Germany and Sweden.

With four rounds to go, the title chase was between Tim and Pauls Jonass and when Tim took the win in Assen with two rounds remaining, he also left there as the championship leader.

When he arrived in the USA for the final round at Glen Helen, the Slovenian held an eighteen-point lead. His 6-4 was enough to clinch the MX2 world Championship, his first of five.

‘Winning the title was really important and a big goal was achieved, I was dreaming about that since I was a little kid. I had my goals - I mean, everybody has goals - and one of them was to become a world champion in motocross, so it was a big moment for me, also for Honda because let’s say in 2014, when we started together with Honda, HRC started to support again a little bit more in the MX2 class, so it was also big for Honda, for HRC, for Giacomo obviously and for all Slovenia, you know?’

Aside from winning the title which was obviously huge, what were the other standout moments from Tim’s season?

‘Arco (Trentino) was a really good GP and really nice memories of my fi rst victory, my fi rst overall victory in MX2 class, and to do it in front of the Slovenian fans - Arco is always stacked with Slovenian fans and everything. Back then there were not so many like there is now but still, the place to do it was really nice. Also, Team Gariboldi, they had the workshop just a couple hours from the track, so all the sponsors, all the members and the family from Giacomo were there, so it was a special moment.’

‘Also, Assen! I remember going to Assen and back then I was really struggling in the sand you know, I didn’t train let’s say on the sand, just maybe one training before the GP (laughing). We always did that, and I know that Saturday was a big mess! I crashed so many times, I even think I didn’t fi nish top 10 in the qualifi cation race, or something like that. But then Sunday, I remember waking up and had a really good feeling and then both moto’s I think I started around 7th or 5th, and I came through the pack, and I think I won the fi rst moto and the second moto maybe I was 2nd, and then I won the GP as well. So that was a bit of a surprise. Even for me!’

When Tim Gajser crossed the line to clinch his fi rst world title in America, it was Honda’s fi rst world title in the 125cc/ MX2 class since Alessandro Puzar in 1995. It was also the fi rst MX2 title for Honda as well, and has not replicated in the class since.

TIM GAJSER 2022 MXGP WORLD CHAMPION TOM VIALLE 2022 MX2 WORLD CHAMPION

“WE SELL WHAT WE RACE, WE RACE WHAT WE SELL”