FEATURE
Sunday, February 18th 2018. It is chilly but dry at the Tazio Nuvolari circuit in the heart of the city of Mantova in Italy. Tim Gajser is holding 2nd position around the sandy and jumpy layout and is chasing Tony Cairoli at the Internazionali D’Italia – one of three rounds in the small domestic series that MXGP riders traditionally use as a pre-season ‘warm-up’ for the coming world championship. Launching over the long leap on the exit of Turn 5, the factory Honda rider has badly misjudged the section. The first rider to win backto-back titles in the MX2 and then the MXGP classes (20152016) lands with shocking
force into the next take-off. He smashes his head onto the handlebars, is knocked unconscious and fractures his jaw in two places. Three years and two operations later Gajser says he still cannot feel part of his jawline due to the nerve damage. The pain, the concussion and the aftereffects of the accident ruined the 2018 MXGP season
for the-then 21-year-old. He picked up only three podium finishes in the first half of the campaign and eventually finished 4th in the standings, a staggering 264 points behind Jeffrey Herlings. The previous year Gajser started using Fox’s V3 helmet; one of the first in motocross to licence the award-winning Swedish Mips technology.
TIM GAJSER: “I’VE BEEN QUITE LUCKY NOT TO HAVE BIG PROBLEMS AFTER A CONCUSSION. AFTER A FEW DAYS REST I WAS OK. WE ALL KNOW HOW FAST WE ARE GOING.”