The rocky hillside of Uddevalla worked as a grandstand to the thousands of fans who came out to watch the fourth and sixth rounds of the European Championships EMX250 and EMX300 where Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Maxime Desprey and Italian Marco Maddii uncorked yet another bottle of bubbles on the top step of the podium.
EMX250
The premier European Championship class, EMX250, got off to a mega start today in the heat of Uddevalla as three of the hottest championship contenders, Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Maxime Desprey, Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus and J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg led the way around turn one.
Desprey, a former MX2 rider, was the fastest off the gate and led every lap for his fifth race victory of the season. Although Desprey never lost the lead, it wasn’t an easy race win as he was pushed all the way to the finish by the red plate holder Kouwenberg.
Déjà vu struck yesterdays race one winner Graulus who crashed out of second and couldn’t restart his bike. Meanwhile, last years FIM Junior Motocross 125cc and European Championship EMX125 Champion Brian Hsu is really starting to come to grips with the 250. The young German was quick to move into third where he remained for the rest of the race.
The former championship leader Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry got off to an average start which left him picking off riders for the first couple of laps. The Brit managed to get all the way to a lonely fourth. Team Yamaha Ausio Yamalube’s Valentin Ander also put in a solid performance to round out the top five.
At the end of the weekend Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Maxime Desprey landed on the top of the box for the third time this year and is now within striking distance of the red plate while Honda J-Tech’s Nick Kouwenberg stood on the second to maintain his championship lead. Young German, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Brian Hsu wrapped up third for his second consecutive podium finish of the season.
EMX250 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), 29:12.046; 2. Maxime Desprey (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.370; 3. Brian Hsu (GER, Suzuki), +0:11.626; 4. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Honda), +0:30.354; 5. Pontus Jönsson (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:31.006; 6. Ander Valentin (ESP, Yamaha), +0:31.791; 7. Lasse Christoffersen (NOR, Suzuki), +0:44.444; 8. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:45.294; 9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:53.951; 10. Ken Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), +0:57.734
EMX250 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Maxime Desprey (FRA, Kawasaki), 29:40.873; 2. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Honda), +0:05.164; 3. Brian Hsu (GER, Suzuki), +0:11.185; 4. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:15.282; 5. Ander Valentin (ESP, Yamaha), +0:23.412; 6. Ken Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), +0:34.273; 7. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), +0:37.974; 8. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:40.643; 9. Nicholas Adams (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:44.444; 10. Frederik van der Vlist (NED, Kawasaki), +0:54.494
EMX250 Overall Top Ten: 1. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 47 points; 2. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 40 p.; 3. Brian Hsu (GER, SUZ), 40 p.; 4. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 31 p.; 5. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Ken Bengtsson (SWE, KTM), 26 p.; 7. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 25 p.; 8. Pontus Jönsson (SWE, HUS), 22 p.; 9. Frederik van der Vlist (NED, KAW), 19 p.; 10. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KAW), 19 p.
EMX250 Championship Top Ten: 1. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 219 points; 2. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 217 p.; 3. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 200 p.; 4. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 197 p.; 5. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 145 p.; 6. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 132 p.; 7. Brian Hsu (GER, SUZ), 131 p.; 8. Steven Clarke (GBR, HUS), 118 p.; 9. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KAW), 98 p.; 10. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, KAW), 96 p.
EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki, 253 points; 2. KTM, 240 p.; 3. Yamaha, 238 p.; 4. Honda, 219 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 155 p.; 6. Suzuki, 139 p.
EMX300
Finding traction on a bike that produces 300cc of pure two-stroke power on a hard packed gravel track wouldn’t have been the easiest of tasks, but for the riders that lined up today for the fourth round of the European Championship EMX300 that was the challenge, a challenge that was owned by Italian KTM rider Marco Maddii who won both races this weekend for his second consecutive overall victory.
