Tim Gajser (Yamaha): “It was much harder than I’d expected!”

Tim Gajser’s blue Alpinestars kit in 2026 was arguably the best-looking on the MXGP starting grid (kudos also for the yellow VR46 livery at the Trentino GP), but aesthetics mean little to the 30-year-old record-holder, who ended 2026 without a Grand Prix victory on the factory Yamaha YZ450FM. Injury problems forced the Slovenian to end his season early.

Gajser has struggled to find a winning pace and make effective starts (he has yet to secure a single holeshot). He has also had too many crashes. Since switching from Honda to Yamaha, Tim has secured just two race wins and five podium finishes, and has led for a meagre 22 laps. His third place in the World Championship is by no means a disaster, but he is far behind his colleague Jeffrey Herlings, who also changed teams and, riding Gajser’s former bike, clinched the title with one race to spare and a run of seven Grand Prix victories in which he completely dominated.

“It was a struggle to get everything right in a single weekend,” sighed Tim when we spoke to him on the eve of the Dutch Grand Prix in Arnhem. “I feel the pace is there and I’m getting better and better, but on the bike it’s… inconsistent. It’s as if two out of the three races in a weekend go well, but then I mess it up or have bad luck. A few crashes. It’s been a difficult year.”

Tim’s professionalism and his easy-going nature mean he’s willing to take responsibility and avoid making excuses, but it’s clear from the results, his performances and his own words that neither the rider nor the team have managed to make the multiple world champion feel consistently at home on the YZ450FM – a motorbike that had already proved problematic for Maxime Renaux, Calvin Vlaanderen and Jeremy Seewer.

Gajser’s move to Yamaha was one of the big stories of 2026. Tim had sensationally clinched the MXGP title in 2016 during his first season on Honda’s CRF450RW and had been a cornerstone of HRC’s resurgence as a Grand Prix powerhouse. Herlings took his place, having parted ways with Red Bull KTM after representing the Austrian team from 2010 to 2025. Both riders were bound by their existing contracts until 31 December 2025. Herlings undoubtedly won the ‘battle’ to settle in, as Gajser also had to contend with nagging physical ailments resulting from his attempts to push the Yamaha to its limits.

“To be completely honest, we got off to a really late start,” he explained. “I only started riding at the beginning of January and felt that something was missing. If we’d started straight after the season in October, we’d have had two and a half months more … but it is what it is.” “And it was exactly the same for Jeffrey,” he quickly added.

Gajser quickly realised that his initial impressions of an MXGP race – in which Herlings, Lucas Coenen and Tom Vialle set the benchmark for starts and pace – might not have been entirely accurate.

Tim was able to talk about the winter work with a bit of hindsight. “I felt good at the start,” he revealed, “but I had the feeling that the first reality check came at the first GP in Argentina. We weren’t ready. The bike wasn’t ready. I felt good during the tests and in the pre-season races, but those were one-day events. The tracks are flatter… I simply struggled: how do I set up the bike properly for bigger, bumpier tracks? Because in Grand Prix races, the tracks get so bumpy, and it’s not easy to find similar tracks for testing. It was all new to me, and I had no experience of riding a Yamaha in those conditions.”

Was he ever equally overwhelmed by the different versions of the CRF450RW? “With the other brand, Honda, I’d been there for so many years, and there were times when I didn’t feel comfortable, but I knew the bike so well that I could somehow find a solution,” he explained. “Here [at Yamaha] everything was new, and I thought I’d got the hang of it, but once you start racing, you just keep getting faster. At the start, I trained in November and December, but not that much on the motorbike because I didn’t have one! I had a standard Honda, and with that, given the conditions and the level at which we’re racing, you can only get so far.”

Finding his feet is one thing, but the noticeable lack of progress in the transition from a top-five contender to a frontrunner was evident. A major weakness is Tim’s sluggishness off the mark. That has come back to haunt him and led to forced errors. “They’re extremely crucial this year – well, they are every year – but this time everyone’s so fast and fit. I don’t get off to a proper start and then have to rush. I think to myself: ‘Bloody hell, I really have to get up front as quickly as possible…’, because Lucas, Jeffrey and Febvre just pulled away and I was back in the pack again. I knew I had to be with them to keep up. If it takes you 4 to 5 laps to get up to 4th place, they’re already 10 to 15 seconds ahead. You can’t catch them because the pace is similar.”

