PIETRAMURATA (Italy), 11 October 2015 – It was an epic end to the season for the Italian Federation as their young guns, Ivo Monticelli, Morgan Lesiardo, Emilio Scuteri and Gioele Palance wrapped up the 2015 Motocross of European Nations title.
Meanwhile the female Italian team added to the hype of the Italian crowd as Kiara Fontanesi and Francesca Nocera dominated the Women’s Motocross of European Nations to make this weekend, at the picturesque circuit of Pietramurata in Italy, an all-Italian affair.
125cc & 250cc
When the gates dropped it was the Frenchman Alexis Verhaeghe who took the holeshot but was passed almost immediately by Team Sweden’s Alvin Ostlund. Ostlund took charge of the race at least for the first five laps before he was passed by yesterday’s qualifying heat winner, racing for the home nation Italy, Ivo Monticelli. Monticelli came from miles back to take the lead and once he had it, there was no looking back. Ostlund slipped into the wake of the local and chased him home for second. Team Denmark’s Thomas Kjer Olsen came from around tenth to finish an unchallenged third ahead of the Team Italy B’s Filippo Zonta and Team Poland’s Tomasz Wysocki.
The grand finale, the last race of the day, saw Poland’s Tomasz Wysocki get off to a cracker of a start followed by France’s hot starter Alexis Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe and Wysocki were neck and neck for the initial stages of the race as the top two from the opening moto, Ivo Monticelli and Alvin Ostlund were charging through the pack.
Approaching half way Ostlund took the lead with Monticelli in tow. The Swede, Ostlund was forced to find a balance between attack and defence as the Italian, Monticelli, threw everything at him but the kitchen sink. Eventually, Monticelli managed to make a pass stick and bought it home for his second race win of the day. Ostlund was only two seconds shy in second, while Wysocki finished third a further twenty seconds back. Denmark’s Thomas Kjer Olsen recovered from yet another mediocre start for fourth while the Frenchman Verhaeghe rounded out the top five.
85cc
The flying Frenchman Tom Guyon took an impressive holeshot ahead of Team Sweden’s Arvid Luning and the Italian Emilio Scuteri. Mistakes from both Scuteri and Luning saw them drop a few positions, which allowed another Swede in the form of Anton Nagy up into second. While places were being chucked about as the youngsters went bar to bar, it was Team Czech Republic’s Petr Polak who stole everyone’s thunder when he came from outside of the top ten to take the lead from Guyon with two laps to go. With Polak going on to take the checkers, Guyon was forced to settle for second while Nagy had to be content with third. Scuteri bounced back from a small crash to finish fourth while the poleman from France Pierre Contournet rounded out the top five.
After being passed with two laps to go in the first moto, Team France’s Tom Guyon was not about to let that happen again in the second race. Just as he did in race one, the Frenchman carved everyone up down the straight and this time he checked out for a solid win. Meanwhile the race one winner from the Czech Republic, Petr Polak, had to slice his way through the pack after yet another bad start. The Czech rider passed Sweden’s Anton Nagy on the last lap for second. Nagy finished a solid third although the Italian Emilio Scuteri was in striking distance as they crossed the line. Scuteri was forced to settle for fourth while Finlands Aleksi Kurvinen rounded out the top five.
At the end of all four races Team Italy were able to defend their crown ahead of the Swedes with Team France rounding out the top three.
MXoEN EMX85 Race 1 Top 10 Classification: 1. Petr Polak (CZE, KTM), 24:28.790; 2. Tom Guyon (FRA, TM), +0:06.359; 3. Anton Nagy (SWE, KTM), +0:09.411; 4. Emilio Scuteri (ITA, KTM), +0:19.414; 5. Pierre Cantournet (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:28.241; 6. Arvid Luning (SWE, KTM), +0:32.584; 7. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITAb, KTM), +0:35.616; 8. Maks Mausser (SLO, KTM), +0:43.602; 9. Magnus Smith (DEN, KTM), +0:45.483; 10. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:45.868.
MXoEN EMX125/EMX250 Race 2 Top 10 Classification: 1. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 29:45.065; 2. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:01.515; 3. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), +0:16.247; 4. Filippo Zonta (ITA, Honda), +0:23.163; 5. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), +0:28.666; 6. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), +0:31.
