Emil Weckman’s championship lead was reduced to just three points after Albin Larsen powered through to take the race two victory, in what proved to be one of the most exciting races of the season.
While Weckman was slow out of the gate, Jack Bintcliffe had a great start which saw him take the lead in the first lap. The British rider was unable to keep hold of this position and lost out early on to Larsen and Tim Edberg, who showed that he was still in good racing form after a small crash in yesterday’s race.
Edberg started to pull away from the field but Larsen was able to keep with the fellow Swede. The leading riders swapped positions many times throughout the twelve laps, and with Weckman having to make his way up the classification, the fight for the championship lead was intense with the top four positions changing every lap.
Hakon Fredrikson and Alexis Collignon both rode strong races to cross the finish line in fourth and fifth places respectively. Combined with Fredrikson’s fourth place in yesterday’s race, the result was good enough to earn him his first podium of the year with third overall.
It was an unfortunate race for the young Japanese wildcard rider Yusaku Tanaka who suffered from a small crash during the first lap, which left him in last place. However, Tanaka showed his strength and ability throughout the race and was able to come away from today with 19th in the second race, giving him an overall position of 17th.
The Honda 150 European riders have only days before their next event, as the Motocross Grand Prix paddock moves to Belgium where the talented youngsters will encounter the deep sand of Lommel on 1-2 August.
Albin Larsen #3 – overall winner
“I had a great battle with Tim Edberg today, we changed places so many times. It was such a great race and I am so happy to have this win and to move closer to the championship lead.”
Jack Bintcliffe #11 – 2nd overall
“The weekend has been absolutely amazing. I have had so much fun here and this track is amazing, I really like it. The jumps were a bit nerve-wracking to start with but they’re great, so amazing. It’s great to back on the podium.”
Hakon Fredrikson #23 – 3rd overall
“It was a great race with lots of fighting for position and close battles. Today, it was my first podium this year so I am so happy right now. It feels great.”
Davy Dousselaere – Honda Europe Off-Road Manager
“We had an extremely exciting race today with lots of battles and changes in position throughout. Albin Larsen and Tim Edberg had a great fight for the win that lasted the entire race and the lead was changing between them nearly every other lap. The championship is very tight at the top and now the top four are separated by nineteen points with first and second only by three points. Now there is only a short break before the next race on the 1-2 August where the riders will tackle the tricky sand of Lommel in Belgium. I am confident they will do well as they have shown us all again this weekend that these kids can ride well on tricky tracks.”
EMX150 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jack Bintcliffe (GBR, Honda), 24:48.805; 2. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +0:10.605; 3. Albin Larsen (SWE, Honda), +0:14.142; 4. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Honda), +0:18.529; 5. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, Honda), +0:21.321; 6. Tatu Junnola (FIN, Honda), +0:49.189; 7. Alexis Collignon (FRA, Honda), +0:49.459; 8. Eric Schwella (GER, Honda), +0:57.295; 9. Alex Pettersson (SWE, Honda), +1:00.024; 10. Max Erlandsson (SWE, Honda), +1:14.297
EMX150 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Albin Larsen (SWE, Honda), 25:39.540; 2. Tim Edberg (SWE, Honda), +0:02.073; 3. Jack Bintcliffe (GBR, Honda), +0:03.523; 4. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Honda), +0:05.480; 5. Alexis Collignon (FRA, Honda), +0:17.127; 6. Eric Schwella (GER, Honda), +0:24.260; 7. Tatu Junnola (FIN, Honda), +0:24.596; 8. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), +0:26.802; 9. Mack Bouwense (NED, Honda), +0:39.996; 10. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, Honda), +0:40.037
EMX150 Overall Top Ten: 1. Albin Larsen (SWE, HON), 45 points; 2. Jack Bintcliffe (GBR, HON), 45 p.; 3. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, HON), 36 p.; 4. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 35 p.; 5. Tim Edberg (SWE, HON), 32 p.; 6. Alexis Collignon (FRA, HON), 30 p.; 7. Tatu Junnola (FIN, HON), 29 p.; 8. Eric Schwella (GER, HON), 28 p.; 9. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, HON), 27 p.; 10. Max Erlandsson (SWE, HON), 21 p.
EMX150 Championship Top Ten: 1. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 165 points; 2. Albin Larsen (SWE, HON), 162 p.; 3. Jack Bintcliffe (GBR, HON), 157 p.; 4. Tim Edberg (SWE, HON), 146 p.; 5. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, HON), 133 p.; 6. Alexis Collignon (FRA, HON), 108 p.; 7. Timothé Berry (FRA, HON), 91 p.; 8. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, HON), 80 p.; 9. Tatu Junnola (FIN, HON), 80 p.; 10. Yago Martinez (ESP, HON), 69 p.
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