Under blue skies and sunshine FIM Europe’s EMX250 and EMX300 presented by FMF Racing classes have completed their British round at Matterley Basin. Aside from the epic weather and perfect track conditions the racing was phenomenal as well.
The British fans where especially treated when Car Glass Honda’s Steven Clarke took the EMX250 overall and Verde Substance KTM’s Brad Anderson won EMX300 presented by FMF Racing and took the championship points lead at the same time!
The ultra competitive EMX250 class continued this weekend in Matterley Basin for the 5th round of the season. Revo Husqvarna UK had high hopes for a home race win with both Martin Barr, the series points leader, and Mel Pocock, second in the standings, both racing in front of the home crowd. However when the gate dropped on Saturday for Race 1 both Barr and Pocock were out of the top 5 while Michael Sandner led the pack.
Behind Sandner was Tom Vialle from France but after 4 laps Vialle took the lead. Meanwhile Car Glass Honda’s Steven Clarke was charging forward from a 5th place start and was already up to 3rd past fellow Brit Josh Spinks.
With 4 laps to go Clarke took 2nd away from Sandner and started to close in on Vialle. On the final lap Clarke took the lead from Vaille and Spinks took 3rd from Sandner with Honda Redmoto Assomotor’s Mathys Boisrame in 5th.
Race 2 kicked off with the first points leader of the season and round 1 winner BUD Racing Monster Energy’s Pierre Goupillon in the lead and Clarke in second. Running in third was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Mikkel Haarup ahead of Sandner and REVO Husqvarna UK’s Mel Pocock.
Clarke was the first of the top 5 to make a move, doing so on lap 4 to take the lead from Goupillon. On lap 5 Pocock and his REVO Husqvarna UK teammate Martin Barr both took a position from Sandner.
Pocock and Barr now ran 4th and 5th as Haarup made his way around Goupillon for 2nd. The following lap Barr passed Pocock for 4th and Haarup took the lead from Clarke. For the next 3 laps until the finish the top five held their positions and giving Clarke the overall win Spinks 2nd and Goupillin 3rd tied with Barr, Sandner, and Vialle at 32 points.
EMX250 Race 1 Top 10: 1. Steven Clarke (GBR, Honda), 30:08.019; 2. Tom Vialle (FRA, Husqvarna), +0:01.900; 3. Josh Spinks (GBR, KTM), +0:03.028; 4. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), +0:03.933; 5. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Honda), +0:04.048; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:06.089; 7. Martin Barr (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:06.139; 8. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), +0:13.606; 9. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.020; 10. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:18.252.
EMX250 Race 2 Top 10: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), 32:24.782; 2. Steven Clarke (GBR, Honda), +0:04.680; 3. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:07.590; 4. Martin Barr (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:08.652; 5. Mel Pocock (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:10.674; 6. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Honda), +0:15.881; 7. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), +0:18.209; 8. Josh Spinks (GBR, KTM), +0:23.813; 9. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), +0:26.043; 10. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:35.080.
EMX250 Overall Top 10: 1. Steven Clarke (GBR, HON), 47 points; 2. Josh Spinks (GBR, KTM), 33 p.; 3. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KAW), 32 p.; 4. Martin Barr (GBR, HUS), 32 p.; 5. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Tom Vialle (FRA, HUS), 32 p.; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 31 p.; 8. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, HON), 31 p.; 9. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 29 p.; 10. James Dunn (GBR, KTM), 25 p.
EMX250 Championship Top 10: 1. Martin Barr (GBR, HUS), 160 points; 2. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 157 p.; 3. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, HON), 151 p.; 4. Steven Clarke (GBR, HON), 128 p.; 5. Dylan Walsh (NZL, HUS), 117 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 110 p.; 7. Tom Vialle (FRA, HUS), 105 p.; 8. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KAW), 97 p.; 9. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 91 p.; 10. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, YAM), 85 p.
EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. Husqvarna, 223 points; 2. Honda, 208 p.; 3. KTM, 174 p.; 4. Yamaha, 162 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 149 p.; 6. Suzuki, 35 p.
