In the Honda 150 European Championship, Emil Weckman kept his cool under extreme pressure from those behind to take the race one victory in Matterley Basin, his second race win of the year, and moves himself up into the championship lead ahead of tomorrow’s race.All eyes were on Jack Bintcliffe, the highest placed Brit in the championship, at the start
but it was Mack Bouwense who took the holeshot. However, it was not long before Weckman felt the confidence to jump big and propel himself into the lead, closely followed by Henry Vesilind and Slade Tressler. After a bad start, which left him last, Jack Bintcliffe pushed hard and fought through to take eighth place at the chequered flag.
As the race unfolded, all eyes turned to Yago Martinez who was chasing down the top three and was the first CRF150R rider to make the big double jump at the finish line. This confidence and technique enabled him to rapidly catch those in front of him. Weckman was quicker through the technical part of the track but Martinez rapidly closed the gap to the young Finn and with two laps to go was firmly on his back wheel.
On the final lap, Martinez made his move down the pit-straight but was forced wide at the corner as Weckman made his way back past. Unfortunately, Martinez caught the soft barrier with his back wheel and part of it wrapped itself around his bike. Although it came free of its own accord fairly quickly, this allowed Weckman to build a comfortable gap, which he maintained to the end of the race.
Emil Weckman #25
“Today was really good. After half of the race I decided to play safe because I wanted to make sure I got those twenty-five points; plus the line selection was hard because it was a little bumpy, then hard and then slippery from where they had watered it. When Yago Martinez caught me I felt the pressure but it’s fun to have that pressure from the other guys because if you win by a long way then it’s no fun, so I’m really happy that I won today. My plan for tomorrow is to take the holeshot and then try to ride away from the other guys.”
Davy Dousselaere – Honda Europe off-road manager
“We saw a great battle for first place between Emil Weckman and Yago Martinez, who was really pushing today. It’s good to see someone else at the front of the pack, it makes the championship very exciting with only a few points separating those at the top of the standings. Again, the times were very similar for a lot of the riders so, for sure, we will have another action-packed race tomorrow.”
Top five results:
1 – #25 Emil Weckman – FIN
2 – #6 Yago Martinez – ESP
3 – #54 Viking Lindstrom – SWE
4 – #48 Tim Edberg – SWE
5 – #26 Henry Vesilind – EST
