The second round of the European Championships EMX250 and EMX125 took place along side the MXGP of Europe on the rugged sand circuit of Valkenswaard, The Netherlands.
The opening round of the European Championship EMX300 added more than thirty super rad 300cc two-strokes to the venue, which along with the ninety plus 125cc’s in EMX125 championship left that sweet smell of pre-mixed fuel in the air.
The conditions in Valkenswaard were extremely demanding which worked in favor of Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry who dominated the EMX250, while Finnish star on the rise, Diga Racing KTM’s Miro Sihvonen took his first ever EMX125 overall and Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Racing’s son of a former world champion, Yentel Martens dominated the EMX300.
EMX 300
When the gates dropped for race two it was the 2014 vice EMX300 champion Marco Maddi who got off to the early lead but was passed almost immediately by Yamaha’s Mike Kras, who nursed his bike home for second place yesterday in race one. While the Dutchman, Kras, had the upper hand on the opening lap, it was short lived with yesterday’s race winner Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Racing’s Yentel Martens running an unmatchable pace out on the gnarly sand circuit.
As Martens stretched out his lead and put the race on lock, race one’s third place finisher GL12 Racing’s Lewis Gregory started to find his flow. Gregory, who actually set the fastest lap time yesterday but crashed in the race, put a super sweet pass on the local, Kras, for second. In the meantime South African Damon Strydom rebound from his rough ride in race one to pick up a hard fought fifth, which he had to settle with after being passed in the latter stages of the race by Britain’s Matthew Moffat who had also put in a hard charge after not getting off to the best of starts.
With Martens taking yet another convincing win, the Belgian registered a perfect score here at the opening round of the European Championship EMX300 with GL12 Racing’s Lewis Gregory and Dutch favorite Mike Kras rounding out the top three respectively.
EMX 250
Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry took charge of the EMX250 with his claim of two holeshots and two impressive run-away victories. Meanwhile the battle for second was intense. In race two, the EMX250 first round dominator Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Maxime Desprey chased Sterry and Mafi Yamaha MX Team’s Alvin Ostlund around turn one. While Sterry gapped it and Ostlund did his best to keep the Brit, Sterry, in check, Desprey engaged in an epic battle with the local youngster KTM Factory Junior’s Davy Pootjes for third. Although Desprey put an impressive pass on Pootjes when he tripled through the rhythm section while Pootjes only doubled, it later came undone when he got squirley and high-sided.
At the halfway mark, the Dutchman J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg had found his flow and capitalized on a mistake from Pootjes to take over third, which resulted in a late race charge after Ostlund for second. While the battle was bar-to-bar, it was Kouwenberg who narrowly wrapped up the position, passing Ostlund around 30 meters before the finish line. Ostlund dropped his head, disappointed with his commendable third while Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus and Swede Ken Bengtsson pushed hard for fourth and fifth respectively.
Taking the entire weekend into consideration with race one taking place yesterday and race two at midday today, it was a clean sweep for Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry while Dutchman J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg took second with Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus rounding out the top three.
EMX 125
With the EMX125 being maxed out this year in terms of entries and talent, the racing is always epic. In the EMX125 race two, the red plate holder Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux took the holeshot with yesterday’s race one winner KTM Factory Juniors Jorge Prado hot on his heels. Both riders were relentless in their early race battle for the lead which resulted in Renaux having a missive high side and dropping back to around tenth.
While Prado inched away, the local kids HSF Logistics Motorsport Team’s Noud Van Kraaij and Cyril Genot went to war over second place. When Genot finally made a pass that stuck, he threw it away when he got loose through a wavy up-hill section.
In the final stages of the race, Finland’s Miro Sihvonen, who didn’t get off to the greatest of starts, was suddenly in second place and taking massive chunks out of the lead of Prado. Utilizing his amazing style in the sand the Finn managed to charge through and put the pass on Prado with two laps to go to take his second race win of the season. Meanwhile Prado had to settle for second place, while Renaux and Genot, who had both crashed during the race, managed to bounce back for third and fourth respectively with Van Kraaij rounding out the top five.
At the end of the weekend, with KTM Factory Juniors’ Jorge Prado winning race one and the Diga Racing KTM’s Miro Sihvonen winning race two, Sihvonen took his first ever EMX125 overall victory and podium finish. Meanwhile Prado went one step higher than last weekend finishing second overall, with Cyril Genot rounding out the top three.
Full results on FIM Europe website: www.fim-europe.eu/site/index.php?eid=25
