EMX125 and EMX250 European Championship:
Van Erp and Bellei win their first round in Sweden
The MXGP of Sweden at Uddevalla unfolded on a historically renowned yet newly renovated track, making it a very technical and competitive rounds for riders. The EMX250 European Championship and EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing were able to cut their teeth on the layout, and showed great racing over the two days.
Consistency was key this weekend as riders racing without mistakes were to be rewarded, And this game it was VRT Yamaha Racing’s Ivano Van Erp in EMX 250 who stepped on the top box of the podium for the first time this season thanks to a solid 2-2 while in EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing, Francesco Bellei from Dreams Racing manage to get his first ever overall with a 2-3.
EMX250
In Race of the 8th round of the EMX250 European Championship, VRT Yamaha Racing’s Gavin Towers made a good jump off the gates as he came out in second but it was Max Werner from JM Honda Racing who led the way and then the Latvian Marius Pumpers snuck into second position as well ahead of the American. A moment there for Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Cas Valk as he tried to go past and he did eventually find his way into fourth with that move on Towers at the end of the opening lap.
Then Beddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata who was right behind went by Pompurs and moved into 2nd, that was on lap 2. And then Valk found his way past the Latvian as well. Meanwhile Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin who had an average start found himself in 8th on the opening lap and had to employ himself to move up the leader board. Pumpers retired from the race later on.
The championship leader Valin forced his way through Saad Soulimani from Ghidinelli Racing Team to go from 7th to 4th in the course of lap 4 of 15.
On lap 6, Lata took over the lead with a great move on Werner. Valk then found his way through the German too to get on Lata’s tail. Then Valin moved away into 3rd with a pass on the Werner, and then everybody ganging up behind the JM Honda rider. Bud Racing Kawasaki Benjamin Garib got the better of Soulimani on lap 11. Then forced his way down the inside of Werner to move into 5th where he finished in front of Soulimani.
All seemed pretty great under the Swedish sun for Lata but on lap 12, the Italian ace got unlucky as he couldn’t avoid a backmarker who crashed right in front of him and went down. The Italian Lata lost the lead to Valk and finished 5th in the end. Valk had a free field in front of him to clinch the race win for his fifth race win in 2024 while Van Erp and Valin finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In Race 2, Werner once again led the pack from the start with a good start in front of Lata and Valin.
It was an average start for Valk who found himself 12th from the start but got back up to 10th on the opening lap.
Lata took the lead quickly from Werner but a few corners later crashed out to pick himself up in 3rd behind Valin but urgently got back to business and overtook Valin straight away and Werner once again for the lead several turns later showing his incredible speed. Garib had a good start in 6th.
American Gavin Towers showed that he was feeling it and had a good rhythm as he moved up to 4th on lap 3 right behind his teammate Ivano Van Erp.
Valin, took time to get his rhythm but by lap 3 started to get his mission to win the race going as he had Lata in his sight. Meanwhile, the other contender in the championship, Valk carved his way through the pack and quickly got up the rank, demonstrating his sense of urgency and will to convert his race win from the first race.
Lata was continuing on his great ride at the lead, keeping Valin to 1-2 seconds gap but not allowing him any mistakes. Van Erp was also hot on Valin’s wheel with top 3 riders altogether.
The top 5 stayed the same for few laps with Tower and Garib in 4th and 5th while Valk passed Werner on lap 10 for 6th where the Dutch would stay until the end. Later on lap 13, a great battle took place between the top 3 riders, Lata, Valin and Van Erp. The 3 riders were very close and Lata nearly lost his lead but had to employ himself to keep the lead which was at the time enough for the overall win.
However, the battle for the 2nd place between Van Erp and Valin was to determine the final order on the podium. And that game Van Erp did amazingly to pass Valin for 2nd with 3 laps to go, thanks to a great sequence of turns and jumps. But Valin responded directly and took his position back.
It was still frantic at the for the top 3 riders, but a lap later with 2 laps to go Van Erp was decisive again and moved past the French red plate to go 2nd, synonymous of winning the overall. Van Erp didn’t let that chance away and was solid to maintain the 2nd place for the overall win, his first of the season, and the first since Latvia 2023.
Despite showing amazing speed in that race win, Lata finished 2nd overall with Valin finishing 3rd for 3rd overall.
Valin maintains his red plate but Valk and Lata are getting more menacing as the season go on. With five rounds to go the unpredictability of the championship made it for a fantastic finish in this class.
EMX250 Overall – Top 10: 1. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 44 points; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 43 p.; 3. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 40 p.; 5. Benjamin Garib (CHI, KAW), 32 p.; 6. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 26 p.; 7. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 25 p.; 8. Elias Escandell (ESP, GAS), 24 p.; 9. Joe Brookes (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Gavin Towers (USA, YAM), 18 p
EMX250 European Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 327 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 314 p.; 3. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 312 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 249 p.; 5. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 187 p.; 6. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 151 p.; 7. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 150 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 149 p.; 9. Maxime Grau (FRA, KTM), 144 p.; 10. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 129 p
EMX125
The first race of the weekend delivered some intense action and surprising turns. Racestore KTM Factory Rookies’ Gyan Doensen faced an early setback when he was squeezed to the inside by his rival and championship leader, Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Noel Zanocz, forcing him to the back of the pack. Meanwhile, Dani Heitink from Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC grabbed the holeshot, but his moment in the lead was brief as Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Simone Mancini quickly overtook him.
