Riley Yamaha Racing’s Hakon Fredriksen reigned supreme at the 10th and final round of the EMX250 Championship in Mantova, Italy. The tall Norwegian raced his YZ250F to second position in both races for his second overall victory of the season. At the same time, MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Karlis Reisulis celebrated the ninth and final round of the EMX125 Championship on the second step of the podium after a hard-fought race to the third and sixth positions in the two championship races. Teammate Ivano van Erp bounced back from a challenging opening race, in which he finished 15th, to prove his true potential with a solid second-place finish in the final outing, while Ferrucio Zanchi went 5-12 for ninth.
The penultimate EMX125 race of 2021 saw Zanchi get his GYTR kitted YZ125 off to an incredible start in dry and overcast conditions. The young Italian quickly took hold of second position and led a freight train of gutsy challengers around the rough, slippery sand circuit before falling on lap 5. Meanwhile, Reisulis made a few spectacular passes to move up into eighth position before the end of the first full lap.
After celebrating his first EMX125 round victory at the last round in Pietramurata, Italy, Reisulis has rapidly built in speed and confidence. The Latvian kept momentum high throughout race one as picked off rider after rider to finish in third-place. At the same time, Zanchi made a quick remount and recovered well to finish fifth, as van Erp salvaged 15th after a tough start and two more crashes.
Going into the final race of 2021, van Erp was determined to end the season strong. When the gates fell, the 16-year-old Dutchman powered his GYTR kitted YZ125 to a top-three start and hounded this years’ runner-up, Bobby Bruce, for 20-minutes before making a pass with three laps to go. From there, the ‘432’ upped the ante and charged to his seventh top-three race finish this season. He was second.
After starting eighth, Reisulis ended up in a three-way battle with the newly crown champion Valerio Lata and Scott Smulders for fifth position. The battle was nothing short of intense as it raged on for the entire 14-lap race duration. At the flag, the Latvian crossed the line in sixth position, which was enough to finish on the podium for the second time in his career. Meanwhile, Zanchi put in a spirited charge from the back of the pack to finish 12th after he fell at turn-one.
The EMX125 round of Città di Mantova marked the end of an encouraging season of EMX125 racing. MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s best-placed finisher was Van Erp, who finished inside the top-five in fifth, while Reisulis and Zanchi bounced back from rounds missed through injury to finish the year in seventh and ninth, respectively.
In EMX250, the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team returned to the deceptive, rough and slippery sand of Mantova for the 10th and final round of the EMX250 Championship. Andrea Bonacorsi raced to seventh overall after a crash spoiled his endeavors in race one but bounced back strong with a solid fourth-place finish in race two. Teammate Jeremy Sydow finished ninth and fifth for eighth overall, while Dave Kooiker ended his season in 21st.
Bonacorsi signed off a hugely successful rookie campaign fourth in the series, 35-points clear of Fredriksen, in fifth. Sydow was ranked 14th overall after missing four rounds through injury, while Kooiker finished the year in 17th.
Photo Credit – Yamaha Racing / shotbybavo
