CASTELNAU DE LEVIS (France), 20 April 2013 – The Motocross of European Nations kicked off today at the hilly hard packed circuit of Castelnau De Levis where Team France made a great start to their MXoEN campaign taking pole position leading into tomorrow’s main event.
In the combined EMX125/250 race it was Swedish topper Kalle Olsson who managed to bring home the win for Team Sweden. Although Olsson finished in first place, it was no easy feat as he faced a huge amount of pressure the entire race from Frenchman Benotit Paturel and Belgian Damon Graulus. While Paturel had to retire from the battle for the lead due to technical issues, Graulus remained hot on the heels of Olsson all the way to the chequered flag finishing the race with a twenty six second gap on the third place rider Italian Samuele Bernardini. Benotit Paturel fought against the odds to bring home an amazing fourth place with Team France B rider Henri Giraud rounding out the top five.
In the 85cc class it was French golden boy Ludovic Bompar who got off to a fantastic start and with a huge amount of support from the French crowd managed to lead the race from start to finish ahead of French team mate Calvin Fonvieille. Behind the two French riders was Italian Filippo Grigoletto who was putting in a hard charge to get around the second place position of Calvin Fonvieille. Eventually he made the move into second place but ended up running into trouble on a downhill forcing him out of the race, allowing Fonvieille to take back the second position. Third place was then taken over by another Italian, Gabriele Oteri, who rode a consistent race from start to finish. In the end it was Team France A Ludovic Bompar and Calvin Fonvieille who flew the flag high for their nation bringing home the first and second positions, followed by Team Italy’s Gabriele Oteri in third, Team France B’s Julien Roussaly in fourth and Team Czech Republic’s Jakub Teresak in fifth.
Out of the amazing fourteen nations that turned up to race today, it was Team France A who came away with the advantage of top qualifier with current champions Team Italy in second leaving Team France B to take third.
In the Women’s race it was Italian Chiara Fontanesi who took the holeshot ahead of team France’s Livia Lancelot. The French made an early pass on Fontanesi but couldn’t make it stick as the Italian was quick to respond taking back the lead less than a lap later. Lancelot continued to pressure Fontanesi for the lead, but Fontanesi remained strong and continued to fight, eventually winning the war and putting some distance between herself and Lancelot. Lancelot settle in second position eighteen seconds ahead of Team Germany riders Stephanie Laier and Larissa Picoto.
The overall points for the qualifying heat leaves Team Italy, Team France A and Team Germany tied for first place, meaning the positions have to be divided by best placed rider. Therefore Team Italy will take the early advantage going into tomorrow as first place qualifier with their best placed rider being Chiara Fontanesi, who took the race win. The second placed team will be Team France A with Livia Lancelot’s second place finish, leaving Team Germany to take the third place with their best placed rider Stephanie Laier finishing third.
EMX125/250 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Kalle Olsson (SWE, Honda), 24:32.501; 2. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), +0:01.057; 3. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:23.630; 4. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:24.277; 5. Henri Giraud (FRAB, KTM), +0:50.727; 6. Peter Irt (SLO, Suzuki), +0:56.616; 7. Yannick Ginesta (FRAC, Kawasaki), +0:57.890; 8. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), +0:58.576; 9. Riccardo Righi (ITA, KTM), +0:58.810; 10. Andriy Burenko (UKR, Suzuki), +1:01.685;
EMX 85 top ten Qualifying Race: 1. Ludovic Bompar (FRA, KTM), 20:22.804; 2. Calvin Fonvieille (FRA, KTM), +0:08.023; 3. Gabriele Oteri (ITA, TM), +0:10.596; 4. Julien Roussaly (FRAB, KTM), +0:12.369; 5. Jakub Teresak (CZE, KTM), +0:13.879; 6. Danne Karlsson (SWE, KTM), +0:20.559; 7. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +0:33.894; 8. Gabriel Chetnicki (POL, KTM), +0:52.332; 9. Mickael Lamarque (FRAB, KTM), +0:54.248; 10. Martin Vondrasek (CZE, KTM), +0:58.545;
WMX Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Chiara Fontanesi (ITA, Yamaha), 19:40.202; 2. Livia Lancelot (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.839; 3. Stephanie Laier (GER, Kawasaki), +0:17.978; 4. larissa Picoto (GER, Suzuki), +0:28.562; 5. Justine Charroux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:33.270; 6. Francesca Nocera (ITA, Suzuki), +1:16.425; 7. Joanna Miller (POL, KTM), +1:20.788; 8. Gabriela Seisdedos (ESP, Kawasaki), +1:26.610; 9. Marianne Veenstra (NED, KTM), +1:32.367; 10. Sara Pettersson (SWE, KTM), +1:48.603;
Click here to obtain the complete results
Photos of the whole event are available here
MXoEN and Women Motocross of Nations – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1780m
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 14° C
Weather conditions: sunny
TIMETABLE
Sunday: WMX Warm-up qualified Nations 8:30; EMX85 Warm-up qualified Nations 9:00; EMX125 & EMX250 Warm-up qualified Nations 9:30; WMX Motocross of Nations RACE 1 11:45; MXoEN RACE 1 (EMX85) 12:45; MXoEN RACE 2 (EMX125 & EMX250) 13:45; WMX Motocross of Nations RACE 2 15:00; MXoEN RACE 3 (EMX85) 16:00; MXoEN RACE 4 (EMX125 & 250) 17:00.