28-02-2022	MXGP News
Valk and Sandner Top the EMX Podium in Great Britain

The opening rounds of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing and EMX Open categories have concluded with overall victories from Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Cas Valk and Michael Sandner of Raths Motorsports.

The European Championship riders were treated to two days of perfect conditions which made for some great racing that featured plenty of excitement and close battles.

In Saturday’s EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing heat it was Karlis Alberts Reisulis of Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC who grabbed the holeshot from Julius Mikula, Alexis Fueri of Fantic Factory Team Maddii and Elias Escandell of RFME GASGAS MX Junior Team.

A couple of corners later the running order was a little different with K. Reisulis still in the lead as Brit Joe Brookes moved into third and Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC’s Ivano Van Erp into fourth.

Van Erp then took third from Brookes, as Ferruccio Zanchi of Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC was making his way up the order but made a mistake and was off the track as he looked to get around Cas Valk of Fantic Factory Racing Maddii.

K. Reisulis then led Van Erp by 6.629 seconds after the Dutchman passed Maximilian Werner from KTM Kosak Team. But it was Valk who was pushing hard as he set the fastest lap of the race and moved himself into third, pushing Werner further down the order.

Brookes was looking strong in the opening stages of the race but then went out of the race after a crash. The Brit rode into pitlane holding his shoulder.

Janis Martins Reisulis was also having a good ride in fifth and eventually finished in third. But his brother Alberts crashed hard out of the lead and re-joined just ahead of Zanchi. Clearly shaken by the crash, K. Reisulis lost the position to Zanchi who became the new race leader on lap eight.

3 laps from the end there was another shake up as K. Reisulis crashed big again and did not re-join the race. Zanchi went on to claim the first race win of the season ahead of Valk, J. Reisulis, Fueri and Escandell.

Doing it for the girls in the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class was Lotte Van Drunen who made the move up to the 125cc bike for the 2022 season. She placed in a strong 30th place.

In race two, it was Fueri with the holeshot ahead of Marc-Antoine Rossi of Tech 32, Escandell and Van Erp. Van Erp was quick to make moves and got himself into second by the end of the opening lap.

Race 1 winner Zanchi was also making his way up the order as he sat in seventh behind Antonio Gallego of RFME GASGAS MX Junior Team.

Fueri was doing a great job of keeping Van Erp at bay, as the Yamaha rider went off the track but managed to keep his position.

J. Reisulis was doing great again in the second heat as he was fifth ahead of Zanchi and Valk who were closing in.

Van Erp then set the fastest lap of the race as he closed the gap down from the leader and it didn’t take him long to get by Fueri and move into first place. Rossi then started to apply the pressure onto Fueri too and moments later squeezed down the inside to take second.

Meanwhile Valk continued his charge to the front as he had both J. Reisulis and Fueri well in his sights.

While Fueri looked like he was on his way to a potential podium finish, disaster struck as the Italian went down hard. It took him a couple of minutes to get back on the bike, but he did and rode back to pitlane to DNF the second race.

Rossi then crashed out of second position as he chased Van Erp and a lap later Van Erp crashed himself. This meant that Fueri was the new race leader.

In the final laps we witnessed an intense lap between Fueri and Valk, as Valk pushed his teammate for the win. In the end he was able to make a pass stick to secure the race win and the overall victory. Fueri was second, Rossi third and J. Reisulis was fourth ahead of Escandell. Van Erp eventually came back to sixth.

Valk was the overall winner, with Fueri joining him on the podium on the second step and J. Reisulis making his first ever podium appearance in EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing.

The next round of the EXM125 Presented by FMF Racing will take place in Pietramurata on the 9th/10th of April for the round of Trentino.

Cas Valk: “Perfect weekend, not the best starts but the riding was super good. I enjoyed the track all weekend, it was really difficult, especially yesterday with a lot of arm pump but I kept pushing in the second race, made some little mistakes but I had some nice battles, also with my teammate so it was a good weekend for me, and I am super happy”.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing - Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Yamaha), 30:56.171; 2. Cas Valk (NED, Fantic), +0:05.565; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, KTM), +0:14.469; 4. Alexis Fueri (FRA, Fantic), +0:22.945; 5. Elias Escandell (ESP, GASGAS), +0:25.611; 6. Matteo Luigi Russi (ITA, KTM), +0:36.658; 7. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), +0:41.384; 8. Charlie Heyman (GBR, KTM), +1:00.537; 9. Adrien Petit (FRA, Yamaha), +1:07.584; 10. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, Husqvarna), +1:18.507;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing - Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Cas Valk (NED, Fantic), 30:41.349; 2. Alexis Fueri (FRA, Fantic), +0:01.089; 3. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), +0:01.609; 4. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, KTM), +0:02.553; 5. Elias Escandell (ESP, GASGAS), +0:03.359; 6. Ivano Van Erp (NED, Yamaha), +0:05.909; 7. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:31.084; 8. Julius Mikula (CZE, KTM), +0:38.568; 9. Charlie Heyman (GBR, KTM), +0:48.670; 10. Antonio Gallego (ESP, GASGAS), +0:53.378;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing - Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 47 points; 2. Alexis Fueri (FRA, FAN), 40 p.; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Elias Escandell (ESP, GAS), 32 p.; 6. Charlie Heyman (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Matteo Luigi Russi (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, HUS), 20 p.; 10. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 15 p.;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Cas Valk (NED, FAN), 47 points; 2. Alexis Fueri (FRA, FAN), 40 p.; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Marc-Antoine Rossi (FRA, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Elias Escandell (ESP, GAS), 32 p.; 6. Charlie Heyman (GBR, KTM), 25 p.; 7. Matteo Luigi Russi (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, HUS), 20 p.; 10. Ivano Van Erp (NED, YAM), 15 p.;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing - Manufacturers Classification: 1. Fantic, 47 points; 2. Yamaha, 40 p.; 3. KTM, 40 p.; 4. GASGAS, 32 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 20 p.;