It would be naive to think that Yamaha and rider number 243 aren’t desperately searching for a solution, even if it looks as though a fundamental chassis problem is the snag, and that they’re trying to optimise the YZ’s engine performance for both the start and the entire race distance. “We’re trying out a lot of things. We’re changing a lot of things, [including] my own riding technique. I feel like my starts are improving, but I want to be right at the front! The top five is possible, the top three would be better, but the top 15?! That’s actually the problem. Then I rush it in the first few laps. When riders who are 2 to 3 seconds slower per lap in qualifying are sticking to the inside line everywhere, it’s not easy to get past them. That’s when mistakes creep in. I’ve crashed quite a few times. I feel that sometimes I found it hard to keep my cool… to have a bit more patience and sometimes accept 3rd, 4th or 5th place. That’s not easy.” These crashes took their toll. His crash at the Turkish Grand Prix (where he nevertheless managed to fight his way up to fourth place) ultimately meant he had to end the season early and also pull out of the MXoN.

In 2026, Gajser had to find his feet in a different political environment. At HRC, he had a close relationship with Giacomo Gariboldi, the Japanese Honda engineers and staff such as team manager Marcus Pereira de Freitas, as well as Roger Shenton, Roger Harvey and Massimo Castelli, who even followed him to Yamaha. At Yamaha, it was the influence of Hans Corvers’ dedicated team, the YRRD department led by Michele Rinaldi – which oversaw the development of the race bikes on behalf of the Japanese – as well as the organisational influence of Yamaha Motor Europe. It is a completely different environment. “It’s a big team … a good team, and everyone really supports me a lot: whatever I ask for, they try to do their best,” he said quickly. “Even when races go badly, it’s important to have the team behind you, but there are many factors at play. It’s a large group working hard to help me improve and feel more comfortable.”

“It was an adjustment,” he admitted. “At Honda, the Japanese were a bit more involved. At Yamaha they are too … but not quite as much. A lot goes through Rinaldi, particularly when it comes to developing new components and parts. Ultimately, both are professional works teams.”

If anything, Gajser was able to further hone his overtaking instinct in 2026. It isn’t quite as effortless as he so impressively demonstrated in Russia in 2021. That means he generally pays closer attention to track preparation and choosing economical racing lines during Grand Prix races. “I think they’re doing what they can …,” he said diplomatically, “but they could do much better if they were to break up and water the tracks earlier.”

The challenges he faces in his work have led to speculation that Gajser had had enough and was being courted for a move – to Kawasaki and into the seat vacated by Romain Febvre, who switched to Ducati. A year after being crowned MXGP World Champion, Kimi Räikkönen’s KRT team is facing a 2027 season without a leading Grand Prix rider. It is a sensitive subject that needs to be discussed publicly, yet the tone of the conversation with Tim – both whilst the recorder was running and when it was switched off – is characterised by defiance, despite slight signs of fatigue.

He sees it as his personal mission to try to put the disappointing season behind him and make progress. After all, he was signed by one of the biggest manufacturers in the paddock to restore Yamaha to glory and secure a title that has eluded them for over a decade. It won’t be an easy task: the YZ450FM has proved to be a tough nut to crack for several riders when it comes to the title race. “I feel that this is just the beginning,” he emphasised. “We’re working hard and trying out lots of things. We’ll find out what suits me best. I know what I’m still capable of, and I firmly believe in myself.”

It’s inevitable that rumours will do the rounds. Can Gajser set up a motorbike properly? Can he still keep up with the pace of his rivals? Are his best years already behind him when up against younger opponents such as Vialle, Kay De Wolf, Andrea Adamo and newcomer Guillem Farres? “I can see that people are talking … and saying things, but I feel in the best shape of my life,” he replied. “I’ve made a lot of changes this year in that regard: a personal trainer and various other things that make me feel better. We just need to get the bike side sorted, then we should be back on form. The difference isn’t that big. Even if I don’t feel 100 per cent comfortable on the bike or on any given track, I’m still in the mix: in 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th place – and I know just how much we can still improve.”

Tim had already had to contend with physical setbacks – his broken right femur in 2023 was perhaps the most serious and far-reaching – but this was a new hurdle in his career. A rare smile flits across his face when we point out that the hard work in 2026 might actually be an advantage, enabling him to come back with renewed vigour in 2027. “I believe that! That’s how I see it,” he grinned. “I’m going through some difficult times at the moment, especially mentally, because it’s not easy being where I am. You’re fighting a bit against yourself, especially in your head, but it makes me stronger and helps me understand things better.”

Perhaps Jeffrey Herlings will feel a bit more downhearted next year.