(Photos @Youthstream)The atmosphere here in Pietramurata for the fourth round of the European Championship EMX250 and the second round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing was completely off the hook as thousands upon thousands of motocross crazy fans packed into this awesome venue, situated at the base of the Dolomite Mountains, to watch the best dirt bike riders in the world do business.
Even though it poured with rain for the majority of the first races yesterday, it didn’t dampen the vibe. All it did was make for a diverse round of racing where the talented youngsters were faced with vastly different conditions in each race.
Yesterday Mother Nature went to town on the hilly hard-pack track, which made for a very wet and challenging day. Bodo Schmidt Motorsport’s Thomas Kjer Olsen muscled his way to the front to win the first race in the EMX250 class, while Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts took his third consecutive win of the season in the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing.
Meanwhile, it was a different story today as the Mother Nature came back to apologize, offering glorious blue skies and sunshine. On the firm and dry clay Thomas Kjer Olsen proved he has a broad skillset and won the second moto too. In the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class it wasn’t so straightforward as the early season dominator Jago Geerts got off to a shocker of a start and then crashed while mounting a comeback. KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini capitalized and took his first race win of the season, which paired with his second place finish yesterday, landed him on the top step of the podium for the first time in his career.
EMX 250
KTM Factory Junior’s Jorge Prado nailed his second holeshot of the weekend in race two ahead of Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Darian Sanayei and the defending EMX250 champion J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg. The American, Sanayei, didn’t waste anytime in taking over the lead and instantly pulled a small gap.
Meanwhile, the race one winner and championship leader Bodo Schmidt Motorsport’s Thomas Kjer Olsen had his scrub game on point and carried a huge amount of speed into the waves to pass Kouwenberg for third. Next on the Dane’s hit list was Prado, but given Kjer Olsen is one of the most experienced riders in the classs and Prado is only a rookie, he beat the KTM youngster with experience and took over second place easily.
On a clear mission, Kjer Olsen continued on his rampage and took the lead from Sanayei around the half way mark and cruised home for a convincing win and the EMX250 round overall.
Sanayei finished second for second over all and his third consecutive podium performance while Prado put in a solid ride for third and third overall, which was his first podium appearance this season.
There are no short cuts to the front if you get a bad start, and that is something Team Suzuki World MX2’s Bas Vaessen has learned after picking off a decent amount of riders to round out the top five behind Nick Kouwenberg.
EMX 125
Gianluca Facchetti is a name that has been on the radar for a while. The young Italian was incredible on an 85cc and was once upon a time one of the most touted names in Europe. Since making the jump to the bigger bike, 125cc, he has taken his time to come to grips, but today in Pietramurata the KTM De Carli Racing Junior star reemerged.
Facchetti took a monster of a holeshot over KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini and led the most part of the first race before he lost the front end in a corner at the bottom of a hill. Rubini inherited the lead while Facchetti fired his bike back up.
Pierre Goupillon was around fourth out of turn one and took over third almost instantly with a text book pass up the inside of IceOne Husqvarna Racing’s Mikkel Haarup. The Frenchman, Goupillon was running a solid pace and managed to take advantage of Facchetti who was trying to regroup after his spill.
In the final stages of the race, Haarup must have had a mouthful of hard charger syrup, and charged after Facchetti. The thousands of fans went mad for the ‘Cairoli-esque’ style of Facchetti as he held off the hasty Dane, Haarup.
At the checkers, Rubini lit the candles for the first time this season ahead of Goupillon, Facchetti, Haarup and Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Brian Moreau.
For the overall, KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini hit a career milestone with his first ever EMX round win. KTM De Carli Junior’s Gianluca Facchetti had the crowd going mad as he stood on the second step while the early season dominator Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts rounded out the top three after a bad start and a mid-race tumble saw him only salvage sixth in the final race.
Full results on FIM Europe website:
http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/187
