EMX65, 85 and Open at Kolding (Denmark)

The Motocross track of Kolding in Denmark hosted the second round of the EMX 65 and 85 North West Zone of the European Motocross Championship. This was also the first round of the year for the Open class. More than 500 spectators were present despite the bad weather that was haunting the circuit since Friday.
EMX65
Both EMX65 races saw the domination of Dutch rider Ivano Van Erp (KTM) who managed to win with a big margin and won the overall with perfect score. Second position in Race1 for Dutch Damien Knuiman (Husqvarna) while the last step of the podium went to local rider Nicolai Skovbjerg (KTM). In Race2 it was Danish Mads Fredsoe (KTM) and Lucas Coenen from Belgium (KTM) to catch the second and third position but due to their low score in Race1 they did not step onto the overall podium. Dutch Damien Knuiman and Danish Nicolai Skovbjerg claimed second and third place in the overall.
EMX85
The EMX85 races were the most animated of the day with 40 riders on the grid. In Race1 Rasmus Pedersen (KTM) from Denmark won in front of Dutch riders Scott Smulders (KTM) and Dave Kooiker
(Husqvarna), who battled for second position until the very end of the race. Smulders finished in second position with a 0,3 second margin. Unfortunately Rasmus Pedersen had to retire in Race2 for a  mechanical problem. This mishap was in advantage of Dutch Kay de Wolf (KTM) who won Race2 in front of Casper Olsen from Norway and Max Påhlsson from Sweden. Kay de Wolf won the overall, with a total of 41 points, and the sixth position in the second race was enough to secure second place in the overall to Scott Smulders. Kay de Wolf gained the third position  (in the photo the podium of the overall).
There were very little gaps among top riders in EMX85, which shows that their levels are similar and that many riders can win in this class.
Open
In the Open class it was Petr Bartos (KTM) from Czech Republic to score a double win and full points. In Race1 he had a very low gap – 3 seconds – on Volodymyr Tarasov from Ukraine, who finished the race in second position. Third place for Czech rider Jonas Nedved. In Race2 Czech Petr Michalec (Honda) managed to gain the second place after a disastrous Race1 and saved some points for the Championship, but not enough to catch the overall podium, who went to Jonas Nedved (second) and Volodymyr Tarasov (third) despite their fourth and sixth in the second race.
The next race of the EMX85-65 North West zone will be held on 20-21 May in Finland on the Mäntyharju MX track.
The next round of the Open class will be held in Bulgaria on 6-7 May.
Full results on FIM Europe website:
65/85: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/315
Open: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/316