By Tinus Nel

Humankind is hard-wired to revere excellence and achievement. Whether it be in business, on a music stage (where excellence if often a relative concept) or in the sports arena, those that excel garner most heaps of attention and adulation. The nature of the heroes game has remained the same throughout the ages, as well. You have the established stars, those that need no introduction, and then you have the newcomers, the young pretenders. They often enter stage left; make a major impact, often from an underdog position, and suddenly the world takes notice.

Tim Gajser certainly fits the bill. The quiet, unassuming Slovenian charged into the limelight at the GPs of England and Germany with overall podium finishes, and there can no be no doubt that the truly has the wherewithal to mix it with the great and the good at top level motocross. Many labelled him an overnight success, for the young star is but 17 years old, but this is an overnight success that was some time in the brewing in the Gajser Cauldron.

The youngster made a first blip on my radar screen in 2007, when he swept all before him in the 65cc European Championships. Sensing something special, I made the journey down the road to Lierop to first see the young man in action in one of his first European championship races  on an 85cc machine.

The first meeting revealed a soft-spoken youngster that came across as  affable and polite. It was clear that the family was racing on the proverbial shoestring budget (brother Nejc was also in attendance). The clothing was not the newest, and his bike was certainly nowhere near comparable to the gleaming rockets of some of the semi-professional opposition. There is no dishonour in that, of course, for honour is found in how you conduct yourself on the track, win or lose.

Spool the clock forward, and the young man delivered more and more on the early promise. By 2009 he had  grown into the 85 cc bike, and he claimed the European title in rampant fashion. In time, the move to the bigger 125cc machine came, and again he left his calling card, claiming both the world, and European, 125cc titles in 2012. There was never any doubt that he was eventually headed for Grand Prix motocross, and he handled his rookie year in 2013 with aplomb, finishing 20th in the championship series. This despite him missing six Grands Prix and dealing with the heartache of several bike-related DNF's. He was also crowned rookie of the year.

He made the switch to the Gariboldi Honda team, and his undeniable promise had captured the attention of the factory top brass as well, so the days of  racing on a rickety machine held together by the proverbial wire and a prayer were well and truly over.

Racer X: Tim, congratulations with your fine performances in your season so far. What were your expectations going into the 2014 season?
Tim Gajser: Thank you. My expectation was always to be into the top 10 coming into the season. We had some bad luck in Thailand and I had one zero score, but in Brazil I had my first moto podium, and that felt great. I had a good start in the race, and Dylan (Ferrandis) crashed. [Glenn] Coldenhoff was leading, and later in the race [Arnaud] Tonus passed me, but I kept riding smart to keep safe in third place.

My next race podium was in Arco (Italy). We had been testing and developing the bike extensively during this period, and the team really managed to improve the bike greatly. I've also been working hard at improving my own riding, and now my expectations of myself are higher. I am aiming at getting top five finishes in every race as far as possible.