600; 7. Alexis Verhaeghe (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:32.344; 8. Tomass Sileika (LAT, KTM), +0:33.120; 9. Michael Sandner (AUT, Husqvarna), +0:42.291; 10. Jan Pancar (SLO, Yamaha), +0:48.731.
MXoEN EMX85 Race 3 Top 10 Classification: 1. Tom Guyon (FRA, TM), 24:55.934; 2. Petr Polak (CZE, KTM), +0:05.660; 3. Anton Nagy (SWE, KTM), +0:07.184; 4. Emilio Scuteri (ITA, KTM), +0:09.764; 5. Aleksi Kurvinen (FIN, KTM), +0:28.210; 6. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:34.084; 7. Gioele Palanca (ITA, KTM), +0:48.956; 8. Arvid Luning (SWE, KTM), +0:50.304; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITAb, KTM), +0:53.925; 10. Maks Mausser (SLO, KTM), +1:07.726.
MXoEN EMX125/EMX250 Race 4 Top 10 Classification: 1. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), 29:56.727; 2. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:02.502; 3. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), +0:22.496; 4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), +0:29.935; 5. Alexis Verhaeghe (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:37.949; 6. Tomass Sileika (LAT, KTM), +0:44.497; 7. Martin Krc (CZE, KTM), +0:49.169; 8. Michael Sandner (AUT, Husqvarna), +1:01.933; 9. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, TM), +1:05.788; 10. Volodymyr Tarasov (UKR, KTM), +1:12.289.
MXoEN Nations Classification: Italy, Sweden, France, Czech Republic, Italy B, Slovenia, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Ukraine.
Women’s Motocross of European Nations
In race one, representing The Netherlands, Nancy Van De Ven got off to a blistering start with the two speedy Italians Kiara Fontanesi and Francesca Nocera hot on her heels. On the opening lap Fontanesi was quick to pass her teammate Nocera and then made light work of Van De Ven too. With Fontanesi going through on Van De Ven, Nocera also got a foot in the door and made the pass for second. As the top qualifier Fontanesi inched away, Van De Ven threw everything she could at Nocera but in the end had to settle for third. Meanwhile, more than half a lap off of the leaders, Team The Netherlands Britt Van Der Werff was in a brutal battle with Team Sweden’s Emelie Dahl. The two crossed the finish side by side but it was Van Der Werff who was awarded fourth by a hair.
In race two the gates dropped and “ciao”, Team Italy’s own Kiara Fontanesi was gone. As Fontanesi gapped it to win by more than one quarter of a lap, her Italian counterpart Francesca Nocera went head to head with Team The Netherlands Nancy Van De Ven. While it was Nocera who won the battle in the previous race, this time it was Van De Ven who triumphed in the battle for second which forced Nocera back to third. Just as in the opening moto, Sweden’s Emelie Dahl and Holland’s Britt Van Der Werff duked it out, this time Dahl won fourth while Van Der Werff rounded out the top five.
At the end of a good weekend of racing, Team Italy sealed the Women’s Motocross of European Nations crown here in Pietramurata. The Netherlands finished second while Sweden rounded out the top three.
WMXoEN Race 1 Top 10 Classification: 1. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), 23:52.455; 2. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +0:07.415; 3. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:09.705; 4. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Suzuki), +0:59.314; 5. Emelie Dahl (SWE, Yamaha), +0:59.925; 6. Frida Östlund (SWE, Honda), +1:22.033; 7. Liubov Leonteva (RUS, Yamaha), +1:26.735; 8. Julie Dalgaard (DEN, Honda), +1:28.972; 9. Line Dam (DEN, Yamaha), +1:53.779; 10. Lucie Simonova (CZE, KTM), -1 lap(s)
WMXoEN Race 2 Top 10 Classification: 1. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), 24:14.514; 2. Nancy Van De Ven (NED, Yamaha), +0:29.194; 3. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +0:50.934; 4. Emelie Dahl (SWE, Yamaha), +1:02.547; 5. Britt Van Der Werff (NED, Suzuki), +1:11.313; 6. Julie Dalgaard (DEN, Honda), +1:24.453; 7. Frida Östlund (SWE, Honda), +1:27.789; 8. Liubov Leonteva (RUS, Yamaha), +1:28.613; 9. Giorgia Montini (ITAb, Yamaha), +1:49.142; 10. Line Dam (DEN, Yamaha), +1:52.674
WMXoEN Nations Classification: Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Italy B, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Finland
