UDDEVALLA (Sweden), 06 July 2014 – Another intense round of European Championship racing is in the bag and it’s safe to say everybody is loving these nail biting race finishes and continuous bags of mixed results. In the EMX250, HSF Logistics Motorsport Team’s Brian Bogers became the fifth from five different EMX250 round victors this weekend as a symbol of how deep the talent is in that class this year. Meanwhile TM Racing Team’s Samuele Bernardini took his fourth overall EMX300 round victory, yet it didn’t come easy to the Italian with fellow Italian Team Maddii Racing’s Marco Maddii pushing him all the way to the finish. This round in Uddevalla, Sweden marked round five of both EMX250 and EMX300 championships.
EMX250
Built in a rock quarry the circuit of Uddevalla brought fourth a new challenge for the riders of theEMX250 with the terrain being incredibly hard to read, a little loose and stoney on top with a hard pack base. While race one saw Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry look the most smooth and steady on the slippery surface as he took home his first ever EMX250 race victory, a few errors and a shocking start in race two early this morning saw his chance at a podium quickly diminish.
Meanwhile, with the dawning of a new day and the start of the second race, it was Hitachi Construction Machinery UK KTM’s Ben Watson who took the advantage of riding with a clear track when he took the holeshot ahead of Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Sullivan Jaulin and Kemea Yamaha Racing Team’s latest edition Nick Kouwenberg.
While the trio up front kept each other honest, there was also a cluster of possible race winners following closely behind which included the likes of HSF Logistics Motorsports Ceriel Klein Kromhof,KTM Bodo Schmidt’s Calvin Vlaanderen and CNC Doors KTM’s championship points leader Steven Clarke.
As always, the young lads rode wheel to wheel providing fantastic racing for the thousands of Swedish fans that swarmed the rocky hillsides. Gnarly square edged bumps riddled the circuit leaving no room for a lapse in concentration, which Watson soon learnt a
fter leading the first half of the race before catching a kicker, which allowed both Jaulin and Kouwenberg through to take over the top two positions.
A few turns later the Dutch youngster, Kouwenberg caught a sniff of the lead and made a risky yet clever pass on the Frenchman Jaulin to steal it away. Kouwenberg, coming from a sand surface background, looked surprisingly comfortable up front and managed to lead the remainder of the race for his first ever EMX250 race win.
Meanwhile Jaulin did a great job challenging Kouwenberg despite pressure late in the race from yesterday’s race one runner-up HSF Logistics Motorsports Brian Bogers. Bogers, who too is from a sand background, did an astonishing job recovering from a start which left him at the blunt end of the top ten. After fighting hard the entire twenty-five minute plus two-lap duration, the Dutchman worked his way forward to pass Watson in the closing stages of the race for third and his first ever European Championship EMX250 victory.
Watson managed to come home in fourth with Vlaanderen rounding out the top five.
With the blended results from two very peculiar races it was the Dutchman HSF Logistics Motorsports Brian Bogers who landed himself on the top step of the podium for his career best finish. Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Sullivan Jaulin used his sixth and second place finishes for second overall while Kemea Yamaha Racing’s Nick Kouwenberg will be pumped with his “more or less” debut appearance, rounding out the top three. Meanwhile the Brits, race one winner Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterryand the red plate holder CNC Doors KTM’s Steven Clarke rounded out the top five.
EMX250 Race 1: 1. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 29:33.761; 2. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:03.505; 3. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:09.965; 4. Steven Clarke (GBR, KTM), +0:11.982; 5. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Honda), +0:13.887; 6. Sullivan Jaulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.593; 7. Luca Nijenhuis (NED, Kawasaki), +0:16.172; 8. Brent Van doninck (BEL, KTM), +0:21.134; 9. Ander Valentin (ESP, Yamaha), +0:21.589; 10. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), +0:25.563.
EMX250 Race 2: 1. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), 28:57.749; 2. Sullivan Jaulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:04.051; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:07.573; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), +0:10.665; 5. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), +0:11.598; 6. Ceriel Klein Kromhof (NED, KTM), +0:12.098; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, KTM), +0:15.644; 8. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Honda), +0:21.329; 9. Steven Clarke (GBR, KTM), +0:23.432; 10. Luca Nijenhuis (NED, Kawasaki), +0:23.800.
EMX250 Overall: 1. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 42 points; 2. Sullivan Jaulin (FRA, KAW), 37 p.; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 4. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Steven Clarke (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HON), 29 p.; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Luca Nijenhuis (NED, KAW), 25 p.