Race 1 of EMX300 presented by FMF Racing was led by Verde Substance KTM’s Brad Anderson from the start with GL12 Racing’s Mike Kras in second and Ashley Wilde in 3rd. Voclav Kovar from the Czech Republic was 4th on his Gas Gas early with Greg Smets in 5th.
Erik Williems was on a charge from 7th passing Smets on lap 3 and a lap later Kovar jumped into 3rd. Meanwhile Kras was pressuring Anderson for the lead but on lap eight bad luck struck the points leader when his bike gave out.
The loss of Kras allowed Kovar into second, Wilde into third and promoted iFly JK Racing Yamaha’s Manuel Iacopi to 4th after starting in 8th. A1M Husqvarna’s Andero Lusbo took 5th from Smets with 3 laps to go and held onto the top 5 till the finish.
Race 2 was led by Iacopi off the start ahead of Lusbo, Kras, and Smets. Race 1’s winner Brad Anderson was back in 6th the first two laps. As Kras rode in third another mechanical took him out of the race and giving the red plate holder coming into the weekend a heart breaking double zero score.
With Kras out Anderson moved up into 4th on lap 3 while Lusbo took over the lead from Iacopi on lap 4. Smets was into 2nd only one lap later as Iacopi pulled of the track with a rear wheel issue. Next to take 2nd was Anderson from Smets as the Belgian dropped 4 positions. Into third was Erik Willems but he was passed only a lap later by Kovar.
Across the finish line Lusbo took the race win with Anderson second, Kovar third, Willems fourth, and Wilde fifth. In the overall result Brad Anderson won followed by Kovar and Lusbo. Anderson’s win along with the misfortune of Kras gives the defending champion the red plate and a 26 point lead in the championship.
EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top 10: 1. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 30:17.393; 2. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, Gas Gas), +0:01.156; 3. Ashley Wilde (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:33.564; 4. Manuel Iacopi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:50.837; 5. Andero Lusbo (EST, Husqvarna), +0:56.326; 6. Greg Smets (BEL, KTM), +1:08.897; 7. Ben Putnam (GBR, Yamaha), +1:14.736; 8. Erik Willems (BEL, Husqvarna), +1:16.616; 9. Ashley Greedy (GBR, KTM), +1:17.240; 10. Jamie Skuse (GBR, Yamaha), +1:27.110.
EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top 10: 1. Andero Lusbo (EST, Husqvarna), 30:43.085; 2. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), +0:03.359; 3. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, Gas Gas), +0:03.929; 4. Erik Willems (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:19.863; 5. Ashley Wilde (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:26.726; 6. Greg Smets (BEL, KTM), +0:34.215; 7. Ashley Greedy (GBR, KTM), +0:34.629; 8. Ben Putnam (GBR, Yamaha), +0:41.642; 9. Tallon Verhelst (BEL, KTM), +0:45.944; 10. Tim Louis (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:47.207.
EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top 10: 1. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 47 points; 2. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 42 p.; 3. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 41 p.; 4. Ashley Wilde (GBR, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Erik Willems (BEL, HUS), 31 p.; 6. Greg Smets (BEL, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Ben Putnam (GBR, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Ashley Greedy (GBR, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Michele Cencioni (ITA, KTM), 19 p.; 10. Manuel Iacopi (ITA, YAM), 18 p.
EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top 10: 1. Brad Anderson (GBR, KTM), 169 points; 2. Andero Lusbo (EST, HUS), 143 p.; 3. Greg Smets (BEL, KTM), 132 p.; 4. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), 130 p.; 5. Vaclav Kovar (CZE, GAS), 114 p.; 6. Erik Willems (BEL, HUS), 111 p.; 7. Manuel Iacopi (ITA, YAM), 104 p.; 8. Youri van t Ende (NED, KTM), 50 p.; 9. Tim Louis (BEL, HUS), 48 p.; 10. Tallon Verhelst (BEL, KTM), 44 p.
EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 192 points; 2. Husqvarna, 147 p.; 3. Yamaha, 125 p.; 4. Gas Gas, 114 p.; 5. TM, 36 p.; 6. Honda, 15 p.