Today saw Emil Weckman take an emphatic win at the Matterley Basin track in the UK, which has moved him into the championship lead ahead of tomorrow’s second race.
Although Weckman (FIN) was first to the finish line, it was James Scott (NZL) who took the holeshot and set the pace on the first lap. Unfortunately the New Zealander crashed at the end of the first lap gifting Emil the lead going into the second lap.
Weckman was then able to open up a gap to the second placed Luis Outeiro and stay in front until the chequered flag. The Finn also took the honours of fastest lap aboard his #1 plated CRF150R. Luis Outeiro was also able to maintain his second place until the end of the moto.
Yago Martinez, who was quick around the Winchester track last year, proved that he’s one to keep an eye on with an impressive ride to third. The top five was rounded out by Hakon Fredriksen and Jorgen-Matthias Talviku, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
It was also a good showing from the British riders, including the three wildcard riders for this round. Calum Mitchell rounded out the top ten after fending off the attacks of Henry Vesilind, while a battle of the Brits saw Ryan Mawhinney and Todd Leadbitter finish 14th and 15th respectively. Josh Peters finished 17th, Ethan Lane 20th and Tobias Sammut 22nd.
“I’m feeling really good with this win. I think Hakon [Fredriksen] had some bad luck but of course I could have some bad luck too in later races but all the points matter. The track here is really good and I like it a lot. I have ridden with 65cc here so I know the track really well and I like the jumps”, said Emil Weckman.
“Today we saw a very impressive ride from Emil who was able to lead the race from the start of the second lap until the end, but we saw some very strong rides from many riders today”, said Davy Dousselaere, Honda Europe Off-Road Manager. “Luis Outeiro has shown how much he has improved from last year and I am very pleased to see that he was second. We knew Yago Martinez would be one to watch as he was quick here last year and today proved that with a good third place. It is good to see a large number of British riders competing with us this weekend in front of their home crowd. I think tomorrow will be another good race as Hakon will be hoping to close the gap in the championship to Emil”.
The action continues tomorrow at 11hr10 local time when the gates will drop for race two of the Honda 150 European Championship at the MXGP of Great Britain.
The actual issue of FIM Europe MAG is online and can be downloaded here.
