EMX125 European Championship:
Doensen dominates on home soil in the Netherlands
The ninth round of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing took stage at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden in the Netherlands, where the rough and challenging circuit in Arnhem set the scene for a thrilling contest. Known for its unforgiving and technical sand surface, the track demanded constant concentration and precision from every rider. The event unfolded under intense conditions, pushing competitors to their limits as they navigated the technical terrain and faced off against some of the stiffest competition of the season.
With high stakes and a relentless course, the stage was set for another intense round in the 2024 EMX125 series. And at this game it was home rider Racestore KTM Factory Rookies’ Gyan Doensen who simply dominated the weekend, showing his sand-racing skill and bridging the gap to 5 points with the leader of the championship, Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Noel Zanocz.
Race 1
Race 1 kicked off the Dutch round for the young class of EMX125, and it was Gyan Doensen who came out with a holeshot with Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Simone Mancini behind him and red plate Noel Zanocz who miraculously stayed up on two wheels on the first turn to get up to 3rd.
With the top 3 in the championship filling the front three spots, the British rider Jamie Keith was perfectly placed in 4th in front of Sandro Sols and Niccolò Alvisi from Racestore KTM Factory Rookies. Sols would eventually finish 24th.
Zanocz started to put pressure on his teammate and thought he made a good pass but got pushed on the outside by Mancini’s line and had to do it all over again as the Italian was not resolute to let him go through. Meanwhile, leader Doensen was creating a good 3.9 seconds gap on lap 3.
On lap 3, Zanocz was back on the charge to push for 2nd while the top 5 stayed unchanged. Race winner in Sweden, Dani Heitink from Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC didn’t start well on home soil as he found himself outside the top 10 for the first part of the race but made a good charge as he made his way up 6th on lap 9 of 14. The Dutch even managed to make an excellent pass on Mancini to move up to 5th and keep his chance of podium.
Zanocz went through on lap 5 as Mancini took an outside line that let the door open inside, which Zanocz took with both hands as he moved 2nd. This wasn’t finished for Mancini as he got overtaken right after by the surprising young Brit Keith. Mancini would finish the race 6th in the end.
The red plate Zanocz stayed solid to stay 2nd and even increased his pace towards the end while Alvisi consistency helped him to overtake Keith for 3rd. The young British hit his season’s best finish with an excellent and encouraging 4th place.
Meanwhile, Doensen was in a league of his own as he took off at the lead with up to 19 seconds at mid-race. The gap reduced a bit at the end as he cruised to victory and a very strong showing on home soil which foresaw another good result on the Sunday to get a coveted home overall win.
Race 2
In Race 2, While Mancini took the early lead, there was a multi-rider crash on the second corner involving red plate Zanocz, picking himself up in 23rd place and could lose the Championship lead.
Mancini led the race in front of Alvisi and was determined to stay at the top while Doensen was just climbing back up the rank so fast after an average start that placed him in 10th from the start. Doensen was on the charge in the opening lap and was up to 3rd already on lap 4 of 15 after passing many riders including Niccolo Mannini, Maximilian Ernecker from F4E GASGAS Junior Racing and Dean Gregoire’s Motovation Motosport.
Alvisi went down in the 1st lap but things went bad to worse as he went down again on lap 7 to finish 11th in the end.
The race was a lot faster than in race 1 as the track was groomed early in the morning and these conditions were ideal for a surprising Jekabs Kubulins going up to 2nd, behind Mancini.
On lap 7, Zanocz and Doensen were tied in the Championship lead! With an impressive comeback from Zanocz who was up to 9th and Doensen in 2nd after passing Kubulins and melting the 10 second-gap with the leading Mancini to 1.5 over the course of two laps. Impressive for the local rider who had a shot at taking the Championship lead along with the overall at home.
However, Zanocz was not letting Doensen winning and getting vital points without a fight and was doing all in his power to keep the red plate as he carved through the field passing Gregoire for 8th on lap 10 putting him on the 3rd step of the podium.
Doensen finally took the lead from Mancini on lap 9, thanks to his blistering pace! Mancini would secure his 2nd place for a well-deserved 2nd overall.
Heitink would finish behind finish in the end after showing a solid pace as he constantly improved his position. The young Dutch who is acclimating very quickly to the class in his rookie season even managed to pass Kubulins and Ernecker on lap 12 to move up to 3rd and be on the edge of the podium for 1 point. Kubulins raced strongly too as he finished 4th for a 10-4 and 7th overall.
Following a valiant effort, Zanocz had to stop his comeback to 6th place. The Hungarian produced a monumental effort to go from around the 30th place after his crash in the second turn. That also made sure he could keep the red plate.
However, thanks to his perfect and dominating 1-1, Doensen went on to win at home and is now only 5 points behind in the championship which promises an intense end of the season with two laps to go!
EMX125 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 37 p.; 3. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 37 p.; 4. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 30 p.; 6. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Cole McCullough (IRL, FAN), 27 p.; 9. Dean Gregoire (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Douwe Van Mechgelen (BEL, FAN), 22 p
EMX125 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 322 points; 2. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 317 p.; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 283 p.; 4. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 231 p.; 5. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 213 p.; 6. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 204 p.; 7. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 185 p.; 8. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 170 p.; 9. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 159 p.; 10. Markuss Ozolins (LAT, GAS), 148 p
Links
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