EMX250 and EMX Open European Championship:
the sand of Lommel welcomed the European riders
The tough sand of Lommel during the MXGP of Flanders saw the unique round of the European Championship EMX Open and the 7th round of EMX250. Riders had to keep their focus sharp at every give moment as the sand track is known to be one of the most challenging in the world.
In the EMX Open the gold medal was won by the Czech rider, Jakub Teresak who proved to be the most consistent and solid rider over the weekend after impressive rides in the notoriously physical track.
The EMX250 Championship racing was intense, and riders couldn’t afford to make any mistakes on the demanding Belgian track, making for an entertaining weekend. With the sun coming out on Sunday, everything was aligned to deliver an amazing round of motocross. The demanding conditions at Lommel tested the riders’ skills and determination, setting the stage for a weekend of entertaining action and great racing. And this was Bedddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata with a solid 2-2 who came out on top to win in Belgium his 3rd overall win of the season.
EMX Open – Teresak wins the gold medal
The first race of the EMX Open kicked off with Freek Van Der Vlist taking the holeshot, leading ahead of Belgium’s Brent Aerden and Matteo Puffet. Puffet ran wide off the track on the opening lap as Jakub Teresak launched a bold move on the inside to take 4th place. Unfortunately for Puffet, his performance declined as he made several mistakes, ultimately finishing 10th.
On lap 2 of 14, Giuseppe Tropepe from Millionaire Racing Team-ABF Italia, who had a strong start, dived inside of Aerden to claim 2nd place. Tropepe appeared to be in control, doing everything right behind fast starter Van Der Vlist on the challenging Lommel sand. Meanwhile, Micha-Boy De Waal was steadily making his way up the field, showcasing great speed and skill getting up to 5th.
On lap 4, De Waal was finding the best lines to overtake Teresak and Aerden and move up to 3rd while things got harder for Aerden as he couldn’t maintain his good start and finished 11th in the end. a lap later, this was when Tropepe took the lead of Van Der Vlist and started to pull away directly after that pass. De Waal also started to attack his Dutch compatriot Van Der Vlist to go 2nd.
The race seemed set for Tropepe’s victory until heartbreak struck just four corners from the finish line when his bike suddenly stopped. Powerless and devastated, Tropepe watched as the riders he had kept at bay for most of the race overtook him, shattering his dream of winning the EMX Open with a registered position of 25th in the end.
De Waal was the big winner of the race as he capitalised on Tropepe’s misfortune to win the first race thanks to his solid ride with Van Der Vlist 2nd and the well-place Estonian Meico Vettik in 3rd after having to make his way up from 12th on lap 1.
Behind them, Teresak was a consistent force riding around the 4th place during the whole race and placing himself for a potential podium in front of Sven Van Der Mierden. Jere Haavisto showed a good consistency but could not get better than 8th in the end.
In the second race on Sunday, under a clear sky Haavisto took the lead early on with fast starter Teresak behind him.
Tropepe who was 4th crashed on the opening lap and this was one of these weekends for the Italian. Picking his bike up in 9th.
Nico Koch made a good start too as he found himself 3rd with Puffet well placed in 4th and Vettik in 6th. De Waal on 7th on lap 3 had to work to put himself on the top step of the podium.
The second in race one, Van Der Vlist had a poor start as he found himself in 13th on lap 4 and could only got back up to 9th for 5th overall in the end. De Waal, 7th on lap 4 had to make up 2 positions to win it all but took his time to get into the groove as he followed Vettik and Puffet with some smoke concerningly coming off the bike.
De Waal made the first of his compulsory pass on the Belgium Puffet to get to 6th on lap 5, however a lap later his bike looked like it overheated and came to a complete stop with no chance to get back to it and unfortunately losing the podium.
Meanwhile Haavisto seemed very comfortable on the terrain as he led Teresak who was going to win the overall with a very good 4-2 and a great consistency. Meanwhile, Vettik was chasing forward from lap 1 and its 8th position as he constantly moved up throughout the race to finish 4th, synonymous of 3rd overall.
Right at the moment when we thought that Haavisto was immaculate, his bike stalled in the last lap and lost the lead to Teresak and the 2nd overall in the meantime. But it was Haavisto’s day as he bravely came back up behind Teresak and directly made his move to take incredibly the lead again with half a lap to go to win the race and step on the 2nd step of the podium.
The great winner of the weekend though was the Czech Jakub Teresak, known in the past for finishing 3rd in 2013 in the Monster Energy FIM Junior Championship behind none other than Conrad Mewse and Hunter Lawrence and in front of Chase Sexton and Jorge Prado.
This year Teresak is the one on the top step with great racing, good flow and amazing determination. The Czech becomes the 2024 EMX Open Champion in Lommel and comes out on top of tough competition and a physical track.
