The first rounds of the 2015 European Championship EMX250 and EMX125 took place at one of the most striking locations on the MXGP calendar this weekend.
Shadowed by the stunning Dolomite Mountains and in close vicinity to Lake Garda, the clay based traditional styled circuit in Pietramurata always attracts thousands of hysterical fans from all areas of the world, which provided an amazing atmosphere for the young riders who by racing the EMX championships are dipping their toes in the world of professional motocross.
This weekend two young French riders in the form of Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Maxime Desprey and Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux stood top of the box in the EMX250 and EMX125 respectively.
EMX125
The young guns of the EMX125 had the luxury of being the first race of the day. This meant they had a well-watered track, which on top of clay and rock was going to make things a little more interesting with traction being hard to find.
When the gates dropped, despite the unpredictability of the circuit it was Finland’s Miro Sihvonen and Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux who got off to great starts and controlled the race from start to finish to take home the first and second place respectively.
While Sihvonen’s race win was impressive considering he was only eleventh in race one yesterday, as was the performance of KTM Factory Junior’s young Kiwi Josiah Natzke who had the slick and technical circuit dialed, passing his teammate, the holeshot getter Jorge Prado Garcia, early on in the race to solidly claim third.
Meanwhile, Prado had a few sketchy moments but managed to save them for fourth while Marchetti Racing Team’s Kim Savaste came home in a solid fifth.
With the combination of results from both races Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux took the first EMX125 round victory of the year with his pair of second place finishes. Meanwhile the race one run away story of Danish rider Glen Meier resulted in second overall with KTM Factory Juniors Jorge Prado Garcia rounding out the top three.
EMX250
When the gates fell for the second race of the EMX250, everyone was in trouble with the race one winner Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Maxime Desprey pulling a holeshot out of the bag. While Desprey, a former MX2 competitor, checked out, the Italian fans were able to let their excitement levels sky rocket with local lad Simone Zecchina holding onto second ahead of Team Yamaha Ausio Yamalube’s Ander Valentin.
Zecchina and Valentin went wheel-to-wheel for the majority of the race on the tricky chopped up circuit, but Valentin eventually made the pass mid-race and threw Zecchina off of his rhythm. As Valentin went after the race leader Desprey, Wilvo Forkrents Adam Sterry and J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg were picking off riders after getting off to bad starts. After a race full of bar bashing, both Sterry and Kouwenberg managed to get around Zecchina for third and fourth leaving the Italian in fifth.
After a perfect weekend of two race wins Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Maxime Desprey took the overall victory here at round one of the European Championship EMX250. Meanwhile Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry secured two podium finishes, a second and a third, for second overall with the Spaniard Team Yamaha Ausio Yamalube’s Ander Valentin rounding off the podium with his fifth and second place finishes.
