EMX 250 European Championship and EMX Open European Championship:
Horgmo and Krestinov top the podium in Latvia
The European Championship races saw Kevin Horgmo of SM Action Racing Team YUASA Battery took an overall victory in EMX250 to edge closer to the series leader Nicholas Lapucci of Fantic Factory Team Maddii. While KMP Honda Racing’s Gert Krestinov made a perfect wildcard appearance in the EMX Open class to go 1-1 and take the overall win.
In the first EMX250 race it was Maxime Grau of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing who was the leading rider as he headed into the first and second corner. There were a few riders caught up in some crashes during the first two laps, this included Tom Guyon of Team VHR KTM Racing and Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing’s Andrea Bonacorsi.
Grau’s time in the lead didn’t last long as Liam Everts of Liamski KTM jumped into the lead, as Kevin Horgmo of SM Action Racing Team YUASA Battery battled with Federico Tuani of Fantic Factory Team Maddii for second place.
Yago Martinez, the rider of Team VRT Nordpesca Holland got a good start in the race and was running fourth ahead of Rick Elzinga of TBS Conversions Racing Team and Filip Olsson of SIXTYTWO Motorsport Husqvarna Team.
Everts then dropped from the lead down to seventh after crashing, which meant that Horgmo was the new race leader ahead of Elzinga and Lapucci who made their way up the order.
Elzinga looked like he was going to challenge Horgmo for the race win, though after a few laps the Norwegian was able to edge out to secure his first EMX250 victory, with Elzinga securing second position and Lapucci finishing what was a lonely race in third.
In race two, it was Martinez who led Lapucci, Horgmo and Mike Gwerder of WZ Racing Team. While once again a couple of riders came together and it looked like Bonacorsi was involved once again.
Lapucci though took the lead on lap four as Elzinga was making his way through the field after starting the race in around 10th and was up in 5th at that moment. It also didn’t take long for him to get around Gwerder who was trying his best to keep the Dutchman behind him.
Horgmo then also passed Martinez to move into second as Everts was having a tough race after starting down the order and then crashing to drop outside of the points after working hard to get inside the top 20. He eventually finished the race in 28th.
Lapucci then stretched his lead to 3.407 seconds over Horgmo as Martinez lost third place to Elzinga who was keen on picking up some important points for the title chase.
Lapucci then checked out of the race and won with a 9.583 as Horgmo brought it home in second and Elzinga crossing the line in third.
With a race win and a second place today in the races, Kevin Horgmo secured his first ever EMX250 overall victory as he took to the top step of the podium, while Nicholas Lapucci continued his 100% podium record with second overall and Rick Elzinga making his third consecutive podium appearance to finished on the third step.
Lapucci continues to lead the championship with a 27-point advantage over Horgmo and Elzinga who is further behind in third.
EMX250 – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, GAS), 47 points; 2. Nicholas Lapucci (ITA, FAN), 45 p.; 3. Rick Elzinga (NED, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), 27 p.; 6. Dave Kooiker (NED, YAM), 25 p.; 7. Federico Tuani (ITA, FAN), 24 p.; 8. Tim Edberg (SWE, KTM), 21 p.; 9. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, YAM), 16 p.
The first EMX Open race saw Gert Krestinov of KMP Honda Racing and No Fear / BT Jumbo Racing Team’s Micha-Boy De Waal get a flying start as the pair were close into the first corner. Though De Waal quickly dropped to third as Jere Haavisto went through on the Dutchman.
The series leader, Davide De Bortoli started the first race in around fifth position, though by the following lap the Italian got around Dovydas Karka to move into fourth.
De Waal then got Haavisto back to move into second place as De Bortoli was making good progress to edge closer to the leaders. Lithuanian, Karka, was keeping close with De Bortoli but eventually made a mistake and lost some ground on the Italian, which allowed Simone Croci, Tim Koch and Emil Berggren to close in. In the next few laps Karka lost a few positions and eventually finished the race in 12th.
Back at the top end of the field though, Krestinov continued the lead as De Waal was pushing hard to get closer to the Estonian. A lap later De Waal lost his rear brake and went on straight as he entered the corner near the start straight and as a result, he dropped to fourth as Haavisto and De Bortoli made the most of his mistake.
Krestinov then rode his own race as he led by over 12 seconds with Haavisto failing to get any closer to the race leader. Meanwhile De Waal was making a good recovery and with two laps to go had De Bortoli in his sights for third though could not make a big enough impact to gain a position by the chequered flag. Krestinov was the race winner, Haavisto was second and De Bortoli remained third.
In the second heat it was De Bortoli who got a strong start as De Waal and Haavisto were involved in a crash.
Krestinov then took the lead from the championship leader, though made a mistake soon after which put him back to square one. Despite the mistake, the Estonian was able to fight back immediately and get out in front once again.
Karka was having a good start to his race as he was riding in third, before Honda SR Motoblouz rider Nicolas Dercourt was able to pass the Lithuanian to take his position. The pair then went after De Bortoli, though Karka was unable to stick with the two riders ahead of him as he dropped a few positions which allowed Koch and Emil Silander gain a position.
After crashing in the start of the race and having to make his way back from last, De Waal was making good progress as by lap five he was already up in seventh.
Dercourt continued his chase of De Bortoli, with the Frenchman parking the Italian to move himself into second place.
De Waal was pushing hard in the second part of the race as he managed to get around the likes of Silander and Koch, who retired from the race due to what looked like a bike issue. But for De Waal his race had just began as he got himself into fourth and was five seconds down on De Bortoli with three minutes and two laps to go.
In those next seven minutes or so, De Waal put the hammer down to pass both De Bortoli and Dercourt to finish the race in second behind Krestinov who the race winner was. Dercourt placed third in the race.
With two race victories, Gert Krestinov was the overall winner, with Micha-Boy De Waal standing in the second step of the podium, while Davide De Bortoli had a consistent day to finish on the podium once again.
De Bortoli continues to lead the championship just seven points ahead of Dercourt and De Waal who is third. Next up the EMX Open riders will head to Turkey for the final two races of the season where the 2021 championship will be decided.
EMXOpen – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Gert Krestinov (EST, HON), 50 points; 2. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, HUS), 40 p.; 3. Davide De Bortoli (ITA, HON), 38 p.; 4. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, HON), 35 p.; 5. Emil Silander (FIN, GAS), 32 p.; 6. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 25 p.; 7. Emil Berggren (SWE, HUS), 25 p.; 8. Dovydas Karka (LTU, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Simone Croci (ITA, HUS), 24 p.; 10. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), 23 p.
