The final round of the EMX250 and EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championships displayed a lot of great racing across the board at the riders’ favourite track of Matterley Basin as part of the MXGP of Great Britain.
Words & Images: InFront Media
In EMX250, it was Team VRT KTM Factory Juniors’ Marc-Antoine Rossi who closed the season in the best fashion with his second overall win of the season in front of his teammate Ferruccio Zanchi and Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Karlis Reisulis, who clinched his first podium of the season in third place.
This last round witnessed the final decider in EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing that saw MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Janis Reisulis taking the European Title after the first race with a dominant win. The Latvian made it even better in his last race in the class with a perfect win to clinch the final overall victory of a season that he has ruled. Completing the podium of the round of Great Britain were Simone Mancini in second place for the first time this season and the ever-consistent Fantic Racing MX’s Maximilian Werner in third place.
Both classes experienced the final Championship podiums on the Sunday that, in EMX250, saw Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi getting officially crowned and received his gold medal. Andrea was competing in MX2 over the weekend. Husqvarna BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers got the silver medal in front of Fantic Racing MX’s Cas Valk, who received the bronze medal.
In EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing, Janis Reisulis jumped on the highest step of the podium to receive the Gold Medal while 737 Performers GASGAS’s Mathis Valin got his silver medal after securing it in the last round, and Maximilian Werner accepted his bronze medal after a strong season.
EMX250:
In EMX250 race one, Cas Valk got the best start as he came out of the second corner in front ahead of Marc-Antoine Rossi and Fantic Racing MX’s Alexis Fueri. Unfortunately for Fueri, his good start went to waste when he crashed out of 3rd place in the opening lap and retired rom the race. In the meantime, Valk was looking comfortable while Rossi had a close call but stayed on two wheels. After that, Rossi regrouped and started to look at one with his machine. This was apparent when Rossi caught up with Valk on lap 4 of 12 and made a successful pass, quickly pulling away and flying to victory, full of confidence. Valk confirmed his form with a solid 2nd place.
Behind them, Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Karlis Reisulis made a really good start to place himself in 4th and then 3rd after Fueri’s issue. From then on, Reisulis showed good speed, although he got caught with a couple of laps to go by Husqvarna BT Racing Team’s Maxime Grau and KTM Beddini Racing Team’s Valerio Lata. The Latvian showed that he can defend his position and finished 3rd in the end. Grau had to also contain a late-charging Lata which he did efficiently as they finished in 4th and 5th.
Following an average start in 11th place, the talented VRT KTM Factory Juniors rider Ferruccio Zanchi paced forward on lap 2 to overtake two riders and capitalised on a bike issue for Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Prugnieres, as the Frenchman retired from the race while in 7th. Zanchi in 8th put pressure on Husqvarna BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers who didn’t have his usual flow. Zanchi made the difference on lap 8 when he passed the Dutch rider to finish 6th while Karssemakers finished 7th. Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Benjamin Garib showed very good promise as he rode for the first half of the race in 5th but made a mistake and dropped to 8th at the flag.
In Race 2, Grau made a great start as he quickly took the lead in front of Reisulis, however the Latvian showed impressive speed to overtake him on lap 3 of 12 and pull away. In the meantime, Zanchi started to pick up his pace and quickly put Grau under pressure. Zanchi passed him on lap 4 and kept pushing to close on Reisulis. A lap later Grau got threatened by Rossi who was on a mission to win the round. Rossi didn’t take long to overtake his French countryman to go 3rd on lap 5. Zanchi’s pace was incredible as he charged forward to launch an attack on Reisulis to take the lead. Not long after that it was the turn of Rossi to let his speed talk to go the long way round Reisulis and up to 2nd. Reisulis got overtaken again a lap later by Lata.
No one could challenge Zanchi for the lead as he brought it home to get on the second step of the podium while Rossi comfortably finished in 2nd position to secure his second overall win of the season and end this year in the best of ways before he jumps up to MX2. Lata on his part rode an excellent race two but came up short of the podium with 4th overall, still another solid weekend for the Italian. Reisulis in the end managed to finish 4th to climb his first podium of the season which is encouraging for next season.
