EMX250: Who impressed in Latvia?
The EMX250 championship has been hotly contested the entire season, Latvia seen some new riders at the front and it was good to see. Gatedrop will take a look at the riders that impressed during the course of the weekend!
Rockstar Energy Suzuki rider, Brian Hsu is starting to really progress this year now and starting to turn some heads. At the start of the season it looked as though Alvin Ostlund was going to be the best rookie but Brian has stepped it up in the second half of the season and is now the best rookie in the class. Brian was able to win the second moto win Latvia, his first moto win in the class which is encouraging for him. A second overall in Latvia has now moved him up to fifth in the standings, being his first year on the 250 he is riding well – it’s not always easy in the first year to get good results but it’s starting to click for him now which is good to see.
It hasn’t been the best season for Thomas Kjer Olsen and especially after a recent injury but he was back to form in Latvia. A fourth and a third was enough to give him an overall podium which he will be pleased about. Thomas is one of the more experienced riders in the class and shown good speed last year so I am sure he would have been expecting more podiums this year but he showed good speed in Latvia which is important. It will be interesting to see if he stays in the EMX250 class next year or wants to push for an MX2 ride, he is at the age now where he could do with moving up!
It’s hard to believe that Latvia was Damon Graulus first overall win in the class this season! He is probably the quickest rider in the class and usually always wins at least one moto but he seems to have a lot of bad luck! He was able to win by a comfortable distance in the first moto which will have pleased him but he wasn’t as comfortable in the second moto and only managed to finish in fourth place but it was still good enough to give him the overall. Damon wasn’t happy with the way he rode in the second moto but at least a fourth is better than a crash and losing more championship points, Damon is now only fifteen points behind Kouwenberg for the red plate, it’s going to come down to the wire!
Dutchman, Lars Van Berkel hasn’t had a good season on board his Harry Nolte Kawasaki but he was finally able to put two good motos together in Latvia. He seemed to gel well with the conditions, a solid ninth in the first race was backed up by a fine second place in the second moto – he lead most the moto but Brian was too strong for him at the end of the race. A great ride for Lars which was well and truly needed. It’s thought that Harry Nolte might be running an MX2 and an MXGP rider next year so it’s unclear at the moment if Lars will stay with the team to participate in the European championship but rides like that will help him get a good ride!
Experience and consistency is really helping Nick Kouwenberg potentially win the title! At one stage it looked as though Desprey, Sterry and Graulus wold be too fast for him but as they are crashing out and losing points, Nick is plugging away and getting solid results. A third and a fifth isn’t anything special for him but he only lost points to Graulus in Latvia, Nick is at the front every weekend and has a smart head on his shoulders! What he is doing reminds me of what Clarke done last year as he won the title!
Article: Andy McKinstry
Pic: MXGP