The Swede Sandro Sols initially held third place for Sweden, but Marcus Ozolins made his move at the start of the second lap, pushing Sols back with Niccolò Alvisi from Racestore KTM Factory Rookies hot on his heels. By the end of the opening lap, Doensen and Zanocz were struggling at the back in 19th and 27th positions, respectively, with a daunting challenge ahead.
As the race progressed, Alvisi overtook Sols for 4th, but soon found himself under pressure from Francesco Bellei, who claimed 4th position on lap 3 of 15. Meanwhile, RFME GASGAS MXJunior Team’s Salvador Perez also capitalised on Sols, moving into sixth, though a mistake later in the race saw Sols dropping to 11th place. It was then fantastic racing going on further down the field though as Zanocz, the championship leader, began a determined charge, clawing his way up to 15th by overtaking Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC’s Jarne Bervoets.
At the same time, Bellei continued his impressive run, overtaking Ozolins to move into third, with Alvisi following in his wake to claim fourth. Doensen, despite his early misfortune, showed remarkable resilience, climbing back up the ranks and passing Perez on lap nine to 6th place.
However, the race took a dramatic turn when Mancini, who had been leading comfortably and demonstrating excellent control and speed, suffered a heartbreaking bike issue, forcing him out of the race. This unexpected development opened the door for Heitink, who had been riding solidly and positioned himself perfectly to capitalise on Mancini’s misfortune. Heitink seized the lead and held on to claim his second victory of the season, while Doensen fought his way to an admirable 4th place finish.
The race was a testament to the unpredictability and was predicting another exciting race on the Sunday.
In race 2, it was Niccolo Mannini who took a great start to lead the race in front of Doensen and Sols. Red plate Zanocz got a better start as he found himself 7th on the opening lap. It was not the same affair for Heintink who started his battle from 17th.
Doensen sensed the opportunity to attack Mannini from the get go but Mannini surprised by his control. Mancini quickly was up to 3rd in front of Bellei in 4th. Finally on lap 2, Doesnen made a decisive move to take the lead with Mancini following to go 2nd.
Lap 2 saw the top 3 in the Championship within the first 5 places as Zanocz went up to 5th and quickly attacked Bellei as he clocked the fastest lap, and passed the Italian with a brave pass at the turn of lap 3 to go 4th.
He wasn’t finished as the Hungarian moved past Mannini for 3rd at the same spot where he passed Bellei a lap earlier. Meanwhile, Doensen crashed out of the lead on lap 4 to pick himself up in 5th behind Mannini and threatening his podium finish. With that change, Bellei was the one on the top step of the podium at that time for the first time of the season as he consistent pace to go 3rd where he will finish at the end too.
Heintink was on a battle with Alvisi to get to 11th and a precious point that could potentially have moved him onto the 3rd step of the podium on lap 6. Mancini was keeping Zanocz comfortably 8 seconds behind.
Zanocz nearly crashed but saved it perfectly to keep his 2nd place on lap 7. It was great work for Heitink as he made his way up to 8th place to consolidate his podium spot. Meanwhile at the top end, Zanocz looked like he wanted to look for Mancini and the lead as he reduced the gap on lap 10.
It was the perfect timing for Zanocz to get close as Mancini tipped over to lose the lead to his teammate but finished with still a strong showing and the 2nd place. Mancini showed again all his qualities over the weekend despite up and downs and is 39 points behind leader and teammate Zanocz who keeps his red plate.
Doensen managed to pass a great Mannini to finish to a good 4th while Mannini ended in 5th which was really good result the Italian.
It was another unfortunate time for Heintink at the end of the race with 2 laps to go. The young Dutch rider crashed out of 8th to finish 10th and unfortunately lose the podium to his countryman Doensen, who got rewarded after a solid 2nd race. Doensen is now 18 points off the lead in the Championship in second position.
The rider however who took the spotlight in the end was Bellei who with a great and consistent 2-3 took his first overall win of his career which showed in his post-race emotions and excitement.
EMX125 Overall – Top 10: 1. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 42 points; 2. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 40 p.; 3. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Sandro Sols (SWE, GAS), 28 p.; 6. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 27 p.; 7. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 22 p.; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 18 p
EMX125 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 285 points; 2. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 267 p.; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 246 p.; 4. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 224 p.; 5. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 210 p.; 6. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 185 p.; 7. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 168 p.; 8. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 160 p.; 9. Markuss Ozolins (LAT, GAS), 148 p.; 10. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 129 p
Links
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