Following a great start Grau could not hold the riders charging behind and had to settle for 5th place, going 4-5 for 5th overall in front of Prugnieres, who rode positively to gain several positions throughout the race overtaking the second rider in the championship, Karssemakers, on lap 9 to move up to 6th at the end. Karssemakers could not find the speed we saw throughout the season and settled for 7th after an average start by his standards, finding himself in 8th on the opening lap. Prugnieres got another good 6th overall while Karssemakers finished 7th overall to keep his excellent silver medal in the championship.
Similarly to Karssemakers, Valk was not on his best form at Matterley Basin as he could not pass many riders in race two and had to settle for 9th to finish 6th overall, missing the podium for the first time in three rounds.
Andrea Bonacorsi: “It’s a season that we’ve worked for as we struggled last season a lot but we came back this year and we made it. It’s really good, I’m really happy and I want to thank all the team because without them I couldn’t have achieve what I did this year. I’m very proud to be part of the Yamaha family and I want to thank everybody.”
Marc-Antoine Rossi: “It’s a perfect weekend for me! Coming back like that after my injury is so great! Thanks to my all team for this great year, and especially this end of season, it has been really good!”
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing:
In Race 1, the best start was for Janis Reisulis who quickly got the lead and pulled away, showing great speed while his main rival in the championship, 737 Performers GASGAS’s Mathis Valin fell early in the race. Reisulis needed to finish at least 8th to get officially crowned Champion but the Latvian didn’t wait for anyone and flew away at the front to comfortably secure his European Title with a dominant race win. The whole MJC Team and his family was there to greet him after the chequered flag to celebrate his title in style. Reisulis showed again that he was the best in EMX125.
Behind him, the two Fantic Racing MX riders, Elias Escandell and Maximilian Werner, got a great start in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Escandell showed great speed as he found himself riding with no one around him to get an excellent season’s best finish in 2nd position. Werner kept his usual flow and consistency to control his race and finish 3rd at the flag.
Behind them, Julius Mikula pulled out a good performance after finding himself 7th on the turn of lap 1 of 12. Mikula overtook Noel Zanocz on lap 2 and rode behind the solid Simone Mancini for a while. Mancini who was 5th managed to pass Sturm STC Racing Team’s Mads Fredsoe on lap 8 to go 4th but had to deal with the fast-pacing Mikula again behind him on lap 10. Mikula got great lines and managed to pass Mancini with two laps to go to finish 4th while the Italian settled for a good 5th place.
In Race 2, Simone Mancini took a great start to jump out of the gate at the lead in front of the two riders at the top of the Championship, Reisulis and Valin. In the meantime, the two teammates, Werner and Escandell clashed on the first corner which jeopardised Escandell’s hope of a podium as he picked himself up in 20th position. Werner was quick to get back on it, getting back to 7th by the end. Escandell would make an outstanding comeback to finish 11th and still get an excellent 4th overall.
At the front the fast-starting Mancini quickly got caught by Valin and Reisulis on the opening lap to drop down to 3rd. Valin took the lead but the newly-crowned EMX125 European Champion was simply too quick this weekend and took the lead a lap later, pulling away rapidly. Reisulis went on to ride the perfect race and won, 40 seconds clear of Valin who finished a comfortable 2nd. Reisulis had the perfect end of the season to win his 4th round in a row and further dominate the category to jump up to EMX250 with a sense of duty accomplished.
Mancini managed to hang on in 3rd place whilst keeping Vitezslav Marek at bay. Marek was pushing hard to pass Mancini but jumped too long at one point and went off track. Mancini solidly stayed 3rd until the end to clinch his first podium of the season. After having to retire in race 1, Marek showed that he has all the qualities to fight at the top with a really good 4th place in the end. Behind him was Maximilian Ernecker who kept riding consistently to finish 5th and go 8-5 for 6th overall.
It was another solid performance for Werner who gained one position from the opening lap to finish the race in 6th and clinch another podium. With 3rd overall the German rider, who is still looking for a team next season, proved that he has been one of the most consistent riders of the season to finish with a final 3rd place in the Championship.
Janis Reisulis: “What an absolute banger of a weekend it was! I also had the perfect race in the second race. I would call this season the one where I learned the most, some ups and downs but I learned from them. This is the perfect way to end the season, especially with this round. I really want to thank everyone around me: the team, the whole Yamaha squad and my family as they put so much work into it.”
