After the regional qualifying races the final round of the EMX85 Motocross European Championships were held during the MXGP Festival in Matterley Basin, this past weekend. In the EMX85 class British hopes were pinned on recently crowned FIM World 85cc Motocross Champion, Conrad Mewse. Having just missed out on the European title in 2012 at Matterley Basin due to a puncture in the opening race, Mewse looked dominate from the start of the weekend.
In the qualification race it was former 65cc Junior World Champion Jorge Prado who took the holeshot. However, the current 85cc Junior World Champion Conrad Mewse took the lead on the opening lap and crossed the finish line with a comfortable fourteen seconds gap from Prado. Glen Meier from Denmark gave it all to overtake Prado, but he had to settle down with the third place, and Gianluca Facchetti and Jakub Terasak completed the top five. Fellow Brit Taylor Hammal produce a solid ride to finish in 13
th place and give the youngest a good gate position for the main races.
The open race of the weekend saw Conrad start inside the top 3 and quickly moved into the lead on the opening lap. Once in the lead Conrad never looked back and stormed to an impressive race win ahead of Kim Savastein second and Glen Meier in third place. Fourth and fifth places went to Gianluca Facchetti and Jorge Prado. Taylor Hammal started the race strongly inside the top and rode to a well-deserved 9
th place finish.
When the gates dropped for race two, 85cc Junior World Champion Conrad Mewse wasn’t giving anyone a chance, taking the lead in the first few corners to go on and win unchallenged. Behind Mewse, Danish rider Glen Meier had a good start but made a mistake on the first lap which saw him go off the track and drop back to fourth. The youngster Meier quickly recovered to pass Gianluca Facchetti and Jorge Prado on the following lap and take home second place. Meanwhile one of the fan favourites Gianluca Facchetti, the little Italian running the familiar number 222 of his hero Antonio Cairoli, was flying. Being one of the only kids in the class to ride a Suzuki RM85, Facchetti put on a solid performance to hold off Red Bull KTM Racing’s Jorge Prado for third. Spaniard Jorge Prado rode consistent for a fourth place finish in moto two, three seconds ahead of Andrea Zanotti in fifth. After finishing 9
th in the opening race, fellow Brit Taylor Hammal produced a good result to finish in 6
th place, giving him 8
th overall in the Championship.
EMX85 race one top 10: 1. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 25:15.368; 2. Kim Savaste (FIN, KTM), +0:06.604; 3. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), +0:28.461; 4. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Suzuki), +0:30.324; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +0:32.537; 6. Jakub Terasak (CZE, KTM), +0:43.448; 7. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, TM), +0:48.158; 8. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), +0:56.714; 9. Taylor Hammal (GBR, KTM), +0:59.897; 10. Danne Karlsson (SWE, KTM), +1:04.992;
EMX85 race two top 10: 1. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 25:51.596; 2. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), +0:33.679; 3. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Suzuki), +0:44.078; 4. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), +1:07.061; 5. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, TM), +1:10.483; 6. Taylor Hammal (GBR, KTM), +1:19.253; 7. Jakub Terasak (CZE, KTM), +1:30.171; 8. Kim Savaste (FIN, KTM), +1:51.413; 9. Danne Karlsson (SWE, KTM), +1:52.524; 10. Noud van Kraaij (NED, KTM), +1:53.485;.
EMX85 championship top 10: 1. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 50 points; 2. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Kim Savaste (FIN, KTM), 35 p.; 5. Jorge Prado (ESP, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, TM), 30 p.; 7. Jakub Terasak (CZE, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Taylor Hammal (GBR, KTM), 27 p.; 9. Danne Karlsson (SWE, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, KTM), 23 p.