Slaw
Welcome to my Morning Espresso. A collection of thoughts and stuff I found interesting on the Interweb. Enjoy!
Gajser Wins Again in Italy
A week after taking the opening round win of the 2025 Internazionali d’Italia at a muddy Mantova, Honda HRC’s Tim Gajser went 2-1 at Montevarchi to earn the overall and the title. Isak Gifting and Mattia Guadagnini rounded out the MX1 podium.
‘It was a good day overall, and I’m glad we came here to race,” said Gajser. “In the first moto I got a bit of arm-pump, which isn’t totally unusual, but I wasn’t feeling so great and that affected me a bit towards the end. Then in the second race we made some adjustments and things were a lot better and this gives me confidence that everyone is still motivated to win after the off-season. I’m excited to head to Argentina and get the first MXGP round started!”
In MX2, Simon Langenfelder went 1-1 for the overall ahead of Andrea Adamo and Ferruccio Zanchi. Adamo would clinch the title with his his 2-2 finishes.
MX1 Overall
1. Tim Gajser 22-25
2. Isak Gifting 18-22
3. Mattia Guadagnini 20-18
4. Lucas Coenen 25-13
5. Andrea Bonacorsi 16-20
MX1 Championship
1. Tim Gajser – 97
2. Lucas Coenen – 82
3. Andrea Bonacorsi – 76
4. Isak Gifting – 73
5. Mattia Guadagnini – 67
MX2 Overall
1. Simon Langenfelder 25-25
2. Andrea Adamo 22-22
3. Ferruccio Zanchi 18-20
4. Valerio Lata – 20-14
5. Sacha Coenen – 14-18
MX2 Championship
1. Andrea Adamo – 91
2. Simon Langenfelder – 81
3. Valerio Lata – 76
4. Cas Valk – 72
5. Sacha Coenen – 67
Renaux Wins at Home
The opening round of the 2025 French Elite Motocross Championship took place at Lacapelle Marival took place over the weekend and it was a 1-2 finish for the French duo of Maxime Renaux and Romain Febvre. Pauls Jonass would round out the 450 podium.
MX1 Overall
1. Maxime Renaux 50-50
2. Romain Febvre 44-44
3. Pauls Jonass 34-40
4. Alberto Forato 36-38
5. Calvin Vlaanderen 40-33
MX2 Overall
1. Mathis Valin 50-50
2. Thibault Benistant 44-44
3. Janis Martins Reisulis 40-40
4. Karlis Reisulis 38-38
5. Fancisco Garcia 36-36
Honda Wants 50% of the Motorcycle Market
Interesting read over at Cycle World about Honda and the motorcycle market. Here is part of the piece, go read it all here.
Honda has laid out its expectations and targets in briefing on its global motorcycle business including the ambitious long-term aim of capturing a 50% share of the worldwide market.
The briefing was held by Minoru Kato, head of Motorcycle and Power Products Operations, Motorcycle Business Unit, and Daiki Mihara who leads the division responsible for electric motorcycles. They explained that Honda is making more than 20 million bikes per year, with the expectation it will sell 20.2 million units in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. That amounts to roughly 40% of all the motorcycles sold in the world, according to the company’s own research, with around 50 million new bikes finding owners each year. Honda expects all those numbers to grow, saying that by 2030 it believes the worldwide motorcycle market will account for 60 million new sales per year, and in the long term it wants to increase its market share to 50%.
Why Supercross Riders Hide Injuries?
I’ve never understood why riders hide injuries. I’ve heard all the reasons riders try and give and none make sense. This is a small industry, EVERYONE knows if a rider is injured. In addition, this isn’t football where other players can target specific injuries. Yet, the NFL is required to give detailed injury reports. Should that be made mandatory in Supercross? With increased involvement in gambling, I bet we aren’t far off.
Julien Beaumer was recently on the Gypsy Tales podcast and talked about the reason riders hide injuries and it was interesting.
Main image: Honda HRC
