BONACORSI GETS BACK TO WINNING WAYS IN ARNHEM IN EMX250.
The Round of Netherlands in EMX250 witnessed many battles across the board. The sand track of Arnhem allowed riders to show all their skills and speed to overtake and fight for the top spots.
Red Plate Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi won his 3rd round of the season and kept his 100% podium record this season while extending his lead in the Championship. Fantic Racing MX’s Cas Valk confirmed his emphatic win in Sweden with the 2nd overall while BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers pulled out another podium after fighting hard to come back in the first race.
In race 1, home rider Cas Valk took a huge start and the lead in front of his countryman Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Ivano Van Erp and VRT KTM Factory Juniors’ Ferruccio Zanchi. Both riders showed good speed but Valk edged away and created a good gap. The front three riders disappeared at the front. Van Erp gopt closer andcloser from Valk and managed to make an incredible pass on Valk on lap 10 of 15 to take the lead. Zanchi took inspiration from Van Erp and made the pass stick also on Valk a lap later. Unfortunately, Van Erp crashed while at the lead on lap 12 and Zanchi capitalised on that and flew to victory. Van Erp injured himself and broke his pelvis which will rule him out for the rest of the season.
Valk 2nd had to deal with a huge charge from Red Plate Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing Team’s Andrea Bonacorsi who as he has shown in the last rounds, increased his pace as the race went on. Bonacorsi who found himself 7th on lap 1 powered through to move up the ranks consistently to get to 3rd on lap 12. Bonacorsi’s speed was too much for Valk who could not hold his ground and saw the Italian pass him on lap 13 to finish 2nd. Valk finished 3rd although he unfortunately got penalised 5 positions for failing post-race noise control and finished 8th.
Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Prugnieres took a good start going 6th an lap 1 and quickly overtook KTM SB Racing’s Nico Greutmann and RFME GASGAS MXJUNIOR TEAM’s Francisco Garcia to move up to 4th on lap 4. Garcia who normally races in EMX125 presented by FMF Racing was racing well and showed good things while he was 5th but he had an issue with his bike and had to retire on lap 6. Prungieres 4th got overtaken by Bonacorsi on lap 8 and moved down to 5th although he benefitted from Van Erp crash and Valk’s penalty to finish 3rd in the end.
Fantic Racing MX’s Haakon Osterhagen rode solidly after an average start in 11th place. The Norwegian managed to make many overtakes and fought for most of the second part of the race with BT Racing Team’s Kay Karssemakers. Osterhagen got the last word and finished 4th in the end while Karssemakers made a huge comeback after getting tangled in the first corners that made him have to ride from the back as he found himself 23rd on the turn of lap 1. Karssemakers showed huge determination to charge forward relentlessly to finish 5th in the end with a last lap charge on SM Action Racing Team Yuasa Battery’s Federico Tuani. Tuani settled for 6th in front of Fantic Racing MX’s Alexis Fueri 7th.
In Race 2 it was KTM Beddini Racing Team’s Valerio Lata who finished 10th in race 1 who took the best start in front of Karssemakers and Valk. Both riders engaged in a fierce battle for 2nd over the first couple of laps and went wheel to wheel but it was Valk who got the last word after setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 in 1.46:127. Valk kept riding forward and on lap 5 made a decisive move to take the lead off Lata. Valk pulled away quickly as he felt at one with the track to create a gap of up to 11 seconds and win the race comfortably. The home rider had to settle for the 2nd overall after getting demoted 5 positions in race 1 to go 8-1 but won his 3rd race out of the last 4 to prove how on form he is.
After getting passed by Valk, Lata made several mistakes which Karssemakers and Bonacorsi capitalised on. Lata in the end finished the race in 5th to go 10-5 for 8th overall. However, racings got intense between the top 2 in the Championship as Bonacorsi pushed hard to overtake Karssemakers. Karssemakers held his ground very well and hold off the Red Plate few times but in the end, Bonacorsi found the way and managed to pass Karssemakers on lap 14 of 15.
Bonacorsi finished 2nd to go 2-2 and clinch his 3rd overall win of the season and extended his lead in the Championship while Karssemakers finished 3rd to go 5-3 and round the podium.
After winning race 1, Zanchi fell in the opening lap and had a mountain to climb but the Italian raced superbly to move up to 10th in the end going 1-10 and take the 4th place overall.
Tuani raced very well once again as he gained position during the race to go from 9th on lap 1 to finish 5th after overtaking Osterhagen on lap 13. Tuani in the end got a 6-5 finish to get the 7th overall while Osterhagen also rode solidly within the top 10 again to finish 6th with 4-6 for 6th overall. After a great first race Prugnieres had an average start to go 13th on lap 1 but showed a good fighting spirit to move up the ranks and finish 7th for 5th overall. Another French rider, Fueri solidly raced within the top 10 to get a good 8th place and go 7-8 for 9th overall.
Andrea Bonacorsi : “I never give up and I feel comfortable in the sand. I felt a bit tired in the first race and didn’t want to make too many mistakes on this track but we managed to go 2-2 and first overall so I’m really happy and I want to thank all my team and sponsors. I also want to wish the best recovery to my teammate Ivano (Van Erp) who had a crash yesterday. It was a pity because I thought it was possible to go 1-2 on the podium but best of luck to him and thank you everyone.”
EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), 30:27.063; 2. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:01.601; 3. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:38.635; 4. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, Fantic), +1:16.947; 5. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Husqvarna), +1:20.894; 6. Federico Tuani (ITA, KTM), +1:23.723; 7. Alexis Fueri (FRA, Fantic), +1:30.041; 8. Cas Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:15.415; 9. Kjeld Stuurman (NED, KTM), +1:35.343; 10. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), +1:39.217
EMX250 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Cas Valk (NED, Fantic), 29:45.228; 2. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:04.939; 3. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Husqvarna), +0:15.982; 4. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), +0:35.642; 5. Federico Tuani (ITA, KTM), +0:50.379; 6. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, Fantic), +0:51.808; 7. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:03.035; 8. Alexis Fueri (FRA, Fantic), +1:15.483; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:19.956; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), +1:30.138
EMX250 – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 44 points; 2. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 38 p.; 3. Kay Karssemakers (NED, HUS), 36 p.; 4. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 34 p.; 6. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, FAN), 33 p.; 7. Federico Tuani (ITA, KTM), 31 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 9. Alexis Fueri (FRA, FAN), 27 p.; 10. Kjeld Stuurman (NED, KTM), 20 p
EMX250 – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 350 points; 2. Kay Karssemakers (NED, HUS), 296 p.; 3. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 264 p.; 4. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, KTM), 240 p.; 5. Quentin Marc Prugnieres (FRA, KAW), 215 p.; 6. Valerio Lata (ITA, KTM), 203 p.; 7. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), 199 p.; 8. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 190 p.; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 171 p.; 10. Federico Tuani (ITA, KTM), 149 p
EMX250 – Manufacturers Classification: 1. Yamaha, 364 points; 2. KTM, 321 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 304 p.; 4. Fantic, 271 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 220 p.; 6. GASGAS, 138 p.; 7. TM, 93 p.; 8. Honda, 2 p.;
Text/Bild: Infront