EMX Open Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jakub Teresak (CZE, HUS), 40 points; 2. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, HON), 35 p.; 5. Freek van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, KAW), 31 p.; 7. Nico Koch (GER, GAS), 28 p.; 8. Matteo Puffet (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, GAS), 25 p.; 10. Jeremy Knuiman (NED, KTM), 23 p
EMX 250 – Lata dominates in the tough sand of Lommel
In the first race on Saturday, it was Mathis Valin from Bud Racing Kawasaki who took the holeshot, but it didn’t take long for Bedddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata to seize control after a couple of corners. Ghidinelli Racing Team’s Saad Soulimani quickly moved into 2nd place with Francisco Garcia from RFME GASGAS MXJunior Team hot on his heels, capitalising on a poorly negotiated turn by Valin. Soulimani was relentless, staying right on Lata’s back wheel.
The race took an early turn when VRT Yamaha Racing’s Gavin Towers crashed in the first corner and had to retire. Another championship contender, Cas Valk from Gabriel SS24 KTM faced an uphill battle after a tough start, completing the first lap in 17th position. Meanwhile, Valin had to regroup and managed to overtake Garcia.
On lap 2, Soulimani didn’t waste any time launching an attack on Lata and succeeded in taking the lead. Behind them, Valin’s Kawasaki was already smoking, likely due to heavy clutch use, but this didn’t deter the red plate holder. Valin found his rhythm and cleverly passed Lata for 2nd on lap 4 of 13. Garcia, showing impressive pace, put pressure on Lata and moved up to 3rd on the same lap.
Lata and Garcia engaged in a fierce battle on laps 4 and 5, exchanging positions several times. However, Garcia’s challenge felled flat when he buried his front wheel on lap 6, dropping from 4th to eventually finish 7th. KTM Kosak Team’s Bradley Mesters and JM Honda Racing’s Max Werner took advantage of Garcia’s mistake, moving up to 4th and 5th respectively. Valk, riding superbly, climbed up to 10th place.
After a few laps, Lata found his way and attacked Soulimani to reclaim 2nd place, which he held firmly till the end. However, he was too far from the leader Valin, who maintained a 6-second lead. Valin demonstrated excellent maturity and confidence, staying cool and meticulously working his way back to win the race. VRT Yamaha Racing’s Ivano Van Erp stayed consistent, finishing 6th, where he had been in the opening lap.
The performance of the race was undoubtedly from Valk, who never stopped believing in his potential for a top finish. His relentless determination paid off as he astonishingly finished 4th, giving himself a strong chance for an eventual podium. The other impressive run was Mesters who finished strongly in 3rd position.
The start in race 2 was controlled by Lata who made blistering run off the gate. He led the pack ahead of Joel Rizzi. Meanwhile Valin was behind in 3rd but pressured by Valk right from the start and lost the 3rd place as Valk dived in to pass Valin and Rizzi for 2nd.
Still in the opening lap Van Erp started well and found himself 5th in front of Werner. Van Erp showed a confident style as he launched a couple of passes on Valin and Rizzi to move up to 3rd while Valk was pulling away with the lead already in lap 2. Valin started to get back to the rhythm we saw in the first race and passed Rizzi on a long jump on the outside to go 4th.
The gaps between the front 4 were getting around 4 seconds each in lap 4. At that time Lata was winning the overall by 1 point in front of Valk and Valin.
While the front 4 never changed again, Valk was immaculate as he pulled away and never seemed to be looking back and winning the race by 14 seconds on Lata and more than 20 seconds on Van Erp 3rd. Lata had a couple of scares towards the end which reminded him that this track can be merciless if you’re not always 100% focused.
Meanwhile Mesters showed up again with an excellent 6th place to go 5th overall and his best finish of the season. Rizzi who started great faded during the race and had to finish 7th seeing Mertens and another good performer, Nicolai Skobjerg from Wozniak MX Racing Team passing him. Skovbjerg finished 5th and Mertens 6th in the end.
This was a solid round for the Van Erp who finished 4th overall with an excellent second race where he battled at the top. In the end the podium was filled by the front three riders in the championship, although in different order. However, with Valk finishing 2nd overall and Lata winning the round, they both reduced the gap with red plate Valin who ended on the 3rd step of the podium.
With now four rounds to go, the EMX250 is getting more and more exciting as the top 3 riders in the championship are getting closer but the advantage still remains with Mathis Valin at the moment with 13 points ahead of Cas Valk and 18 points on Valerio Lata.
EMX250 Overall – Top 10: 1. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 44 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 43 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Bradley Mesters (NED, KTM), 35 p.; 6. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 28 p.; 7. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 27 p.; 9. Joel Rizzi (GBR, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Mairis Pumpurs (LAT, HUS), 21 p
EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 287 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 274 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 269 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 205 p.; 5. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 171 p.; 6. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 150 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 149 p.; 8. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), 144 p.; 9. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 125 p.; 10. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 104 p
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