The ultimate round of the European Motocross Championship in Cózar, held during the MXGP of Castilla La Mancha, brought intense drama as the season’s champions were decided on a brand-new, challenging track. The stakes couldn’t have been higher, with riders battling the technical Spanish terrain that demanded serious skill and precision.
Words and Images by Infront Moto Racing
The stage was set for a thrilling finale as both riders fought for the ultimate prize in the season’s last race. And in the EMX250 class, Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion. Dominating the first race on Saturday, he pulled off an impressive victory to clinch the EMX250 Championship before the weekend even wrapped up, showcasing his dominance and mastery of the track. He followed up by winning race two to perfect his weekend.
The EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing delivered even more tension, with the title coming down to the wire. Noel Zanocz’s Fantic Factory Racing EMX125 snatched the red plate back from Racestore KTM Factory Rookies’s Gyan Doensen in the first race, taking a crucial lead. With just a 4-point advantage heading into the final race, Zanocz knew he had to hold off the Dutch rider to be crowned champion. A thing that he managed to do to finally get the crown champion of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing.
In EMX 250 Race 1, a champion could be crowned if things went the way of Mathis Valin. This is exactly what the Frenchman wanted to do as he got off to a flying start, pulled a hole shot, while his nearest rival in the championship Beddini GASGAS Factory Juniors’s Valerio Lata was buried outside of the top 10, following a crash in the first corner that slowed him down. Valin had a good wingman behind him in the form of Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Benjamin Garib.
VRT Yamaha Racing’s Gavin Towers went off track early on and gained a couple of positions which was looked at later on in the race and as he got himself up into 5th he was then demoted to seven positions towards the end of the race to 12th.
Gabriel SS24 KTM’s Cas Valk made a decent start to find himself in 5th place but then made the move of the day on the opening lap as he dived up the inside of both Cat Moto Bauerschmidt Husqvarna’s Nico Greutmann and VRT Yamaha Racing’s Ivano Van Erp on the straight in front of the pitlane.
On lap 5, Lata who was up to 8th on the opening lap had to reduce the gap to less than 4 points deficits with Valin to have a shot at the title in Race 2. The Italian had JM Honda Racing’s Max Werner in his way and took 4 laps to pass him for 7th. However, could not display the speed he used to show us this year. In the end, he couldn’t pass Van Erp in front of him nor could he Towers or Greutmann on the last lap. Therefore, with a 7th that turned into 6th thanks to Towers penalty, it wasn’t enough to prevent Valin to win it all.
Valin who displayed incredible control and speed to put the cherry on the cake of the celebration with another strong win in front of his teammate Garib for a Bud Racing Kawasaki 1-2, that handed him the EMX250 crown in the best possible way!
With the ninth race win of the season, the Frenchman could finally go to his team and family to celebrate this magnificent title with a lot of emotions on his rookie year which add another superlative to his masterful season.
With the title decided, the second race, there was still a battle for the silver and bronze medal between Lata and Valk. Valin took the holeshot but it was Lata who emerged at the lead on the second turn in front of the newly crowned Valin.
Valk was down to 12th position with a poor start and a lot of work to do. Towers kept on his good rhythm as he went up to 3rd early on in front of Werner and MAXBARTMOTOSPORT’s Alfio Pulivirenti. Then coming hot was Ghidinelli Racing Team’s Saad Soulimani who was behind Pulivirenti and pushing hard while Valk made a stunning charge to 8th on the 1st lap passing Van Erp on the way. Van Erp had to retire fro, the race later on.
The top three were edging away from Werner already on lap 3 with Lata and Valin on a battle of their own.
On lap 5, Valin picked up his pace and Lata didn’t see it coming anf the Frenchman swiftly passed Lata to take the lead determined to get a 1-1 but both riders kept riding together.
Towers showed great pace as the American was the only one able to follow the insane pace of the top 2. Valk was up to 7th and knew that clinching the 2nd place in the championship was going to be pretty much impossible with Lata securing his spot up in at least 2nd. Valk unfortunately lost the front of his bike before a corner a fell to pick himself up in 8th. He had to fight a bit more to secure his spot on the overall podium.
Although the stakes were not high anymore between Valin and Lata as they both were settled in the 1st and 2nd place in the overall and the EMX250 Championship, the battle was still raging between them as both wanted to show who was the best on that last race of the season.
