The unique round of the European Championship EMX Open took place durting the MXGP of Flanders in the temple of motocross at Lommel, one of the most challenging tracks in the world, the racing was intense, and riders couldn’t afford to make any mistakes on the demanding Belgian track, making for an entertaining weekend. With the sun coming out on Sunday, everything was aligned to deliver an amazing round of motocross and crowned the EMX Open Champion.
Race Report and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The gold medal was won by the Czech rider, Jakub Teresak who proved to be the most consistent and solid rider over the weekend to take home the EMX OPen Championship after impressive rides in the notoriously physical track.
The first race of the EMX Open kicked off with Freek Van Der Vlist taking the holeshot, leading ahead of Belgium’s Brent Aerden and Matteo Puffet. Puffet ran wide off the track on the opening lap as Jakub Teresak launched a bold move on the inside to take 4th place. Unfortunately for Puffet, his performance declined as he made several mistakes, ultimately finishing 10th.
On lap 2 of 14, Giuseppe Tropepe from Millionaire Racing Team-ABF Italia, who had a strong start, dived inside of Aerden to claim 2nd place. Tropepe appeared to be in control, doing everything right behind fast starter Van Der Vlist on the challenging Lommel sand. Meanwhile, Micha-Boy De Waal was steadily making his way up the field, showcasing great speed and skill getting up to 5th.
On lap 4, De Waal was finding the best lines to overtake Teresak and Aerden and move up to 3rd while things got harder for Aerden as he couldn’t maintain his good start and finished 11th in the end. a lap later, this was when Tropepe took the lead of Van Der Vlist and started to pull away directly after that pass. De Waal also started to attack his Dutch compatriot Van Der Vlist to go 2nd.
The race seemed set for Tropepe’s victory until heartbreak struck just four corners from the finish line when his bike suddenly stopped. Powerless and devastated, Tropepe watched as the riders he had kept at bay for most of the race overtook him, shattering his dream of winning the EMX Open with a registered position of 25th in the end.
De Waal was the big winner of the race as he capitalised on Tropepe’s misfortune to win the first race thanks to his solid ride with Van Der Vlist 2nd and the well-place Estonian Meico Vettik in 3rd after having to make his way up from 12th on lap 1.
Behind them, Teresak was a consistent force riding around the 4th place during the whole race and placing himself for a potential podium in front of Sven Van Der Mierden. Jere Haavisto showed a good consistency but could not get better than 8th in the end.
In the second race on Sunday, under a clear sky Haavisto took the lead early on with fast starter Teresak behind him.
Tropepe who was 4th crashed on the opening lap and this was one of these weekends for the Italian. Picking his bike up in 9th.
Nico Koch made a good start too as he found himself 3rd with Puffet well placed in 4th and Vettik in 6th. De Waal on 7th on lap 3 had to work to put himself on the top step of the podium.
The second in race one, Van Der Vlist had a poor start as he found himself in 13th on lap 4 and could only got back up to 9th for 5th overall in the end. De Waal, 7th on lap 4 had to make up 2 positions to win it all but took his time to get into the groove as he followed Vettik and Puffet with some smoke concerningly coming off the bike.
De Waal made the first of his compulsory pass on the Belgium Puffet to get to 6th on lap 5, however a lap later his bike looked like it overheated and came to a complete stop with no chance to get back to it and unfortunately losing the podium.
Meanwhile Haavisto seemed very comfortable on the terrain as he led Teresak who was going to win the overall with a very good 4-2 and a great consistency. Meanwhile, Vettik was chasing forward from lap 1 and its 8th position as he constantly moved up throughout the race to finish 4th, synonymous of 3rd overall.
Right at the moment when we thought that Haavisto was immaculate, his bike stalled in the last lap and lost the lead to Teresak and the 2nd overall in the meantime. But it was Haavisto’s day as he bravely came back up behind Teresak and directly made his move to take incredibly the lead again with half a lap to go to win the race and step on the 2nd step of the podium.
The great winner of the weekend though was the Czech Jakub Teresak, known in the past for finishing 3rd in 2013 in the Monster Energy FIM Junior Championship behind none other than Conrad Mewse and Hunter Lawrence and in front of Chase Sexton and Jorge Prado.
This year Teresak is the one on the top step with great racing, good flow and amazing determination. The Czech becomes the 2024 EMX Open Champion in Lommel and comes out on top of tough competition and a physical track.
Top of the Brits was John Adamson who went 17-17 for 17th overall.
Jakub Teresak: “I’m feeling super good. I didn’t expect to win this weekend to be honest so I’m very happy about it. I had two great starts. In the first race I suffered with arm pump but came back to it in the second race and I had a good rhythm. I’m so happy!”
EMXOPEN – Race 1 – Classification:
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EMX Open – Race 2 – Classification:
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EMX Open Overall – Classification:
EMX Open Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Jakub Teresak (CZE, HUS), 40 points; 2. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, HON), 35 p.; 5. Freek van der Vlist (NED, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, KAW), 31 p.; 7. Nico Koch (GER, GAS), 28 p.; 8. Matteo Puffet (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, GAS), 25 p.; 10. Jeremy Knuiman (NED, KTM), 23 p
EMX Open Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification 1. KTM, 47 points; 2. GASGAS, 41 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 40 p.; 4. Honda, 35 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 31 p.; 6. Yamaha, 13 p.
