Photos: @Youthstream
That’s a wrap! The final rounds of the European Championships EMX125 presented by FMF Racing and EMX250 were wrapped up yesterday in Frauenfeld-Gachnang, Switzerland, where our future stars were faced with a rutty and rugged man-made track, that had a good vibe about it which could be attributed to the noise and support coming from the nearly sold out grand stands that surround venue.
The newly crowned EMX125 presented by FMF Racing champion, Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts, rounded out the season the best way he knows how, with two race wins while Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei also did the double for his second overall win of the season.
EMX250
The track here in Frauenfeld-Gachnang wasn’t the most intimidating track on the calendar, although for the riders that aren’t fans of ruts and square edge bumps, it would have been pretty daunting. As a man-made track, built in a flat field with some big jumps, it looked as though it would suit Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei, and it did. The American star got off to a mega start and led every lap for his fifth race win of the season ahead of KTM Factory Juniors Josiah Natzke and the Czech wildcard Filip Neugebauer.
In Race 2 yesterday, the defending champion, Nick Kouwenberg had his J-Tech Honda absolutely singing out of the gate and led the way around turn one before being passed by F&H Racing Team’s young talented Spaniard Ruben Fernandez, who had the race one winner, Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei in his wake.
Sanayei was reveling in the fact no one was at an advantage on this track since it was brand spanking new one day ago. The American put the squeeze on Fernandez on lap two and checked out for his sixth race win of the season. Fernandez kept the power down in second; as Vaessen kept the fans on their toes with his flamboyant, yet loose at times, style.
As per usual, Vaessen had a yard sale and dropped back to sixth, which allowed Kouwenberg to inherit third. Running inside the top three ended up being short lived for Kouwenberg, as Saturday’s runner-up Josiah Natzke was on a hard charge and passed him like he was standing still.
Natzke, on a clear mission, went after Fernandez for second, and took the spot in no time at all. Vaessen was on the bounce back, and took third away from the Spaniard before passing Natzke on one wheel for second place. Natzke took a chill pill and sat back in third while Fernandez mimicked that approach in fourth. Filip Neugenbauer on the other hand, was pushing to the max. He got inside the top five, then crashed and had to do it all again. Nevertheless, he got the job done and finished fifth.
Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei rounded out the season with a double moto victory. It has been a long season for the rookie, KTM Factory Junior’s Josiah Natzke who landed on the podium for the first time this season ahead of the kid who won the last two rounds of the EMX250 championship, Team Suzuki World MX2’s Bas Vaessen.
Bodo Schmidt Motorsports’ Thomas Kjer Olsen was crowned European Champion last weekend at Lommel, therefore he didn’t race in the EMX250 class this weekend, instead he took the next naturel step in his career and made his FIM Motocross World Championship MX2 debut. Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei took home the silver medal, while Team Suzuki World MX2’s Bas Vaessen was awarded the bronze.
EMX125
In race one on Saturday, Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts wasted no time in taking the lead and checked out for his seventh race win of the season. Meanwhile Sander Agard-Michelsen put in a mind blowing ride for second after he passed the mistake prone Pierre Goupillon late in the race.
Race two got underway with an orange tsunami as four KTM riders made up the top five coming out of turn one. Pierre Goupillon had the early lead with Andrea Zanotti, Gianluca Facchetti and Jago Geerts hot on him.
On lap two, hanging right off the back of his Sahkar KTM, Geerts passed Facchetti with such a rad move where he practically wheelied his way all the way through the wave section and kept a low line over the two doubles that followed to take third place. On that same lap, the newly crowned champ set the fastest lap time, which was 2 seconds faster than the next fastest rider, Goupillon.
It wasn’t long before Geerts took the lead and rode off into the sunset for his tenth race win of the season. Meanwhile, Goupillon was on a mission to minimize errors, but still ended up throwing away second when he ghost rode his bike over a jump.
Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Kim Savaste didn’t get off to the best of starts but he knows how to twist a throttle and by lap four he was all over Facchetti for third. The duo banged bars for a lap before Savaste finally made a pass stick.
With five minutes to go, Facchetti decided he wasn’t quite done and made a move on Savaste to take back second place. Savaste had a wee chuckle, responded immediately, and declared a game of cat and mouse that saw the duo swap the spot several times.
At the checkers, Geerts was the clear-cut winner while Savaste managed to have the final say in the battle for second. Facchetti was forced to settle for third, while Zanotti managed to hold off DP19 Yamaha’s hard charging Roan Van de Moosdijk for fourth.
Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts went 1 – 1 for the overall ahead of Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Kim Savaste who went 4 – 2 for second. Sander Agard-Michelsen made his first podium appearance with a 2 – 7 result, landing him on the box in third.
Since this round was the final round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, the final two medals were awarded after Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts took home the gold last weekend in Lommel. KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini won four rounds of the championship, but had to sit out the final two rounds due to injury. Nonetheless, he finished the season as the vice champion with Pierre Goupillon finishing third.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/251