EMX250 Championship Standings: 1. Steven Clarke (GBR, KTM), 183 points; 2. Sullivan Jaulin (FRA, KAW), 150 p.; 3. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), 148 p.; 4. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), 147 p.; 5. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 144 p.; 6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HON), 144 p.; 7. Brent Van doninck (BEL, KTM), 142 p.; 8. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 112 p.; 9. Calvin Vlaanderen (NED, KTM), 97 p.; 10. Jorge Zaragoza (ESP, KAW), 95 p.
EMX300
Getting the power to the ground on any kind of two-stroke is always a little more difficult than on a four-stroke, and with a track as slick and as edgy as Uddevalla, the boys were sure to be put to the test.
In race one TM Racing Team’s Samuele Bernardini took a convincing win ahead of Team Maddii Racing’s Marco Maddii while Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Kenny Van Dueren took his second podium place finish of the year in third.
Meanwhile, in race two GL12 Racing’s Lewis Gregory held a tight line around the inside of turn one to snatch the holeshot away from race one winner TM Racing Team’s Samuele Bernardini, but soon gave it up when Bernardini wasted no time charging pass the Brit to take over the lead.
After a mediocre performance yesterday in race one where he only came home in fifth, Gregory was right where he wanted to be, battling up front for some serious championship points. Looking aggressive and determined to redeem himself, the young Brit made a hard charge but seemed to be finding all the sketchy lines on the track which left both him and his bike dancing about for the majority of the race. While he did manage to hold onto second for the first fifteen minutes, despite the pressure from Team Maddii Racing’s Marco Maddii, luck eventually ran out for the hard charging Brit and he was spat off his bike in a gnarly crash through the waves.
After Gregory went down, Maddii capitalized and too over second while Gregory made a super quick recovery to hold on to third. With throttle control being of the essence Maddii seemed to have nailed the skill and caught right up to the race leader and fellow Italian Bernardini igniting a brawl for the lead. Before long Maddii had moved through forcing Bernardini to plot a response, which he did and took the lead back with three laps to go.
While Maddii fought to hold on, he didn’t quite have enough for Bernardini today and was forced to settle for second. Two wins for Bernardini this weekend gave him a perfect score for his fourth overall victory this season while Maddii’s pair of seconds landed him in second. Kenny Van Dueren took home his season’s best result with third while Lewis Gregory and local kid KTM Scandinavia rider Rikard Hansson rounded out the top five.
EMX300 Race 1: 1. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 29:03.404; 2. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), +0:02.347; 3. Kenny Vandueren (BEL, KTM), +0:37.149; 4. Rikard Hansson (SWE, KTM), +0:40.264; 5. Lewis Gregory (GBR, Yamaha), +0:42.021; 6. Jonas Björklund (SWE, Yamaha), +1:06.541; 7. Stephane Watel (FRA, KTM), +1:12.548; 8. Kevin Davidsson (SWE, Kawasaki), +1:15.248; 9. Michele Cencioni (ITA, KTM), +1:20.536; 10. Rene Rannikko (FIN, KTM), +1:27.497.
EMX300 Race 2: 1. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 29:06.877; 2. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), +0:03.025; 3. Lewis Gregory (GBR, Yamaha), +0:13.107; 4. Kenny Vandueren (BEL, KTM), +0:38.930; 5. Rikard Hansson (SWE, KTM), +0:43.381; 6. Kevin Davidsson (SWE, Kawasaki), +1:02.378; 7. Stephane Watel (FRA, KTM), +1:04.997; 8. Michele Cencioni (ITA, KTM), +1:05.411; 9. Rene Rannikko (FIN, KTM), +1:12.822; 10. Jonas Björklund (SWE, Yamaha), +1:22.780.
EMX300 Overall: 1. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 50 points; 2. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 44 p.; 3. Kenny Vandueren (BEL, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Lewis Gregory (GBR, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Rikard Hansson (SWE, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Kevin Davidsson (SWE, KAW), 28 p.; 7. Stephane Watel (FRA, KTM), 28 p.; 8. Jonas Björklund (SWE, YAM), 26 p.; 9. Michele Cencioni (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Rene Rannikko (FIN, KTM), 23 p.
EMX300 Championship Standings: 1. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), 235 points; 2. Marco Maddii (ITA, KTM), 213 p.; 3. Lewis Gregory (GBR, YAM), 188 p.; 4. Stephane Watel (FRA, KTM), 127 p.; 5. Michele Cencioni (ITA, KTM), 123 p.; 6. Txomin Arana (ESP, YAM), 115 p.; 7. Kenny Vandueren (BEL, KTM), 104 p.; 8. Bence Szvoboda (HUN, KTM), 101 p.; 9. Toms Macuks (LAT, KTM), 94 p.; 10. Jean Loup Lepan (FRA, YAM), 80 p.
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MXGP SWEEDEN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1530
Type of ground: Hard Pack
Temperature: 24°
Weather conditions: cloudy
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