AFYON (Turkey) 7 September 2021 – With the final races of the EMXOpen Championship decided, Davide De Bortoli celebrated his title victory as Honda SR Motoblouz’s Nicolas Dercourt secured his first overall victory of the season to win the round of Afyon in Turkey.

De Bortoli entered the day’s races knowing that he only needed to finish the opening race in order to secure the gold plate, though this did not mean that the Italian didn’t push for the win in both races despite that.

As the gate dropped for race one it was De Bortoli with the holeshot ahead of Dercourt and Simone Croci. JD Gunnex KTM Racing’s Tomasz Wysocki was right there as well along with Matej Jaros and Krisztian Tompa.

Dercourt then had his hands full with a hard charging Croci who eventually crashed, allowing Wysocki to go through into third.

De Bortoli then extended his lead to 3.804 seconds before going down several laps later which allowed Dercourt and Wysocki to move into first and second. The pair then battled for the win as Wysocki was setting fast laps and searching for a way around the leader.

At one stage De Bortoli was the fastest rider on track but was more than 10 seconds down on the leaders which made it tough for him to fight back for the race victory.

As the race came to a close Wysocki could not get around the hard-charging Dercourt who was victorious in the first race, as De Bortoli celebrated his title win with a third-place finish.

In race two it was Dercourt with a flying start as De Bortoli and Croci followed right behind. De Bortoli was keen to not to waste any time and get a win under his belt as he got around Dercourt on the opening lap.

Croci then began to work away at the gap between him and Dercourt, as the Italian looked for extra championship points. Croci made several attempts to pass the Frenchman though got caught out by Wysocki as he focused on Dercourt.

Wysocki snuck his way into third as him and Croci made contact, which as a result caused Croci to crash. The Pole continued to push hard as he got onto the back wheel of Dercourt and battled with the Frenchman until the end of the race.

In the end it was De Bortoli with the race win, with Dercourt 2.119 seconds behind and Wysocki in third.

With the final round of the EMX Open series done and dusted, we celebrated the winners as Nicolas Dercourt claimed his first overall victory of the season and took to the top step of the podium ahead of Davide De Bortoli and Tomasz Wysocki who finished third overall once again. Though in terms of the championship, it was Davide De Bortoli who finally turned that red plate to gold to secure the EMX Open Championship title ahead of Dercourt who was presented with the silver medal and Croci with the bronze.

Davide De Bortoli: “I am very happy with today. To win this championship is a big satisfaction for me and I would like to thank all the people that helped me, my father, my team and everyone. I would be better to win the championship with a race victory but I am very happy anyway”.

Nicolas Dercourt: “It gives me great pleasure to finish second this season. I was not able to race the way I wanted during the first round in Turkey because I was really sick. It was difficult to get things going during the second race, which made me loose points. This is why I really wanted to come back today with a round victory and with the goal of finishing second in the championship. I am very happy of the overall win, for the team, for the mechanics and everyone that has made this possible and especially for my racing. It makes me confident for what’s to come next. The season is not over for us, which proves that we are improving with the team and going in the right direction”.

Simone Croci: “Yeah, I had a good race on Saturday. Today I was unlucky to crash but the fitness was good, the bike was good, and I am really happy about this. A big thanks to my team, my family and all the sponsors supporting me. I don’t know if I will try again next season, but the championship is very nice. Good riders and good tracks”.

Tomasz Wysocki: “Today was a good day. I really pushed hard. In the second race I crashed in the second lap I think, so the guys passed me. I had to really push to get back. I was able to get past Simone and I tried to go for Nicolas. I pushed a lot after the crash, so I lost my energy. I could not find good lines to pass Nicolas. So yeah, first race I finished second and second race I finished third, just like Saturday. I am happy I could get the podium for my team, but I am a little bit frustrated because I felt like I could go for the win today”.

Main Photo: Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo, EMXOpen Championship podium, FIM Europe Delegate Sabin Olariu

Bottom Photos: 1.Davide De Bortoli 2. Nicolas Dercourt 

BITCI MXGP OF AFYON – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1725m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 24°

Weather conditions: Sunny