AGUEDA (Portugal), 05 May 2013 – The sun was beaming here in Agueda scorching the already orange dirt and welcoming round two of the EMX125 Championship and round one of the EMX250 Championship where riders Pauls Jonass and Valentin Guillod claimed victory.
EMX250
The new race format was welcomed with open arms as the EMX250 put on an exhilarating display of racing. In the early stages of the race it was Damon Graulus who took the all important holeshot and led the opening lap followed by a charging series of riders in the form of Tim Gajser, Valentin Guillod, Jeremy Seewer, Ceriel Klein Kromhof and Micha-Boy De Waal.
The war had officially begun and positions were changing lap by lap, in the early stages it was Tim Gajser who claimed the lead, looking fierce and in form but his pace was matched by the hard chargers that were to follow him. The top five put it all on the line, with every one of them wanting a piece of the podium.
Coming into the middle stages of the race, Valentin Guillod had upped his tempo and managing to find a way around last year’s champion Tim Gajser leaving the Slovenian to deal with the persistent pressure of Damon Graulus, Jeremy Seewer and Ceriel Klein Kromhof. With two laps to go the riders came into an immense amount of lapped traffic adding an extra challenge to the already challenging race.
Unfortunately for Tim Gajser lady luck was not on his side as he ran into trouble dropping him back to eighth position. Meanwhile Damon Graulus was wanting more charging after Valentin Guillod. With one lap to go Graulus had taken over the lead but didn’t hold it for long as Guillod was determined to take home the race win. As the chequred flag waved it was Valentin Guillod who claimed victory followed by Damon Graulus in second, Jeremy Seewer in third, Ceriel Klein Kromhof in fourth and Micha-boy De Waal in fifth.
EMX250 Final: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 29:02.174; 2. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), +0:08.884; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:09.955; 4. Ceriel Klein Kromhof (NED, KTM), +0:18.166; 5. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, KTM), +0:34.859; 6. Jordan Booker (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:48.802; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:50.484; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), +0:52.621; 9. Benoit Jamet (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:59.722; 10. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, Yamaha), +1:01.693;
EMX20 Championship top ten: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, KTM), 25 points; 2. Damon Graulus (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), 20 p.; 4. Ceriel Klein Kromhof (NED, KTM), 18 p.; 5. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, KTM), 16 p.; 6. Jordan Booker (GBR, Kawasaki), 15 p.; 7. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Husqvarna), 14 p.; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, KTM), 13 p.; 9. Benoit Jamet (FRA, Kawasaki), 12 p.; 10. Magne Klingsheim (NOR, Yamaha), 11 p.;
EMX125
The EMX125 saw Henry Jacobi fastest off the gate, claiming the lead on the opening lap. Although a good start always helps, the race was never going to be easy for Jacobi as he had the championship points leader Pauls Jonass right on him. Jonass sat patiently on the back wheel of Jacobi, but after two and a half laps he made a pass and didn’t look back. As the race went on, the third place rider of Nicolas Dercourt began making a charge, catching the second place of Henry Jacobi but couldn’t find a way around him. As the duo Jacobi and Dercourt came into lapped traffic, Jacobi took the advantage with open arms putting a little breathing space between himself and the French rider leaving Dercourt to give up the fight and finish an easy third.
Meanwhile, Canadian Kade Tinkler had climbed his way up from an average start into the fourth place position; this was no easy feat, as around lap five he found himself engaged in battle with Joel Van Mechelen. Van Mechelen put up a good fight but after the pass had been made, tired back to seventh place allowing riders Calvin Vlaanderen and Riccardo Righi to take home the fifth and sixth positions.
EMX125 Final: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 30:29.862; 2. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), +0:10.869; 3. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, Yamaha), +0:22.000; 4. Kade Tinkler (CAN, Suzuki), +0:35.795; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:39.858; 6. Riccardo Righi (ITA, KTM), +0:45.004; 7. Joel Van Mechelen (NED, KTM), +1:01.199; 8. Tomasso Sileika (LAT, KTM), +1:17.597; 9. Frederik Van Der Vlist (NED, KTM), +1:27.174; 10. Emanuele Facchetti (ITA, KTM), +1:31.497;
EMX125 Championship top ten: 1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 75 points; 2. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 54 p.; 3. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, Yamaha), 50 p.; 4. Henry Jacobi (GER, KTM), 49 p.; 5. Frederik Van Der Vlist (NED, KTM), 48 p.; 6. Anton Lundgren (SWE, KTM), 47 p.; 7. Riccardo Righi (ITA, KTM), 46 p.; 8. Kade Tinkler (CAN, Suzuki), 43 p.; 9. Ivan Baranov (RUS, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Lorenzo Ravera (ITA, KTM), 21 p.;
Click here to obtain the complete results
Photos of the whole event are available here
EMX125 / EMX 250 Round of Portugal – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1500m
Type of ground: Intermediate
Temperature: 28° C
Weather conditions: Sunny