TEUTSCHENTHAL (Germany) – Temperatures were almost perfect here at the classic Talkessel circuit, where round five of the European Championship EMX250 took place.
To the delight of the German crowd that flooded the awesome venue here in Teutschenthal, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu stood on the podium for the first time in his career while Apico Husqvarna’s Steven Clarke, the defending EMX250 champion, also hit a career milestone with his first ever overall victory.
A few spanners were thrown in the works today with the drop of the gate. Turn one was chaotic with a bunch of riders going down in a heap, two of which are some of the hottest championship contenders Mafi Yamaha MX Team’s Alvin Ostlund and HONDA JTech’s Nick Kouwenberg. One quarter of a lap later, yesterday’s race winner Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus stalled his bike in an awkward place and was planted by another rider, which left him out of the points at the end of the moto.
Following all that carnage, Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry put an epic pass on the home soil hero Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu and led the opening laps before taking on a wire fence, which captured him and put him out of the race.
Hsu was gifted the lead again but had his work cut out for him as the defending EMX250 champion Steven Clarke was hungry for his first race and overall victory. While the fans went wild for the young Suzuki rider, Clarke caused a bit of an upset when he scrubbed past him in epic style and ran away for the win.
Meanwhile the early championship leader Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Maxime Desprey used the experience he gained racing MX2 over the last two years to dice his way through the field for third.
A couple of new names were buzzing with their top five finishes too. Swiss rider Andy Baumgartner charged hard for fourth, narrowly holding off South African Nicholas Adams who also put in a solid performance for fifth.
The EMX250 is renowned for its depth of talent and totally unpredictable results. With combination of results from both races, Clarke, who has had a lot of bad luck this season finally got the monkey off of his back with a round win ahead of Desprey and Hsu. As for the championship, Sterry’s tangle with fence lost him the red plate. The Brit is now in fourth, ten points off of the new championship leader HONDA Jtech’s Nick Kouwenberg who was the most impressive performer today with his insane charge from dead last to seventh.
EMX 150 – Viking Lindstrom took his first win of the season in Germany today, but it was Tim Edberg who came out on top in the overall weekend standings after two consistent rides to become the third overall winner in three events. Emil Weckman has retained the red plate despite a sixth place finish today.
Race winner Lindstrom had a great start to the race and took the Holeshot, closely followed by Yago Martinez, Eric Schwella and Weckman. Jack Bintcliffe and Edberg spent most of the first lap battling with each other before settling into a rhythm that allowed them to challenge the leading group.
For the first five laps the top six riders all battled for position and pushed each other hard as they tried to make their way to the front. Schwella and Bintcliffe were the fastest two riders on track at this point, with the German wildcard rider taking the lead on lap seven, but both suffered from minor dramas before the chequered flag was waved.
On the penultimate lap Emil Weckman, who had been pushing hard, caught his bike on another that had already crashed, which cost him his newly gained third place and relegated him to sixth. Schwella also suffered from a small incident that cost him his home win and promoted Lindstrom to the winner’s step.
Swedes Albin Larsen and Tim Edberg both rode consistently throughout and were rewarded with second and third places respectively. Edberg’s third place meant that he just beat Weckman to the overall weekend victory by two points.
“I had a good start to my second race”, said Tim Edberg, overall winner. “The track was quite bumpy, which I like so I just rode my own race. It is a great feeling being on the top step of the podium for the first time and I am really happy with my result.”
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/79
