EMX125 and EMX250 European Championship:
Bonacorsi heroic winner in while Reisulis continues his domination
What a third round for the EMX250 and EMX125 European Championships in Agueda, Portugal, were both classes put on the show. We are now starting to see clear favourites performing rounds after rounds.
In EMX250, the Red Plate and favourite Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi won in a formidable manner after dealing with problems on his bike in race 2. It was in front of BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers and VRT KTM Factory Juniors’ Ferruccio Zanchi.
In EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Martin Reisulis got his second win of the season in front of 737 Performers GASGAS’s Mathis Valin and Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Maximilian Werner.
EMX250
Race 1 saw an eventful first lap where it was Ferruccio Zanchi who came out of the first turn leading the pack right in front of Championship leader Andrea Bonacorsi. A tight battle ensued as Bonacorsi took the lead early to see Zanchi taking it back few turns later. Eventually, Bonacorsi’s power was too much for Zanchi on lap 2 as Bonacorsi made his pass stick to keep the lead until the end of the race comfortably. Zanchi finished solidly 2nd.
Behind them Kay Karssemakers also showed his speed as he was in contact with the front two early on in the race along with Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Alexis Fueri. In the end Karssemakers had to settle for a good 3rd place while Fueri did not maintain the speed until the end as he went from 4th place on lap 11 to 6th in the end.
It was the opposite for Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Prugnieres and RFME GASGAS MXJUNIOR TEAM’s Samuel Nilsson who both gain positions. Prugnieres went from 7th in lap 1 to get several overtakes to find himself on lap 8 behind RFME GASGAS MXJUNIOR TEAM’s Gerard Congost who was 5th at the time. Congost then had a big crash as he tried to overtake Fueri for 4th and had to retire form the race. Prugnieres found himself 5th after that incident and kept going to overtake Fueri for 4th on lap 11. Nilsson was 10th on lap 1 and also kept charging up to get to 5th in the end.
Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Cas Valk had a strong race too and stayed within the top 10 throughout the race to get finally finish 7th. It went similarly for WZ RACING TEAM’s Cato Nickel who went from 6th on lap 1 to end up at a good 8th place.
The good operation was for KTM SB Racing’s Nico Greutmann who showed determination to move up the leader board after getting an average start and get to 14th on lap 1. The young Swiss methodically kept overtaking riders in front of him to finish 9th at the checkered flag.
The winner of the Trentino Round, KTM Beddini Racing Team’s Valerio Lata could not show the same spark nor find the same rhythm as two weeks ago and had to settle for 10th in the end.
In race 2, It was Team VRT KTM Factory Juniors’ Marc-Antoine Rossi who showed all his talent to win the race and make clever passes as he went from 4th on lap 1 1st on lap 11. He overtook Karssemakers, solid leader up to that point and kept the lead until the end. Karssemakers settled for 2nd.
Bonacorsi, who ended on the 3rd position, had an eventful second race as he got some clutch problems due to being overtaken by M-A Rossi and having the bikes touched. However, Bonacorsi showed all his mental throughout the whole race and amazing talent. Bonacorsi had to race a major part of the race with a clutch problem as mentioned earlier and while he was 3rd on lap 11, the Red Plate stalled in a turn and moved down to 5th with 4 laps to go. However, heroically made few passes to get back up to 3rd overtaking his teammate Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Karlis Reisulis. It was synonymous of overall win for Bonacorsi.
Reisulis who led over the first three laps finished in an encouraging 4th place. Prugnieres continued his good weekend as he made a good start in 5th to keep the same position until the end. Zanchi had to battle to get up the rank as he found himself 8th on lap 1 to then show good speed and ending up at an important 6th place to get on the podium.
It was also a solid performance for Meico Vettik who manged to get into the top 10 on lap 8 and even managed to get to 7th in the last couple of laps as he overtook Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Ivano Van Erp and Valk successively. Van Erp who was not on his best form finished the weekend with a 21-9 while Valk stayed solidly in the top 10 with a 7-8.