On lap 11, the top 6 remained settled with Towers, Werner, Pulivirenti and Soulimani keeping their ranks. Although Mads Fredsoe was picking up his pace to fight for 6th position with Soulimani.
Meanwhile Garib made a good comeback after a poor start that saw him in 14th place on the opening lap. Garib managed to get back to 9th to briefly get on the virtual podium in 3rd on lap 12. However Valk had the last word as he made up for his two falls and pushed in the last couple of laps to Fredsoe and Soulimani to finish 6th and secure his 3rd spott on the overall podium.
On his side Towers was the only rider able to stay in contact with Valin and Lata, and finished at an encouraging 3rd place, which is perfect to finish his first European season before next year.
At the top, Valin, who woke up feeling sick in the morning, held on Lata’s charge to win the race for a 1-1 on the last round to celebrate his new EMX250 title!
Mathis Valin: “This season was honestly incredible. I was expecting to be between 5 and 8 at the beginning of the season. But I’m champion now and I’m so happy. I just wanted to say thank you to all the people. I’m so happy. I wanted to say thank you to all the people around me. Thank you to team, Lili, Stephane, my coach, my family all my friends! We will now enjoy this title with everyone!”
EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), 30:05.168; 2. Benjamin Garib (CHI, Kawasaki), +0:03.050; 3. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:04.308; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, Yamaha), +0:21.701; 5. Nico Greutmann (SUI, Husqvarna), +0:25.457; 6. Valerio Lata (ITA, GASGAS), +0:48.055; 7. Ryan Alexanderson (AUS, KTM), +0:59.300; 8. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, GASGAS), +1:02.692; 9. Elias Escandell (ESP, GASGAS), +1:13.984; 10. Bradley Mesters (NED, KTM), +1:20.555
EMX250 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), 29:11.359; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, GASGAS), +0:01.313; 3. Gavin Towers (USA, Yamaha), +0:43.272; 4. Maximilian Werner (GER, Honda), +1:11.046; 5. Alfio Samuele Pulvirenti (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:11.576; 6. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +1:13.080; 7. Saad Soulimani (MAR, Yamaha), +1:15.666; 8. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, GASGAS), +1:15.924; 9. Benjamin Garib (CHI, Kawasaki), +1:22.331; 10. Ryan Alexanderson (AUS, KTM), +1:28.978;
EMX250 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 50 points; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 37 p.; 3. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 35 p.; 4. Benjamin Garib (CHI, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Gavin Towers (USA, YAM), 29 p.; 6. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, GAS), 26 p.; 7. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 25 p.; 8. Ryan Alexanderson (AUS, KTM), 25 p.; 9. Alfio Samuele Pulvirenti (ITA, HUS), 24 p.; 10. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 24 p
EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 470 points; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, GAS), 436 p.; 3. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 424 p.; 4. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 331 p.; 5. Saad Soulimani (MAR, YAM), 247 p.; 6. Nico Greutmann (SUI, HUS), 214 p.; 7. Benjamin Garib (CHI, KAW), 204 p.; 8. Maximilian Werner (GER, HON), 201 p.; 9. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, GAS), 151 p.; 10. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 150 p
EMX250 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kawasaki, 470 points; 2. GASGAS, 459 p.; 3. KTM, 452 p.; 4. Yamaha, 430 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 259 p.; 6. Honda, 211 p.; 7. Fantic, 118 p.;
The penultimate race of the season at the final round in Castilla La Mancha delivered huge excitement in the EMX125 class, presented by FMF Racing.
The first turn was absolutely shaking up the leader board right from the start. Red plate holder Gyan Doensen was caught up in the chaos, while his closest championship rival, Noel Zanocz, emerged unscathed in second place, just behind early leader, Casper Lindmark. The Hungarian quickly took the lead off Lindmark, with Zanocz’s teammate Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Simone Mancini quickly gaining momentum, making swift passes to move from fourth to third as he set his sights on his teammate following in his wake to 2nd.
TM moto SteelsDrJack‘s Brando Rispoli settled into fourth behind Niccolo Mannini who both passed Lindmark on the opening lap. Lindmark would finally finish 17th. Doensen has some hard work to do as he found himself 13th at the turn of the opening lap, putting him in a tough spot and losing precious points to his rival Zanocz.
Doensen, the championship leader, was on a mission. After picking off several riders, he found his way past Filippo Mantovani on lap 6 to move up to sixth place. Ahead of him, Francesco Bellei from Dreams Racing muscled past Rispoli to take 4th on lap 9 and soon after, Doensen followed through, pushing Rispoli back to 6th.
As the race progressed, Bellei overtook Manini to claim 3rd, and Mannini had to fend off a relentless challenge from Doensen, who was breathing down his neck to pass for 4th. When the checkered flag finally dropped, it was Noel Zanocz who took the win, catapulting him to the top of the championship standings with just one race remaining. Mancini secured 2nd, with Bellei completing the podium in third. Doensen finished 5th in the end and had to be spotless and have some hope to beat Zanocz in the second race on Sunday.
With just one race to go, the championship battle was tighter than ever, setting the stage for an epic showdown.
And this was what happened as there were good starts from Doensen and Zanocz in 3rd and 4th respectively on the opening lap in what was their most important race of their career. It was Mancini who took control of the race and showed good pace.
Mantovani kept riding well over the weekend in 2nd position. Meanwhile Zanocz managed to attack Doensen and take command of his destiny with a pass on lap 3 of 14. Afterwqrd the Hungarian quickly went up to 2nd with a pass on Mantovani and was folloed by an impressive Bellei. Bellei passed Doensen and hampered the Dutch’s chance of a Championship title. Bellei managed to get in contact with Zanocz in 3rd place as they both closed on race leader Mancini.
Doensen could find his way through to better his positioned than 4th. It was Bellei who showed up to the occasion with a stunning move on first Zanocz and then Mancini to take control of the race on lap 11. The Italian was now flying to victory for a strong last race of the season to get 2nd on the overall podium.
Zanocz then secured completely his title as he passed his teammate Mancini to finish 2nd while Doensen got stuck in 4th place and missing out on the podium and finishing 2nd in the Championship. It was a tough and emotional weekend for the young Dutch star has he had to settle for 2 in the Championship.
On the other side, it was all celebration for the Hungarian with the whole team and family waiting for him after the finish line. The first Hungarian to win EMX title A lot of emotions was on display for a great celebration. The final round was completely his to take the final say of the season in great fashion as he finally proved to the best of the 125 Class.
Noel Zanocz: ” This year I win the Junior World Championship with a 1-2 and I win the season here now with 1-2. I could not imagine that before the weekend because I was leading for nine rounds the championship, then in Switzerland I had some technical issues, and lost the red plate. I was training so hard for this event and I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped me to reach my goal and I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped me to reach my goal to be World and European champion! I’m so happy, thanks to everyone!”
EMX125 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Noel Zanocz (HUN, Fantic), 30:33.261; 2. Simone Mancini (ITA, Fantic), +0:04.182; 3. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), +0:26.555; 4. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:27.926; 5. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:28.496; 6. Brando Rispoli (ITA, TM), +0:39.872; 7. Alessandro Gaspari (ITA, KTM), +0:43.089; 8. Tom Brunet (FRA, KTM), +0:55.140; 9. Filippo Mantovani (ITA, KTM), +0:58.056; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, GASGAS), +1:01.167
EMX125 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: . Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 30:17.812; 2. Noel Zanocz (HUN, Fantic), +0:08.195; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, Fantic), +0:10.232; 4. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:12.070; 5. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), +0:22.053; 6. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:37.890; 7. Jayson van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), +0:40.122; 8. Brando Rispoli (ITA, TM), +0:41.859; 9. Filippo Mantovani (ITA, KTM), +0:50.534; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, GASGAS), +0:52.511
EMX125 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 47 points; 2. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 42 p.; 4. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, YAM), 33 p.; 6. Brando Rispoli (ITA, TM), 28 p.; 7. Filippo Mantovani (ITA, KTM), 24 p.; 8. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 22 p.; 10. Alessandro Gaspari (ITA, KTM), 22 p
EMX125 Championship – Top 10 Classification: . Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 389 points; 2. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 382 p.; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 358 p.; 4. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 314 p.; 5. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 269 p.; 6. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 223 p.; 7. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 199 p.; 8. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 195 p.; 9. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 185 p.; 10. Brando Rispoli (ITA, TM), 155 p
EMX125 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Fantic, 473 points; 2. KTM, 455 p.; 3. GASGAS, 377 p.; 4. Yamaha, 347 p.; 5. TM, 161 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 90 p.;
