Prado and Kouwenberg crowned EMX champions
ASSEN (The Netherlands), 30 August 2015 – The final rounds of the world’s number one amateur motocross series, the European Championships EMX250 and EMX125, took place amidst the epicness of the MXGP of The Netherlands this weekend. Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus and Sahkar KTM Racing’s Jago Geerts won the battle on the amazing circuit, which was remarkably built in five days on the infield of the iconic Dutch TT circuit in Assen but it was J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg and KTM Factory Juniors Jorge Prado who won the war with their clinching of the gold plates.
Kouwenberg used consistency to win the EMX2 title. Pic: MXGP
Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus has had a roller coaster of a season but couldn’t have asked for a better end to it with his total domination in the sand of Assen. In race one yesterday the Belgian got off to a top five start and moved quickly into the lead to win by 10 seconds over Bud Racing Kawasaki Monster Energy’s Maxime Desprey. While that went relatively easy for him, today was a different story as he was dozy on the gate and got off to a terrible start. Despite the challenge, the talented Yamaha rider put his head down and took no prisoners on his charge from outside the top twenty to pass four riders in the last two laps for his second race victory of the weekend and his second overall victory of the season.
Being passed with a handful of laps to go was devastating for Holland’s own Frederik Van Der Vlist who controlled every lap of the race almost effortlessly only to be shoved back to second place at the checkers while Desprey, someone who is more of a clay specialist, rode to an impressive third.
It was the story of his season for Wilvo Forkrent’s Adam Sterry who made quite a few mistakes throughout race two and dropped from second back to fifth when the EMX250 round of Belgium winner HNHF Racing’s Lars Van Berkel passed him with a few laps to go for fourth.
With Belgium being the neighbouring country of The Netherlands Damon Graulus had the fans going absolutely mental in honor of his double race win for the overall here in Assen while Maxime Desprey and Frederik Van Der Vlist rounded off the podium in that order.
As for the Dutch fans, J-Tech Honda’s Nick Kouwenberg gave them something to cheer for since he was crowned the 2015 European EMX250 Champion. Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Damon Graulus’ amazing ride this weekend made him the vice EMX250 champion with Wilvo Forkrent KTM’s Adam Sterry retaining his status as the bronze medalist.
EMX250 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), 29:36.668; 2. Maxime Desprey (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:10.416; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Honda), +0:16.549; 4. Frederik van der Vlist (NED, Kawasaki), +0:19.445; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:20.900; 6. Max Engelen (NED, KTM), +0:33.526; 7. Lars van Berkel (NED, Kawasaki), +0:36.180; 8. Michael Hool (NED, KTM), +0:56.076; 9. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +1:04.416; 10. Stefan Ekerold (GER, KTM), +1:12.655
EMX250 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Damon Graulus (BEL, Yamaha), 29:08.651; 2. Frederik van der Vlist (NED, Kawasaki), +0:05.238; 3. Maxime Desprey (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.811; 4. Lars van Berkel (NED, Kawasaki), +0:07.824; 5. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), +0:08.254; 6. David Herbreteau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.086; 7. Alvin Östlund (SWE, Yamaha), +0:19.936; 8. Bas Vaessen (NED, Suzuki), +0:35.852; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, Honda), +0:41.219; 10. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), +0:47.055; 11. Max Engelen (NED, KTM), +1:03.579; 12. Ander Valentin (ESP, Yamaha), +1:10.202
EMX250 Overall Top Ten: 1. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 50 points; 2. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Frederik van der Vlist (NED, KAW), 40 p.; 4. Lars van Berkel (NED, KAW), 32 p.; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 30 p.; 6. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Max Engelen (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 8. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 25 p.; 9. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 20 p.; 10. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), 16 p.
EMX250 Championship Top Ten: 1. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 309 points; 2. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 293 p.; 3. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 279 p.; 4. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 277 p.; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 216 p.; 6. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), 193 p.; 7. Brian Hsu (GER, SUZ), 190 p.; 8. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 175 p.; 9. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KAW), 129 p.; 10. Lars van Berkel (NED, KAW), 127 p.
EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. Kawasaki, 381 points; 2. Yamaha, 371 p.; 3. KTM, 358 p.; 4. Honda, 317 p.; 5. Suzuki, 220 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 192 p.;
Yesterday in Race one KTM Factory Junior’s Jorge Prado put in an awe-inspiring performance for the win, which gave him a decent amount of breathing space on his closest rival in the championship, his KTM Factory Juniors teammate Josiah Natzke.
Prado is the next superstar of MXGP. Supremely talented, the 14 year-old won the EMX125 title in his first season! Pic: MXGP
While yesterday it was all about Prado, today the powerhouse of the vicious sand in Assen was the third of the KTM Factory Juniors trio Conrad Mewse. Starts are Davide Cislaghi’s forte, which he authenticated with yet another holeshot but was immediately passed by Norway’s Kevin Horgmo, who may have over exerted himself in the first couple of laps as he eventually dropped back to seventh.
Mewse wasted no time in taking charge of the race and ended up blitzing everyone for his first race win of the season. Behind the flying Brit was Sahkar KTM Racing’s young talent Jago Geerts, who has proven in over the last few rounds he is a rider to watch in the future. Geerts started the season injured but upon his return to 100% health and fitness has climbed the ranks and nailed two impressive second place finishes this weekend to win the EMX125 round of The Netherlands.
Coming home in third was Diga Racing’s Miro Sihvonen who had his sand skills on full display while EMX125 round of Belgium winner Cyril Genot came home in fourth with the local HSF Logistics Motorsport Team’s Noud Van Krij rounding out the top five.
Topping the box this weekend was Sahkar KTM Racing’s young Belgian talent Jago Geerts, who took his first ever European Championship overall victory and stood on the podium for the second time this season. KTM Factory Junior’s Conrad Mewse owned it here today in race two to finish second overall while KTM Factory Junior’s race one winner Jorge Prado rounded off the podium.
Natzke impressed everyone with his speed in his first season in EMX. Pic: MXGP
After an epic season long duel, KTM Factory Juniors Jorge Prado was crowned European Champion in the EMX125 ahead of teammate Josiah Natzke and the FIM Junior 125cc World Champion Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux.
EMX125 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 29:59.801; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:04.213; 3. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), +0:08.157; 4. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:09.637; 5. Ruben Fernandez Garcia (ESP, KTM), +0:55.240; 6. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), +1:00.870; 7. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), +1:05.097; 8. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), +1:08.795; 9. Sander Agard-Michelsen (NOR, TM), +1:12.784; 10. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), +1:14.603
EMX125 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 28:59.416; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:16.379; 3. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), +0:21.851; 4. Noud van Kraaij (NED, KTM), +0:52.940; 5. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, TM), +0:58.463; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +1:03.464; 7. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Yamaha), +1:03.775; 8. Ruben Fernandez Garcia (ESP, KTM), +1:10.332; 9. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), +1:10.684; 10. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), +1:11.426
EMX125 Overall Top Ten: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 44 points; 2. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 43 p.; 3. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Ruben Fernandez Garcia (ESP, KTM), 29 p.; 6. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, TM), 25 p.; 8. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), 24 p.; 9. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Noud van Kraaij (NED, KTM), 21 p
EMX125 Championship Top Ten: 1. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 308 points; 2. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 284 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 245 p.; 4. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 221 p.; 5. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 206 p.; 6. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), 168 p.; 7. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), 157 p.; 8. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 156 p.; 9. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, YAM), 153 p.; 10. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 147 p.
EMX125 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 391 points; 2. Yamaha, 279 p.; 3. TM, 211 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 202 p.
