PM: MXGP of Turkey

De Bortoli Gets Closer to the EMX Open Title with First Overall Victory at the Turkish round.

EMX Open Championship leader Davide De Bortoli secured his first overall victory of the season, as he gets one step closer to wrapping up the EMX Open title with a round to go.

In the first race, it was De Bortoli who took the holeshot from Nicolas Dercourt of Honda SR Motoblouz ahead of JD Gunnex KTM Racing’s Tomasz Wysocki and Simone Croci.

Croci wasted no time to get around Wysocki, while Dercourt was keeping close to De Bortoli for the win. De Bortoli then set the fastest lap of the race as the gap opened up to 2.254 seconds though Dercourt was able to bring that back and get onto the Italian’s back wheel as he searched for a way through.

The pair battled for the win for most of the race as they had a little bit of a gap to Croci and Wysocki who were in their own battle for third. Krisztian Tompa was having a good ride in fifth ahead of Matej Jaros and local rider Mustafa Cetin.

With three laps to go, the gap was at 3.089 and as the race came to a close Dercourt came under fire from a hard-charging Croci who was able to get the Frenchman on the final lap to finish second. Dercourt was forced to settle for third while De Bortoli took the win.

The second race saw Dercourt not line up for the heat which mean he was out of the podium fight and would end up losing vital points in terms of the championship.

As the gate dropped for the second heat, De Bortoli was first out of the start once again, while Croci was right there in second ahead of Wysocki and Tompa.

Sakir Senkalayci dropped two positions on the opening lap which allowed Batuhan Demiryol and Mehmet Celik through.

De Bortoli then edged out by 7.367 as Croci remained second with Wysocki slowly closing the gap to second place. For the rest of the race De Bortoli was fully in control keeping a steady gap to second and third as Corci and Wysocki battled for second.

Eventually, with four laps remaining, Wysokci was able to get around Croci to move into second position, with the Polish rider then setting his sights on chasing down the race leader.

In the end De Bortoli was the race winner, with Wysocki second and Croci third, ahead of Tompa and Jaros who rounded out the top five.

With two race wins, Davide De Bortoli stood on the top step of the podium for the very first time this season, Simone Croci joined him alongside on the second step, while Wysocki celebrated his first podium finish with third overall.

De Bortoli now takes the championship to the final round on Tuesday with a 37-points advantage over Nicolas Dercourt and Simone Croci who is just four points off second place.

Davide De Bortoli: “After an infinity of third place finishes, finally I win here today and for me it’s been a great day because everything went perfect, first in time practice and a win in the first and second race. I am sorry Nicolas Dercourt didn’t start the second race because I would have liked to battle with him for the championship, but I am very happy, and I hope to do another good race on Tuesday. The championship now is almost over but I must keep focused for Tuesday and don’t make any mistakes as I really hope to win the championship”.

Simone Croci: “I had some very good races. In the first race I pushed hard and had some good lap times, I am happy with the result but in the second race I started near Davide, but the track was slippery, and I pushed but Tomasz was very fast. I finished third for second overall. I am happy about the result, and I want to thank my team and my family”.

Tomasz Wysocki: “This is my first podium. In the first race I tried to go with Simone, but I got arm pump, so I had to go slow and save myself for the second race. I was feeling good and didn’t make any mistakes. In the second one I was riding without arm pump, so it was a good race, I had good speed; at the end of the race I passed Simone and finished second for third overall which was good. In the last two laps I could see Davide so I hope on Tuesday to do my best and maybe try to go for the win if I can”.

EMXOpen – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Davide De Bortoli (ITA, Honda), 30:29.774; 2. Simone Croci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:03.188; 3. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, Honda), +0:04.732; 4. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), +0:47.655; 5. Krisztian Tompa (ROU, Husqvarna), +1:25.936; 6. Matej Jaros (CRO, Kawasaki), +1:38.244; 7. Mustafa Cetin (TUR, Yamaha), -2 lap(s); 8. Batuhan Demiryol (TUR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 9. Mehmet Celik (TUR, KTM), -3 lap(s); 10. Sakir Senkalayci (TUR, KTM), -3 lap(s);

EMXOpen – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Davide De Bortoli (ITA, Honda), 30:25.528; 2. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), +0:00.911; 3. Simone Croci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:03.246; 4. Krisztian Tompa (ROU, Husqvarna), +1:30.183; 5. Matej Jaros (CRO, Kawasaki), -1 lap(s); 6. Batuhan Demiryol (TUR, KTM), -2 lap(s); 7. Sakir Senkalayci (TUR, KTM), -3 lap(s); 8. Murat Basterzi (TUR, KTM), -3 lap(s); 9. Mehmet Celik (TUR, KTM), -4 lap(s); 10. Volkan Özgür (TUR, KTM), -4 lap(s);

EMXOpen – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Davide De Bortoli (ITA, HON), 50 points; 2. Simone Croci (ITA, HUS), 42 p.; 3. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Krisztian Tompa (ROU, HUS), 34 p.; 5. Matej Jaros (CRO, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Batuhan Demiryol (TUR, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Sakir Senkalayci (TUR, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Mehmet Celik (TUR, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Murat Basterzi (TUR, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Volkan Özgür (TUR, KTM), 20 p.;

EMXOpen – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Davide De Bortoli (ITA, HON), 204 points; 2. Nicolas Dercourt (FRA, HON), 167 p.; 3. Simone Croci (ITA, HUS), 163 p.; 4. Micha-Boy De Waal (NED, HUS), 125 p.; 5. Filippo Zonta (ITA, HON), 88 p.; 6. Tomasz Wysocki (POL, KTM), 83 p.; 7. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 80 p.; 8. Simeo Ubach (ESP, HUS), 78 p.; 9. Jeff Oxelmark (SWE, HON), 52 p.; 10. Gert Krestinov (EST, HON), 50 p.;

EMXOpen – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Honda, 239 points; 2. Husqvarna, 212 p.; 3. KTM, 157 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 98 p.; 5. Yamaha, 88 p.; 6. GASGAS, 44 p.;

Text/Bild: Infront Moto Racing