The Spanish fans got exactly what they wanted in the opening race. Salvador Perez was in superb form on his RFME GasGas leading every lap to take the win – his first EMX125 race win! There was havoc around the first corner which saw a number of riders go down including championship leader, Noel Zanocz.
Simone Mancini put a bit of pressure on Perez at the beginning before the Spaniard pulled away to take a dominate race win. Gyan Doensen was third and looking comfortable there so that is where he finished – he’s the new championship leader heading into race two.
Zanocz battled hard and was able to get himself back to twelfth to salvage championship points.
Cole McCullough got a bad start and was twentieth on lap one but worked his way up to eleventh before a couple of riders passed him but then he ran into problems and DNF’d.
Aron Katona was way back but rode really well on his HTS KTM to get all the way back to seventh. Dex Kooiker was leading for the first couple of corners and the EMX125 rookie did well to come home in ninth.
The second moto saw completely different conditions due to overnight prep and heavy watering. The circuit was more sandy. Mano Faure got the holeshot and was looking fantastic at the front but Perez, Doensen and Zanocz were all buried and outside the top twenty. It went from bad to worse for Perez as he then crashed with Katona.
Doensen was riding without goggles but waited until around the halfway mark to go into goggle lane. Faure then dropped it which promoted Mancini to the lead and the Italian was looking good but then he lost his goggles towards the end and Heitink got around him to take an impressive win on his MJC Yamaha. The rookie is learning fast!
2-2 for Mancini still give him the overall win – his second of the season. Zanocz was on a mission and got back to tenth behind Cole McCullough who avoided problems to come home in a solid ninth position. Doensen could only get back to seventeenth which means Zanocz retains the red plate despite losing it after race one.
Bellei rode well for third in race two to take second overall on the podium. On the final lap Faure tried to pass Ozolins and that was a battle for the last step on the podium but the Latvian held on to take his first EMX125 podium.
EMX125 Race One:
EMX125 Race Two:
EMX125 Overall:
EMX125 Updated Championship standings:
