The European championship races have concluded here in Mantova, as Mattia Guadagnini of Husqvarna Junior Racing Maddi took his second consecutive overall victory in the EMX250 class, with a perfect double race win score on home soil.
Meanwhile, fellow Italian, Valerio Lata from Marchetti Racing Team KTM, got his own taste of success, as a second and a race win was enough to put the young Italian on the top step of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing podium.
In the opening EMX250 race, it was Marcel Conijn who led the way, with Guadagnini second and Tom Guyon of Team VRT Nordpesca Holland in third.
Guadagnini wasted no time to get around Conijn, as he passed him on the second lap of the race. It then didn’t take long for Guadagnini to get ahead and lead the race by 5.642 seconds. Meanwhile Hakon Fredriksen of Yamaha SM Action MC Migliori J1 Racing was looking to pass Guyon for fourth in the race.
Championship leader Thibault Benistant of the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing squad had a tough start to the race as he was forced to make his way back up from the back of the pack. He managed to get up to 14th and still had plenty of time to keep climbing up the field.
On lap 5 of the race, Pierre Goupillon of BUD Racing Kawasaki caught and passed Emil Weckman, the rider of Honda Racing Assomotor for 6th in the race.
Meanwhile Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay De Wolf crashed out twice in the first half of the race, eventually dropping down to 15th.
On lap 6, after several attempts, Fredriksen was finally able to pass Guyon and get up into 4th. While Talviku was battling with Conijn for 2nd place.
With 5 minutes and 2 laps to go the top 10 was comfortably led by Guadagnini, who was followed by Conijn, Talviku, Fredriksen, Guyon, Goupillon, Weckman, Tomass Sileika, Lorenzo Corti and Tim Edberg.
Talviku then moved into P2 past Conijn, though not long after crashed which allowed Conijn and Fredriksen back through. Fredriksen than crashed himself, though only losing one position to Talviku.
In the end it was Mattia Guadagnini who won the race by an impressive 17.882 margin, with Marcel Conijn and Hakon Fredriksen behind in P2 and P3.
In EMX250 race two, it was Talviku and BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Lorenzo Locurcio who led the way, meanwhile Guadagnini and Benistant were down in 4th and 5th.
Talviku was then getting caught by Locurcio, while Gianluca Facchetti of Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing was sitting in 3rd place.
Guadagnini then made a mistake, which allowed Benistant through. Benistant was then the fastest rider on track as he went after his teammate to move into the top 3. Locurcio and Facchetti then crashed out of 2nd and 3rd, as Guadagnini forced his way past the championship leader, Benistant, to move into 2nd.
Keen to get another win, Guadagnini then went on to set the fastest lap of the race – a 1:59.301, which was immediately bettered by Benistant as he clocked a 1:58.597 as he put the hammer down to catch the Italian and go for the lead.
Guadagnini then became the new race leader, pushing Talviku to 2nd, with Benistant pushing the Estonian another position as he went through as well.
As the race progressed Guadagnini continued to lead the way with Benistant 2nd. Though the rider in P3, Talviku, started to come under pressure from Locurcio, with the BUD Racing Kawasaki rider eventually passing him for 3rd.
In the end it was Mattia Guadagnini who won the race, with Thibault Benistant in P2 and Locurcio in P3. On the podium it was Guadagnini who occupied the top step of the podium for the second time in a row, with Talviku 2nd overall and Fredriksen 3rd.
With three rounds left, Thibault Benistant leads the championship with 286 points, with Guadagnini 28 points down in second and De Wolf third.
Mattia Guadagnini: “I’m so happy. I took a good start in the first race, then made my way to the first and then took control and took no risk. The second time was a bit more difficult. I started in like fourth and then made a mistake, so I was fifth and then made my way to the lead again. So, I’m super happy”.
“I just want to give one hundred percent all the time and we will see. I took some good championship points and some wins today, but I just want to do my best” he added.
Jorgen-Matthias Talviku: “It’s so amazing. The first race was also good, I just made a little mistake and crashed. Then in the second race I took a good start and enjoyed my riding, lap by lap. All the riders are strong here, but I came to Italy to get better step by step and I did so I’m really happy about that”.
Hakon Fredriksen: “The riding was ok today. I had some ok starts and in the first race I gave away my second place on the last lap. In the second race, I just focused really bad to get the overall results and get on the podium”.
Thibault Benistant: “It was another difficult day. I had a really bad start in the first race, I gave my best to finish eighth, I think. In the second race, the start was really bad, but I was able to go on the inside, so me and Mattia could come back together. He won and I finished second. And now we look forward to Spain”.
EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), 31:18.374; 2. Marcel Conijn (NED, KTM), +0:17.882; 3. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Yamaha), +0:19.212; 4. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Husqvarna), +0:22.668; 5. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +0:25.422; 6. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:29.091; 7. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +0:40.652; 8. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.122; 9. Tim Edberg (SWE, Yamaha), +0:45.944; 10. Lorenzo Corti (ITA, KTM), +0:49.744.
EMX250 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, Husqvarna), 30:19.951; 2. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:04.667; 3. Lorenzo Locurcio (VEN, Kawasaki), +0:31.658; 4. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Husqvarna), +0:38.804; 5. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Yamaha), +0:51.121; 6. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), +0:53.208; 7. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:53.662; 8. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), +1:09.387; 9. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +1:13.804; 10. Marcel Conijn (NED, KTM), +1:14.362;
EMX250 – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 50 points; 2. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 36 p.; 3. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Marcel Conijn (NED, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Lorenzo Locurcio (VEN, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 22 p.; 9. Lorenzo Corti (ITA, KTM), 20 p.; 10. Bastian Boegh Damm (DEN, KTM), 19 p.;
EMX250 – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 286 points; 2. Mattia Guadagnini (ITA, HUS), 258 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 198 p.; 4. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, YAM), 188 p.; 5. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HUS), 180 p.; 6. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 174 p.; 7. Lorenzo Locurcio (VEN, KAW), 141 p.; 8. Tom Guyon (FRA, KTM), 137 p.; 9. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 137 p.; 10. Isak Gifting (SWE, KTM), 128 p.;
EMX250 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 315 points; 2. Husqvarna, 308 p.; 3. KTM, 275 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 150 p.; 5. Honda, 14 p.;
Main Photo: EMX250 Start
Bottom Photos: 1. Mattia Guadagnini; 2. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku
The first race of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class, saw Raul Sanchez of Team Yamaha Ausio, who grabbed the holeshot. Meanwhile series leader, Andrea Bonacorsi of Fantic Racing was caught out in the first corner and have to fight through from the very back of the field.
Early on in the race, Pietro Razzini passed Karlis Alberts Reisulis for second, with Valerio Lata from Marchetti Racing Team KTM and ASA United Husqvarna Team’s Bobby Bruce, closely behind in fourth and fifth.
Razzini then got caught out by Reisulis, who fought back to move back into second, while also going after the race leader, Sanchez, straight away.
Bonacorsi then charged through from the back of the field as he got into the top 20. With 15 minutes plus 2 laps on the clock, Bonacorsi was up in 15th, though still with a long way to go.
There was drama at the front of the field, which Sanchez and Reisulis down, which allowed Bruce into the lead, as he was followed by Lata, Meico Vettik, Razzini and Cas Valk of TBS Conversions Racing Team.
Bruce then extended his lead to 4.576 seconds, as Vettik passed Lata for second. At the same time, Reisulis set the fastest lap of the race and was down in 7th.
It looked like Vettik stepped it up a gear, as the gap between him and the race leader, Bruce, came down to 2.7 seconds. Vettik then continued to charge after Bruce for the race win as less than a second separated the two.
Bruce then managed to pull the gap back to 1.777 seconds. Though that didn’t stop Vettik, who with 2 laps to go moved into the lead. Bruce then crashed out of P2, to eventually finish the race in 6th.
Meico Vettik was the race 1 winner, with Valerio Lata second and Max Palsson of WZ Racing having a strong ride to finish third.
In the second EMX125 race it was Valk with the holeshot, while Bonacorsi had another unlucky start to the race and was down in 35th.
Valk then led Lata, Palsson and Andrea Roncoli, though Lata was able to find a way through into the lead, and Palsson followed the Marchetti Racing KTM rider too, pushing Valk down to 3rd within a few corners.
Valk then lost another spot to Palsson and was down in P4. At the same time, Bonacorsi was making his way through the field to move into 25th, as Bruce fell out of 10th.
With 10 minutes plus 2 laps on the clock, Lata continued to lead, though Roncoli was the rider in 2nd place, 5.621 seconds down. Meanwhile Vettik was pushing to pass David Braceras of RFME GasGas MX Junior Team for 6th in the race.
Valk then rode into the pits with a bike issue, which forced the Dutch rider out of race two.
Further down the field Bonacorsi got himself back into points in 19th and he picked up a few more positions towards the end of the race to eventually finish in 10th.
With just a few laps to go, Palsson and Roncoli were locked in a battle for 2nd, with Roncoli going through into P2 towards the end.
Valerio Lata went on to take his first race win of the season, with Roncoli crossing the line 2nd and Palsson 3rd.
In terms of the overall, Lata took to the top step of the podium, with Vettik finishing 2nd and Palsson occupying the 3rd step of the podium. As it stands, Bonacrosi leads the championship by 33 points, with Razzini second and Vettik third. There are still four rounds of the championship left to go.
Valerio Lata: “I’m really happy with my win. The feeling with the bike is very good. This is my first podium with the 125 European championship, and I want to thank my team, my family and everyone for the support”.
Meico Vettik: “First race was very good for me. The second one, the start was a little bit bad and I made a lot of mistakes. But I think fourth is good and I’m looking forward to the next race.
Max Palsson: “Of course I’m really happy. In the second race I was a little bit bummed to not get the race win but just hope for more at the next round in Spain”.
Andrea Bonacorsi: “Yeah it was a hard day. The two races I didn’t get the results I wanted but it was not so bad, I had two good comebacks and I finished twelfth and tenth positions and now I’m ready to fight for the win in Spain”.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 30:26.795; 2. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), +0:02.975; 3. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), +0:04.716; 4. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:09.968; 5. Pietro Razzini (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:12.837; 6. Bobby Bruce (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:20.598; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, KTM), +0:21.417; 8. David Braceras (ESP, GASGAS), +0:30.827; 9. Andrea Roncoli (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:31.191; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +0:34.576.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 31:17.186; 2. Andrea Roncoli (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:04.500; 3. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), +0:07.330; 4. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), +0:43.011; 5. Saad Soulimani (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:49.117; 6. David Braceras (ESP, GASGAS), +0:56.302; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, KTM), +0:59.193; 8. Pietro Razzini (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:04.482; 9. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), +1:12.112; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Fantic), +1:21.309.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 47 points; 2. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Andrea Roncoli (ITA, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Pietro Razzini (ITA, HUS), 29 p.; 6. David Braceras (ESP, GAS), 28 p.; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), 23 p.; 9. Bobby Bruce (GBR, HUS), 23 p.; 10. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 20 p.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, FAN), 186 points; 2. Pietro Razzini (ITA, HUS), 153 p.; 3. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 147 p.; 4. David Braceras (ESP, GAS), 137 p.; 5. Guillem Farres (ESP, GAS), 132 p.; 6. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 120 p.; 7. Kevin Brumann (SUI, YAM), 117 p.; 8. Max Palsson (SWE, KTM), 116 p.; 9. Andrea Roncoli (ITA, HUS), 109 p.; 10. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KTM), 95 p.
EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 212 points; 2. Fantic, 186 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 175 p.; 4. GASGAS, 162 p.; 5. Yamaha, 119 p.
Main Photo: EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Podium
Bottom Photos: 1. EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Start; 2. Valerio Lata