In race one yesterday Maddii was gifted the win from the championship red plate holder Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna’s Yentel Martens who led the entire race but crashed with one corner to go and broke his wrist. Martens didn’t line up today but has said he will try and be back for the next round in Loket, Czech Republic.
With Martens out, the race was Maddii’s to win although it didn’t come easy for the Italian. GPR Promo MX Team’s Dietger Damiens took the holeshot followed by Sweden’s own Jimmie Allen, Team HNHF Racing’s Patrick Vos and British rider Matthew Moffat.
Damiens appeared to have a solid grip on the race up until the final three laps when yesterdays race one winner Maddii pinned it up the inside of him heading into the corner before the finish jump. With Maddii taking over the lead, Damiens then found himself in a final lap battle with Great Britain’s Matthew Moffat who had diced through the pack to take second a few turns from home.
Damiens was forced back to third while Allen, the local kid who had a ton of support from the thousands of fans, had to settle for fourth after his epic battle for second with the EMX round winner Marco Maddii earlier in the race. South African Damon Strydom rounded out the top five.
After a relentless weekend where the riders fought like cats and dogs, Marco Maddii topped the podium ahead of Dietger Damiens who took his first podium finish of the season in second while Jimmie Allen put a smile on the faces of the Swedish fans in third.
EMX300 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 29:47.092; 2. Yentel Martens (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:00.180; 3. Dietger Damiaens (BEL, KTM), +0:38.833; 4. Jimmie Allen (SWE, Yamaha), +0:40.262; 5. Damon Strydom (GBR, KTM), +0:41.637; 6. Txomin Arana (ESP, Yamaha), +0:54.869; 7. Mikael Kaipanen (FIN, KTM), +0:56.338; 8. Davey Janssen (NED, Husqvarna), +1:03.469; 9. Matthew Moffat (GBR, Husqvarna), +1:04.853; 10. Franz Lofquist (SWE, Honda), +1:08.496.
EMX300 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 29:24.517; 2. Matthew Moffat (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:03.588; 3. Dietger Damiaens (BEL, KTM), +0:04.574; 4. Jimmie Allen (SWE, Yamaha), +0:14.571; 5. Damon Strydom (GBR, KTM), +0:25.356; 6. Davey Janssen (NED, Husqvarna), +0:38.695; 7. Txomin Arana (ESP, Yamaha), +0:45.700; 8. Michele Cencioni (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:55.951; 9. Riccardo Cencioni (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:58.011; 10. Joey Smet (BEL, KTM), +0:59.406.
EMX300 Overall Top Ten: 1. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Dietger Damiaens (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 3. Jimmie Allen (SWE, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Matthew Moffat (GBR, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Damon Strydom (GBR, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Txomin Arana (ESP, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Davey Janssen (NED, HUS), 28 p.; 8. Mikael Kaipanen (FIN, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Yentel Martens (BEL, HUS), 22 p.; 10. Riccardo Cencioni (ITA, HUS), 21 p.
EMX300 Championship Top Ten: 1. Yentel Martens (BEL, HUS), 164 points; 2. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 159 p.; 3. Matthew Moffat (GBR, HUS), 126 p.; 4. Dietger Damiaens (BEL, KTM), 122 p.; 5. Damon Strydom (GBR, KTM), 117 p.; 6. Lewis Gregory (GBR, YAM), 86 p.; 7. Joey Smet (BEL, KTM), 71 p.; 8. Txomin Arana (ESP, YAM), 62 p.; 9. Mikael Kaipanen (FIN, KTM), 59 p.; 10. Patrick Vos (NED, KTM), 57 p.
EMX300 Manufacturers: 1. Husqvarna, 186 points; 2. KTM, 172 p.; 3. Yamaha, 157 p.; 4. TM, 48 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 37 p.; 6. Honda, 32 p.; 7. Aprilia, 24 p.; 8. Suzuki, 12 p.
Click here to obtain the complete results.
MXGP SWEDEN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1530 m
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 25°C
Weather conditions: sunny
Crowd Attendance: 22,000