SM Junior European Championship:
Nathan Terraneo takes the 2024 title
Mettet hosted a thrilling final event of the SM Junior European Championship. The Belgian city circuit welcomed the series after the penultimate round in Romania, where Andrea Benvenuti (KTM Mtr Racing) was the victim of a crash and gave the green light to his rivals to climb the standings.
SM Junior Race 1
The first Junior race took place on Saturday. At the end of the time practice, Andrea Benvenuti (KTM Mtr Racing) came home with the pole position making people believe he would have been the protagonist of a solo race, however, the race saw the resolute victory of Nathan Terraneo (KTM). The Swiss rider’s race pace was impressive from the first moment and this allowed him to take a solid advantage and cross the finish line with a solid margin. Benvenuti, still not in top shape, tried to reach the leader but could not keep up with his rhythm. After a tough start, Yevsevii Kovalov had to work hard to recover and ended up third. At the end of the race, Terraneo moved to the top of the Championship standings 3 points ahead of Kovalov and 4 ahead of Benvenuti.
SM Junior Race 2
The first lap of the second and final race of the season immediately had a thrilling turn of events when Nathan Terraneo (KTM) slipped on the tarmac and, while trying to avoid him, Andrea Benvenuti (KTM Mtr Racing) crashed as well. Both riders started all over and tried to make up ground, but Benvenuti had to abandon the race after a couple of laps when the muffler broke. At that point Terraneo was the ruler of the Championship and managed the race well, finishing in third place. The battle for the victory of the race went on between Mark Luca Iovita (Husqvarna) and Daniele Cornolti. The two battled it out till the checkered flag with Iovita who eventually prevailed in front of the Italian with three-tenths of a second. Courtesy of the two excellent performances registered in the final race, Nathan Terraneo was crowned SM Junior European Champion, followed by Yevsevii Kovalov in second place and Andrea Benvenuti in third position.
SM Junior Classification Top Five
- TERRANEO Nathan (SUI, KTM) Pts. 45 (25+20); 2. IOVITA Mark Luca (ROU, Husqvarna) Pts. 41 (16+25); 3. CORNOLTI Daniele (ITA, GasGas) Pts. 40 (18+22); 4. KOVALOV Yevsevii (UKR, Husqvarna) Pts. 36 (20+16); 5. LAPADULA Leonardo (ITA, TM) Pts. 33 (15+18).
SM Junior Standings Top Five
1. TERRANEO Nathan (SUI, KTM) Pts. 246; 2. KOVALOV Yevsevii (UKR, Husqvarna) Pts. 239; 3. BENVENUTI Andrea (ITA, KTM) Pts. 230; 4. CORNOLTI Daniele (ITA, GasGas) Pts. 150; 5. BERECZKI David Zsolt (HUN, Husqvarna) Pts. 143.
