2020 EMX125 Championship Preview: The New Blood
With the first round of the EMX125 series taking place at Matterley Basin this weekend, we take a look at the rookies to watch out for in the class!
There’s no better place than to start with the 2019 85cc Junior World Champion, Valerio Lata. The young Italian oozes class and has a lovely style on the bike. During the International Italian Championship races he’s looked the best out of the rookies so far and even beat Everts in a moto. Lata has a good team behind him – the Marchetti KTM racing team and should certainly be one of the best rookies in 2020, if not the best. There’s no doubt that Lata is a rider to keep an eye on in the future as he’s blessed with a lot of talent.
Lata didn’t get things all his own way last year in the 85cc class as the gifted, Edvards Bidzans clinched the EMX85 title in Loket going 1-2 to win the title. Coming from a country like Latvia it isn’t easy to break through in Motocross but Bidzans looks the real deal seeing him ride, he’s a stylish rider to watch. For 2020, Tanel Leok has spotted the potential in Bidzans and signed up him for his rookie year in the EMX125 class. The Latvian might still be a little bit small for the bike so perhaps we might not see the best of him until the second part of the season when he adapts to the 125cc.
Bidzans with his new team manager, Tanel Leok.
The BUD Kawasaki Racing team from France always have a future talent under their awning. The team helped to bring through the likes of Dylan Ferrandis and Brian Moreau and they’re hoping that Quentin Marc Prugnieres can be the next big thing. The young French talent finished third in the EMX85 title last year and fourth in the Junior World Championship but for being so young he’s actually quite a big guy so moving up to the 125cc might suit him the most. Working with Steven Frossard should be a really good help and guidance for Prugnieres as well. There’s so much talent coming up from France at the moment and Prugnieres might just be the next one to keep an eye out for.
Last year was a good one for Cas Valk as he won the 85cc Dutch Masters of Motocross, the person to clinch that title before Valk was Kay de Wolf and we know how talented he is. Valk has quite a big build so should suit the 125cc and he attempted to qualify for his home round of the series at Valkenswaard last year, he missed out by just a couple of tenths of a second. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago Valk crashed whilst preparing for the season in Italy picking up a pelvic ring fracture. It remains to be seen how long Valk will be out for but it’s a setback he could have done without.
A happy Valk after winning the Dutch 85cc title in 2019. Pic: Niek Kamper
Battling Valk for the Dutch title last year was Karlis Alberts Reisulis from Latvia – a country more and more talent seems to be emerging from, perhaps thanks to Pauls Jonass helping raise the sport back in his home country. Reisulis is really fast and in a way would you remind you of a young Pauls Jonass in the way he rides – obviously he’s a lot of work to do to get to that level but he should suit the 125cc and have some good results in 2020.
Back in 2017, Ivano van Erp won the EMX65 title and looked like an elite talent as he dominated his peers. However, since moving up to the 85cc, he’s been out-shown a little bit by some of his fellow country men, having said that there’s a tonne of talent emerging from the Netherlands at the moment. After perhaps not getting the results he’d have liked on the 85cc it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to the 125cc. Van Erp is still quite small but there’s no doubt he has bags full of talent and having the MJC Yamaha team behind him should help guide him in the right direction.
Pic: Niek Kamper
Prugnieres isn’t the only French talent to watch out for as Maxime Grau could also have a good future and is working with former GP rider Anthony Boissiere who is trying to steer him in the right direction. Grau might not have the blistering speed of some of the top riders but he’s super solid and should be consistent which is always a positive.
One rider that should come into the season with plenty of confidence is Pietro Razzini as he won the 125cc International Italian Championship. Razzini has been racing a 125cc the past few years but hasn’t committed to a full season in the EMX125 class but is expected too this year. If he can translate his speeed from his home country all around the world he could be one to watch out for in 2020.
There’s no getting away from it, there’s not much talent coming through from Belgium at the moment but the Coenen Brothers do have plenty of talent and Lucas Coenen will step up to race the EMX125 series in 2020. The EMX85 series or the Junior World Championship didn’t go to plan for him last year but he knows he’s capable of better and will use his rookie season to learn as much as possible.
He’s not set to race the entire series but Maximus Vohland is doing the first round and could be set to do the first four rounds of the series but it’s still to be confirmed. It’ll be the first time a top American comes to race the EMX125 series, in the past they’ve come to race the EMX250 series but this is the first time we’ll see a top yank in EMX125. Vohland is sixteen years old so has plenty of experience on a 125cc and should he at the sharp end. If he likes the series and does well fingers crossed he does the full series.
There’s two British rookies to look out for in 2020 in the form of Ethan Lane (sadly ruled out from injury at round one) who’s signed with the Hitachi KTM fuelled by Milwaukee team and Charlie Palmer who are both highly rated youngsters in the UK. The main thing for any young Brit contesting the EMX125 series in the rookie season is just to enjoy it and learn as much as they can – the experience they can gain is vital and really help them in the future.
Article: Andy McKinstry
Main pic: Youthstream
