The first day of racing here in Maggiora has concluded with the opening round of the EMX Open, as well as round two of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing championship.
Haakon Osterhagen of Fantic Factory Racing Team Maddii continued his winning streak to secure his first 1-1 in the EMX championship, meanwhile Filippo Zonta celebrated a victory on home soil in the same fashion, winning both races.
In the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing category it was Fantic Factory Racing Team Maddii’s Haakon Osterhagen who continued his winning streak, adding two more race wins to his scorecard as he dominated the class once again. Joining him on the podium was Italian Valerio Lata of MRT Racing Team KTM and Kay Karssemakers of Husqvarna SKS Racing.
In the opening race it was ASA United GasGas rider Bobby Bruce who jumped into an early, though his time in first place was cut short as he made a mistake and fell down to last. Scott Smulders of No Fear/Jumbo BT Racing was the race leader for a lap, though by lap 3 Osterhagen was back in the driving seat as he led the way.
Smulders then lost out to Sacha Coenen of 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing and Lata, with the pair going through into second and third, and then it was game on as Coenen and Lata were part of an intense battle for second place. The fight carried on for four laps, with Lata keeping Coenen extremely close, before making a pass stick on lap 9.
Towards the latter stages of the race Osterhagen had extended his lead to 10.332 seconds, as Lata and Coenen remained 2nd and 3rd, until Coenen crashed out with just 3 laps to go. Osterhagen was the race winner, with Lata second and Karssemakers third after making his way through the field from 7th place.
In the second race, it was Lata who grabbed the holeshot, followed by Osterhagen, Sacha Coenen and Bruce. Osterhagen was looking impatient as he worked hard to find a way past Lata, which he did very quickly as he led the race from lap 2.
Coenen was next to go through on Lata, with the young Belgian pushing hard to keep Osterhagen in his sights, though much like in race 1, the Kawasaki rider crashed once more on lap 7, though was able to recover and finish the race in P8.
The remainder of the second race saw Osterhagen lead Lata, Bruce, Andrea Rossi and Karssemakers who worked his way up to 5th.
Osterhagen made it a perfect day to go 1-1, while Lata placed P2 and Bruce was able to have a good race to take a solid P3.
In terms of the podium, it was Osterhagen who took to the top step of the podium, with Lata finishing second and Karssemakers getting shot at the podium in third. Fantic’s Osterhagen continues to lead the championship with 95 points, while Lata and Karssemakers move to second and third in the standings.
Haakon Osterhagen: “Yes it’s been super racing. I feel really satisfied about my riding and also about the bike, I’m super happy to get the 1-1 and make it happen. In the future this is our goal, and we’ll always work to get those results”.
Valerio Lata: “Yes it was a good day and nice to finish on the podium. I really enjoyed riding here because the track was also good. Thank you to my team and those who support me”
Kay Karssemakers: “First of all I’m happy about the result, the first race was good for me but in the second I had a small crash, and I wasn’t able to reach the results I wanted because I had to fight for 5th place. Finally, I’m super happy because is my first podium and I want to thank my team for the great support the gave me this weekend”.
In the EMX Open class it was Filippo Zonta who started the championship with a perfect score of 1-1 to take the round victory on home soil. Joining him on the podium was Frenchman Nicolas Dercourt of Honda SR Motoblouz who placed second with Davide De Bortoli third overall.
In race one, it was Dercourt who grabbed an early lead and was followed by De Bortoli, Zonta and Adrien Escoffier of Honda SR Motoblouz. De Bortoli was keen to get the win and pushed Dercourt from early on in the race, as less than a second separated the two.
De Bortoli moved into the lead on lap 3, before making a mistake on lap 5, which pushed him down to 7th. With Dercourt back in the driving seat, Zonta was the next rider to catch up to the race leader as he put on a charge.
By lap 7, Zonta was the new race leader, while Micha-Boy De Waal of No\Fear Jumbo BT Racing Team and Escoffier had a big one, with Escoffier not finishing the race, whereas De Waal was able to push on and finish the race in 17th position.
As Zonta and Dercourt pulled a safe gap to the rest of the field, a nice battle was forming between Alessandro D’Angelo and Simone Croci with the pair fighting hard for third. Eventually Croci was able to find a way through as he upped his pace and even set the fastest lap of the race.
In the end Zonta was the race winner, with Dercourt second and Croci third.
In race two it was Jeff Oxelmark of JWR Honda Racing who was the early race leader, with Escoffier and Matej Jaros just behind. Escoffier was quick to start applying the pressure and by the second lap was leading the race.
Race 1 winner, Zonta was further down the field in 6th, though by the third lap was already up in the top three.
Escoffier led until lap 5, as Dercourt took the lead away. Zonta was also not looking to waste any time as he squeezed past the number #137 of Escoffier, on the same lap. Then it was a three-rider race as Dercourt, Zonta and Escoffier kept things close.
By lap 8 Zonta was out in front once again, as De Bortoli closed in on Dercourt. The pair fought for a few more laps before the Italian was able to pass the Frenchman and even close back in on the race leader.
In the end it was Zonta with the race win, De Bortoli second and Dercourt third. The podium was quite similar with Zonta occupying the top step of the podium and taking the red plate, while Dercourt placed second and De Bortoli third.
Filippo Zonta: “It feels great to be there, the first race was perfect while in the second one I started really good as well but in the first corner I almost crashed. Anyway, I managed to stay on the bike and get the concentration back to the race, I managed to gain back the lead and win also this race. I’m super happy because last period has been really hard for me, I didn’t give up and I continued to work really hard day by day and after such a big effort everybody can see the results”
Nicolas Dercourt: “The first race I had a really good start while in the second I wasn’t able to start as I wanted, it took me a couple of laps to be back. At the end I’m quite happy about the result because I decided to come to the race only Wednesday”.
Davide De Bortoli: “Today it was a solid day for me, I’m super happy to be on the podium because this means that my speed is really good; now I hope to be better in the next races and step on the top of the podium”.
