EMX125 & EMX250: Who impressed in Spain?

It was a good weekend racing in the EMX125 and EMX250 classes with some riders surprising along the way, gatedrop will now take a look at who impressed during the course of the weekend.

EMX125

Spanish sensational, Garcia Prado had to deal with the pressure of riding in front of his home fans this weekend, would the pressure be too much to deal with? No, the Spaniard took it all in his stride and rode brilliant all weekend. His starts have been brilliant all season long and it was no different this weekend. He was able to holeshot both the moto’s and finished second and first to take the overall win. He was also able to increase his points lead for the championship – you wouldn’t bet against him being champion now. For such a young rider he really does have a smart head on his shoulders, he could be riding MX2 GP’s next year!

One of the hot favourites for the title, Josiah Natzke hasn’t had the best of starts to the season but he turned it around in Spain. He has been struggling with starts so far this season but he sorted that out for the first moto of the weekend as he started second, he passed Prado and went on to win the moto. He got another good start in the second moto as he started in third and quickly moved into second, Josiah rode hard and was able to catch Prado but just couldn’t make the pass to take the overall win. Josiah should be pleased with the second overall, he can knuckle down and keep these results up. Even though the start of the season didn’t go great for him he now finds himself third in the championship so he isn’t out of it yet!

I was starting to get a bit worried about Conrad Mewse as his results haven’t been good so far this season but just like his team mate, Josiah, he was able to turn it round this weekend. Having said that, the first moto was a disaster as he had a terrible start – the story of his season and finished seventeenth. Finally, he got a good start in the second moto, did he have the speed to stay with the top guys? Yes, he did. He was right on Josiah for second with three laps to go but then he lost his googles so he had to settle for third. Never the less, he finally had a good moto this year and that should help his confidence for the remainder of the series. Conrad is currently fifth in the series and I believe the best is yet to come from the Brit!

All the riders that have been mentioned so far all ride for the Factory KTM Junior team which Harry and Stefan Everts are heavily involved in, I am sure they will be happy with the weekend they have had!

One rider took his first overall podium in the class and that was TM’s, Davide Cislaghi. It was really important to get good starts as the track was quite one-lined, Davide was able to do just that in both moto’s. Honestly, he just rode really solid all weekend long and didn’t make too many mistakes which he profited it from as others did make mistakes. But, let’s take nothing away from Davide, a great weekend for him and he finished third overall, which he very much deserved.

EMX250

Maxime Desprey is deadly in hard pack, the opposition can’t afford to let him holeshot and get away but that’s exactly what happened.  In the first moto, Graulus did catch him and pass him but Maxime had enough in the tank to pass him back and take the win. The second moto was more straightforward for Desprey as he led from start to finish and just controlled the race. He is now just five points behind Kouwenberg so a good weekend for him and back in the championship haunt! England is up next and he should be fast there as he is very comfortable in the hard pack conditions, could be tough to stop!

Damon Graulus had a good weekend with two second place finishes. Pic: MXGP

The first two rounds didn’t go great for Damon Graulus as he suffered arm pump and sickness but he bounced back this weekend! He was matching Maxime’s lap times all weekend and finished second in both the moto’s. The fact he had the speed to win will give him confidence and if he can get a holeshot then it won’t be long until he wins a moto. Damon is now fourth in the championship but just twelve points behind Kouwenberg. The championship starts now for him and he will be a threat for the title. Damon will race the 3 MX2 GP’s that don’t collide with the EMX250 races – that could definitely help his speed.

It was a consistent weekend for Thomas Kjer Olsen with a fourth and a third place finish in the races, his best round so far this season and it was enough to get him third overall. He has started to gel with the Bobo Schmidt KTM and therefore seems to be improving every race. Thomas won an overall last year and it will be interesting to see if he can do the same this year. Matterley Basin is the next track on the calendar and he usually goes well there, keep an eye out for him!

Dutchman, Davy Pootjes had his best round of the series so far, a fifth place finish in the second moto was impressive. Davy has been solid but not spectacular so far this season but he had a big crash coming into the season and that hit his confidence. Davy seems to be improving every round and I expect him to get stronger and stronger as the season progresses.

A shout out to Nick Kouwenberg who had a strong fourth overall and now has the red plate going into Matterley basin, will he be able to keep hold of it?

It was heart breaking for David Herbreteau as he was a lap away from getting a third overall but an aggressive move from Damon took it away from him. David gelled with the track brilliantly and had great speed all weekend – he should be fast in the UK and will be extremely motivated to get on the box.

Article: Andy McKinstry
Pics: MXGP