MATTERLEY BASIN (Great Britain), 23 August 2013 – Today Matterley Basin was busy all day long hosting the first sessions of the EMX European Championships, as well as the Final race of the Amateurs. Filippo Grigoletto became the Honda EMX150 champion and Josh Waterman won the Amateur class, whereas Raivo Dankers and Conrad Mewse won the 65cc and 85cc qualifying races. Valentin Guillod and Thomas Covington won the EMX250 Semi Finals, and Pauls Jonas and Anton Lundgren dominated the EMX125 Semi Final heats.
EMX250
Group A’s Semi Final saw Valentin Guillod taking the holeshot and dominating the heat until the chequered flag, whereas Benoit Paturel rode a consistent moto in second. Steven Clarke had a bad start but he managed to move up to the third position, ahead of Thomas Olsen and Jorge Zaragoza.
In Group B’s Semi Final all the eyes were on the incredible battle that American Thomas Covington and Swiss Jeremy Seewer had during the whole race. Ben Watson took the holeshot, but in the early stages of the race the American and the Swiss took control of the lead and opened a big gap with the rest of the riders. Covington managed to keep Seewer’s pressure during the whole race and he finished first, but Seewer did an incredible job trying to overtake the American until the very last jump.
Damon Graulus was fifth after the start, but he managed to cross the finish line third, and Brian Bogers and Micha-Boy De Waal were fourth and fifth respectively.
EMX125
The red plate holder of the EMX125 series, Pauls Jonass, dominated Group A’s Semi Final and Nicolas Dercourt crossed the finish line second after having started in the third position. Third was David Herbreteau, and Brian Hsu and Filip Podmol completed the top five.
In Group B’s Semi Final Calvin Vlaanderen took the holeshot and dominated the first laps, but a strong Anton Lundgren managed to move up to the lead and both riders exchanged the first position several times. Lundgren managed to open a comfortable gap in the lead, but the Swedish made a mistake with two laps to go and he lost the lead. However, he managed to recuperate himself very quickly and he passed Vlaanderen back and he won the race. Mika Kordbarlag was third, and Frederik Van Der Vlist and Henry Jacoby rounded out the top five.
EMX85
The EMX85cc riders took part in the qualifying race and it was former 65cc Junior World Champion Jorge Prado who took the holeshot. However, the current 85cc Junior World Champion Conrad Mewse took the lead already in the first lap and he crossed the finish line with a comfortable fourteen seconds gap from Prado. Glen Meier from Denmark gave it all to overtake Prado, but he had to settle down with the third place, and Gianluca Facchetti and Jakub Terasak completed the top five.
EMX65
Raivo Dankers dominated the EMX65 qualifying race from beginning to end and he is one of the favourite contenders to win the 65cc European title tomorrow. Anton Nagy from Sweden, who was second in the 65cc Junior World Championship, crossed the finish line second, and Rene Hofer from Austria and Italian Kevin Cristino were third and fourth. Russian Nikita Kucherov was fourth after the start, but he dropped one position and he finished fifth of the qualifying race.
Click here to obtain the complete results
British Round – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1750 m
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 24° C
Weather conditions: sunny
MX-Life.tv and Motors TV will broadcast LIVE all Saturday and Sunday’s races, starting with the first heat of the EMX65cc at 11.30 local time. The Grand Prix of Great Britain will also be broadcasted LIVE in France on Be In Sport 2 and Motors TV France, in Italy on SportItalia, in Slovenia on Sport TV, in Portugal on Sport TV3, in the UK on Motors TV UK, in Brazil on Bandsports, in Thailand on True Vision, in Africa on Al Jazeera Sport and Sport TV 2, in the Middle East on Al Jazeera Sport, in Europe on Motors TV Europe and worldwide on MX-LIFE.TV.
TIMETABLE
Saturday: VMX Warm up 7:30; WMX Warm up 7:55; EMX85 Warm up 8:20; EMX65 Warm Up 8:45; MX2 Free Practice 9:25; MX1 Free Practice 10:05; MX3 Warm up 10.45; EMX65 Race 1 11:35; EMX85 Race 1 12:10; MX2 Pre-Qualifying Practice 12:50; MX1-Pre Qualifying Practice 13:35; MX3 Race 1 14:20; MX2 Qualifying Race 15:15; MX1 Qualifying Race 16:00; WMX Race 2 16:50; VMX Race 2 17:45; MX3 Race 2 18:30.
Sunday: EMX125 Warm up 7:15; EMX85 Warm up 7:35; EMX65 Warm up 7:55; EMX250 Warm up 8:15; MX2 Warm up 8:40; MX1 Warm up 9:05; EMX65 Race 2 10:05; EMX85 Race 2 10:35; EMX125 Final 11:15; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 12:10; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 13:10; EMX250 Final 14:10; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 15:01; MX1 Grand Prix race 2 16:07.