It was damage control for Lata as he managed to get to 10th in this race to score some important points in the Championship Standing but still lost his 2nd spot to Karssemakers.
In the end, Andrea Bonacorsi managed with a strong will and talent to get his second overall win of the season while Kay Karssemakers made a good operation with his solid racing getting second on the podium and second in the Championship Standings. Ferruccio Zanchi also rode very well in Portugal getting a well deserve back-to-back podium.
EMX250 – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 45 points; 2. Kay Karssemakers (NED, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 34 p.; 6. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 27 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 9. Samuel Nilsson (ESP, GAS), 22 p.; 10. Meico Vettik (EST, TM), 21 p.
EMX250 – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 142 points; 2. Kay Karssemakers (NED, HUS), 107 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 97 p.; 4. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 93 p.; 5. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), 90 p.; 6. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), 90 p.; 7. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 79 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 77 p.; 9. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 72 p.; 10. Alexis Fueri (FRA, FAN), 61 p.
EMX125
In EMX125 Race 1, it was all about Janis Martin Reisulis once again as the young Latvian took the lead from Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Elias Escandell during the first lap and kept the lead until the finish line to win his 3rd race of the season. Escandell managed a solid race too as the Spanish riders kept his 2nd spot until the end.
Mathis Valin had a really steady and uneventful race as he stayed behind the front two in 3rd throughout the whole race. The performance of the race was for Alban Alm who following an average start being 12th on lap 1, the Swede managed overtake many times to finally got to 4th in the end.
Salvador Perez displayed some good speed and managed to kept it up until the end. He went from 7th on lap 1 to a very solid 5th place in the end. He also overtook Maximilian Werner along the way on lap 5 for 4th but conceded one place at the end to finish 5th. Werner had a great start but got overtaken few times to finish at the 8th place.
Francisco Garcia managed a good come back from 12th on lap 1 to a 6th place in the end, more in line with his past performance this season. Behind him Noel Zanocz, who went up and down as he overtook few riders early on to get from 8th to 6th but then settled for 7th in the end.
While JK Racing Yamaha’s Nicola Salvini rode a steady and consistent race finishing 10th, Richard Paatmade is entry into the top 10 for the first time this season. Paat kept his speed all throughout the race and showed good technique along the way to get from 13th to 9th in the end.
In race 2, it was the time for Valin to get back to the top as he did in on the first round in Switzerland. After a rapid start, Valin led the race from start to finish as he never looked back and even increased his advantage for an easy win. Behind Valin, Reisulis was quick to get to 2nd after lap 1 but crashed down on lap 3 to move down to 4th. However his speed and talent spoke for themselves as he managed to get back up to 2nd and overtaking Fredsoe on lap 7 and his Werner on lap 12 for 2nd. Fredsoe ended up at the 5th place.
Werner settled for 3rd in the end to get on the podium while Garcia made another comeback from 9th to 4th in the end. Alm kept the consistent riding he showed throughout the weekend to get to 6th for a 6th overall.
After getting 12th in race 1, Vitezslav Marek got back to his usual riding performance as he finished 7th staying within the top 10 during the whole race. Behind him were Nicola Salvini and Alfio Samuele Pulvirenti who finished in 8th and 9th respectively. Closing the top 10 was Zanocz who managed to overtake Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Niccolo Mannini on lap 7 for 10th and never giave hi position. Mannini finished 11th.
In the end Janis Martin Reisulis dominated once again in front of Mathis Valin second, back to his best with a race win and Maximilian Werner making a back-to back podium with the third spot on the podium.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Overall Top 10 Classification 1. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 47 points; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 45 p.; 3. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 33 p.; 4. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 33 p.; 5. Laban Alm (SWE, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 30 p.; 7. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Nicola Salvini (ITA, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 16p.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 132 points; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 111 p.; 3. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 102 p.; 4. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 95 p.; 5. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 89 p.; 6. Laban Alm (SWE, HUS), 86 p.; 7. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 83 p.; 8. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 71 p.; 9. Nicola Salvini (ITA, YAM), 66 p.; 10. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 58 p.
EMX in Finland
