It was a test of the best for the riders who lined up here in Czech Republic for the penultimate round of the European Championship EMX125 with the battlefield being steep and very hard packed. After dominating both races for his third consecutive overall victory, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu proved to be the master of throttle control, body position and balance today as the rest of his competition strove to find traction up and down the hills of Loket on their light and nimble 125cc two stroke machines.
In race one yesterday afternoon, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu deemed war as he stormed his way to his third consecutive race win to take over the EMX125 championship points lead. Mafi Yamaha MX Team’s Alvin Östlund was on the cable for second with Team Yamaha MJC’s David Herbreteau rounding out the top three.
When the gates fell for race two this morning, MX Slovakia’s Richard Sikyna nailed the holeshot but immediately came under attack from the classes freshest face, all the way from New Zealand, Josiah Natzke. With Natzke on a clear mission to get noticed in this area on the world, he railed a rut perfectly up the inside of Sikyna a couple of laps in to take over the lead which he managed to impressively hold onto for more than half of the race before coming succumbing to the pressure of the championship points leader Brian Hsu.
While Natske proceeded to keep Hsu honest, yesterday’s runner-up Mafi Yamaha MX Team’s Alvin Östlund had his YZ125 pinned and soon blew past the young kiwi in pursuit of a race win. After giving Hsu a bit of havoc for a few laps, Östlund also railed around the German Suzuki rider to take over the lead, but it was short lived as he ran too hot into a corner at the bottom of a hill and went over the berm. Even though the Swede Östlund re-joined the track in second, there was only a handful of laps remaining which chucked all hopes of his first EMX125 race victory out the window.
Nevertheless, it was a good effort for the young Swede chasing Hsu home for his second place finish of the weekend, while Josiah Natzke took the cake as the most impressive performer, amazingly coming in from the last chance qualifying race to lodge a podium performance on his first ever EMX125 championship appearance.
Meanwhile the regular EMX125 front-runners, De Carli Racing’s Joakin Furbetta and Diga Racing’s Tomass Sileika managed to hold off the red plate holder Red Bull KTM Racing’s Davy Pootjes for fourth and fifth respectively.
With the mix of results from both races, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu dominated both races to claim the red plate and head into the seventh and final round of the championship in Lommel with a twelve point buffer over the kid who will be the hot favorite in the sand, Red Bull KTM Racing’s Davy Pootjes. An impressive pair of seconds for Mafi Yamaha MX Team’s Alvin Östlund landed him in second with New Zealand’s newest prodigy Josiah Natske rounding out the podium. De Carli Racing’s Joakin Furbetta managed to seal the deal on fourth overall while Team Yamaha MJC’s David Herbreteau, who was third in race one, scored only thirteen points in race two with eighth for fifth overall.
Download here FIM Europe Press Release 122/2014
