The fourth round of the EMX125 presented by FMF Racing in Villars sous Ecot delivered an amazing show especially for the French crowd.
The races of Saturday and Sunday were marked by the new layout which gave great challenges for riders while the public responded present to the event. It was a fantastic action-packed weekend of motocross.
In the first race, it was MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Martin Reisulis who made the fastest start and led the race to edge away quickly and creating a consequent gap with the rest. Behind him after lap 1 wereFantic Factory Team Maddii’s Maximilian Werner and Vitezslav Marek and home rider 737 Performers GASGAS’s Mathis Valin who after starting in 7th quickly went up to 4th on the turn of lap 1 and was determined to show the home crowd what they were waiting for.
Valin was ready to show all his qualities in front of the French public as he quickly overtook Marek and Werner to get to 2nd on lap 2. On lap 3, Reisulis was cruising 12 seconds ahead of Valin until he crashed and took too long to start his bike again and saw Valin pass him by to take lead. Reisulis picked himself up to 8th. Valin went on to deliver a very strong riding to win the first race on home soil. The red plate holder Reisulis had to settle for 6th in the end salvaging important point for the championship standings.
Marek kept his pace going and finished in 2nd place in front of the reliable Werner who finish 3rd in the end as the German continues to performer at the highest level. Sturm STC Racing Team’s Mads Fredsoe, who also has shown very good quality so far in the season, went to move up from 6th to 4th on lap 3. The Danish had to battle to keep his 4th place with RFME GASGAS MXJUNIOR TEAM’s Francisco Garcia who made a charge and passed him on lap 12 with one lap to go. It was a great battle as Fredsoe managed to come back to take back his 4th place in the very last lap while Garcia settled for 5th.
Simone Mancini made a good start and rode within the top 10 through the whole race getting to 5th place until Garcia and Reisulis overtook him. Mancini settled for 7th in the end. Julius Mikula made his first top 10 of the season as he overtakes many times to get from 14th on lap 1 to 8th on the last lap as he overtook JK Racing Yamaha’s Nicola Salvini. Salvini stayed consistent and finish 9th in the end while August Friskshowed good pace to finish 10th. Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Elias Escandell could not do better than 13th in the end while WZ Racing Team’s Gyan Doensen finished 17th.
In race 2, Mancini was the fastest of the gates but it was Werner who quickly took the lead in front of Valin and Reisulis. Valin and Reisulis both passed Werner on lap 2 as both riders sustained very high pace to edge away from the rest. Werner settled for 3rd in the end to clinch another podium and continuing his consistent good ridings. Mancini could not keep his pace the whole race and moved down to 7th in the end.
Reisulis looked determined to make it count after his 6th place in race 1 and kept charging Valin for the lead. Valin held his ground for 3 laps but Reisulis let his power speaks to get on the inside of Valin and take the lead. Reisulis kept the lead until the end to win and going 6-1 for 2nd overall. For Valin it was a really special win with the public cheering for him on every sector of the circuit. With a confident 1-2, Valin displayed an immense performance to win the round on home soil.
After an average first race, Escandell showed his talent to go from 9th on lap 1 to 4th in the end with a nice overtake on Marek on the last lap. This confident race placed him 8th overall. Marek showed a good pace throughout the weekend and settled for 5th in the end to go 2-5 but unfortunately missed on his first podium of the season with a 4th overall.
It was a good weekend for Fredsoe as he managed to score good points in both races. Fredsoe climbed up to 4th for 2 laps to eventually moved down to 6th in the end for a 5th overall.
Garcia had a poor start as he found himself 14th on lap 1 but made several passes along the way to get back up to 8th on lap 4 where he stayed until the checkered flag. Overall Garcia went 8th for 6th overall showing a lot of good moves.
Frisk continued his solid weekend as he chased the 9th place with few overtakes on the way to go 10-9 for 9th overall which is a promising result to build on the next rounds. Behind him, Carlos Prat managed a good 10th place and a solid race to go 11th overall.
In the end, Mathis Valin showed his talent to respond present in his country, clinching a special win and important points to reduce the gap with red plate holder Janis Martin Reisulis who managed to show a lot of control and maturity to chase this second place on the podium after falling in race 1 and keep his red plate. Maximilian Werner keeps performing and showing really high level of riding every round as he settles for the third step of the podium.
Mathis Valin: “It was a really good weekend here in France where I rode two good races. Even if I could not win the second race it’s amazing to win the round here in front of the fans”
British racer Reece Jones finished Moto 1 in 27th but improved in the second race to finish just outside the points in 21st.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, GASGAS), 30:28.492; 2. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), +0:18.955; 3. Maximilian Werner (GER, Fantic), +0:29.361; 4. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:33.539; 5. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GASGAS), +0:38.310; 6. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:50.172; 7. Simone Mancini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:58.390; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, Yamaha), +1:01.515; 9. Nicola Salvini (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.883; 10. August Frisk (SWE, KTM), +1:18.716
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 29:57.052; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, GASGAS), +0:14.753; 3. Maximilian Werner (GER, Fantic), +0:33.787; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, Fantic), +0:34.462; 5. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), +0:36.193; 6. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:45.666; 7. Simone Mancini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:50.663; 8. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GASGAS), +0:56.552; 9. August Frisk (SWE, KTM), +1:00.346; 10. Carlos Prat (ESP, Husqvarna), +1:00.590
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 47 points; 2. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 40 p.; 4. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 38 p.; 5. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 29 p.; 7. Simone Mancini (ITA, YAM), 28 p.; 8. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 26 p.; 9. August Frisk (SWE, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Julius Mikula (CZE, YAM), 22 p
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 172 points; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 158 p.; 3. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 135 p.; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 128 p.; 5. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 127 p.; 6. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 112 p.; 7. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 91 p.; 8. Alban Alm (SWE, HUS), 86 p.; 9. Nicola Salvini (ITA, YAM), 84 p.; 10. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 77 p
