EMX Quad European Championship:
Karl Robin Rillo is the new leader after round three in Northern Ireland
Pictures copyright: WSC
Third round of the EMX Quad European Championship was held this weekend in Northern Ireland in Redbrae Park, an international event run together with the Sidecarcross GP, which has returned here after 43 years.
Qualifications were run on Friday and it was British rider Mark McLernon (Yamaha) who won the qualifying race. Heavy hitters of the Championship, Italian Patrick Turrini (Yamaha) and Estonian Karl Robin Rillo (Yamaha), which were tied in points as leaders of the Championship after the first two events could only finish 4th and 6th respectively, not finding immediately the optimal setup needed for this traditional British motocross track.
Rain was a major factor that influenced Saturday’s races, as the track became very muddy forcing the cancellation of the warm-up. It was again local rider McLernon who managed to win Race 1 by a comfortable margin, leaving his chasers Kacper Mieszkowski from Poland in second place and Patrick Turrini from Italy in third place behind by a 6 seconds gap and an impressive 31 second gap. In the fight for survival in the mud, Estonian rider Karl Robin Rillo finished only in sixth position, opening the door for Turrini’s escape in the front of the Championship.
Second race saw an immediate withdrawal of McLernon due to a mechanical problem in the first lap while Patrick Turrini was in the lead by a comfortable margin for half of the race. Unfortunately for Turrini, instead of grabbing maximum points, he had to settle for 12th place as his quad broke down halfway. After a bad start, Karl Robin Rillo of Estonia picked up riders in front of him one by one until reaching third position, thus securing his third place on the overall podium. Race 2 was won by Lithuanian Laurynas Mikalauskas, who won the overall by 1 point in front of Polish rider Kacper Mierzkowski.
Teenager Jan Brehl from Czech Republic had a very promising evolution despite his young age, finishing second in the Race 2 but missing out on the podium also by 1 point.
After this round the new Championship leader is Estonian Karl Robin Rillo who is in front by 6 points to Italian Patrick Turrini while heading to next’s week’s round in Gusses Corse (United Kingdom).
