PIETRAMURATA (Trentino) 10 April 2022 – Rounds two of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing and EMX Open Championships have concluded in Pietramurata with Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Alexis Fueri and Millionair Racing Team’s Giuseppe Tropepe taking to the top step in their classes for the round of Trentino.

Fueri had the perfect weekend, celebrating a lot of firsts, including first race win, first 1-1 scorecard, first overall victory and first time leading the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing championship. Meanwhile Tropepe enjoyed his own success, winning in front of his home crowd here in Italy as he celebrated his first win in the EMX Open category.

In EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing heat one, it was Alexis Fueri of Fantic Factory Team Maddii who led the way ahead of Julius Mikula, Elias Escandell of RFME GASGAS MX JUNIOR TEAM along with Maximilian Werner of KTM Kosak Team who was right there also.

A few riders went down in the first corner, this included Janis Martins Reisulis. Meanwhile timed practice winner Ferruccio Zanchi of Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC’s started down in seventh, with the championship leader Cas Valk of Fantic Factory Team Maddii also starting outside the top 10.

Though Valk was very impressive in the opening lap as he was quick to make some passes and get himself into third. A lap later he also took second from Mikula as Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC’s Karlis Alberts Reisulis got himself into fifth.

Zanchi then crashed as he showed down in 36^th and did not finish the race, which was costly for his championship chase. Ivano Van Erp of Yamaha Europe EMX125 also crashed as he showed down in 31^st.

K. Reisulis then passed Elias Auclair for fourth and a lap later the Latvian was ahead of Mikula too as he got himself into third after a nice battle with the rider from Czech Republic. Auclair then dropped to 7^th as Escandell and Matteo Luigi Russi of Tech 32 went by. Auclair eventually did not finish the last two laps of the race.

Back at the front, Fueri was looking comfortable as he extended his lead over his teammate Valk. Though further behind them, Mikula crashed out of fourth and got going again in around eighth.

The focused shifted back to the front of the pack in the closing stages, as Fueri made a mistake which cost him previous time and allowed Valk to close right in. In the final few laps, we were treated to a close battle between the teammates for the race victory, with Valk not backing down until the pair crossed the line, as Fueri held on to win the race by just 0.533 seconds! K. Reisulis was third ahead of Escandell and Russi.

In the second race, there was some commotion in the start as a few riders went down in the first corner, this included championship leader Valk along with the likes of J. Reisulis and Mikula. Though it was Holiver Brizio who led the way with Antonio Gallego of RFME GASGAS MX JUNIOR TEAM, Fueri and Vitezslav Marek just behind.

By the beginning of the second lap, Fueri was already in the lead, as K. Reisulis got himself into 10^th after passing Jaka Peklaj of SIXTYTWO Motorsport Husqvarna. The Latvian then made two more swift passes as he moved into to 8^th and continued his charge to the front.

By the fourth lap, K. Reisulis was already in fourth as he set his sights on Marek and Gallego ahead. Marek was looking faster as he pushed the Spaniard but could not find a way around him until K. Reisulis went by both and only then Marek could find his own opportunity to get around.

Meanwhile Valk was making good progress as he edged closer to the top 10, while Fueri was getting comfortable in the lead as he had more than a 7 second lead over K. Reisulis who was second.

Fueri’s lead only continued to grow and by the chequered flag, the Frenchman was 18.556 seconds ahead as he secured another race victory. K. Reisulis was second as Marek held on to third ahead of Van Erp who made a great comeback from the back of the field to fourth. Mikula also made a good recovery as he fought back to fifth. Meanwhile Valk managed to fight back to eighth.

With the perfect 1-1 score, Fueri took to the top step of the podium, ahead of K. Reisulis and Valk. A strong weekend here in Trentino for Fueri also means that he now leads the championship by nine points over Valk who is second, as K. Reisulis sits in third.

Alexis Fueri: “It was a very good weekend. I took the pole position of my group, two holeshots, two wins, it’s amazing. But the season is long and the championship has just started, it’s nice to take the red plate but now I need to keep it and I will work for that”.

Main Photo: EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Podium

Bottom Photos: 1. Alexis Fueri 2. Karlis Alberts Reisulis

In EMX Open race one, it was Michael Sandner of Raths Motorsports who led the way ahead of Stefano Pezzuto, Raf Meuwissen of Raths Motorsports and Giuseppe Tropepe of Millionair Racing Team. Tom Grimshaw of Chambers Racing started well too and was running in fifth behind the leaders.

A couple of riders got caught up in a first turn crash, this included Jose Butron of JD Gunnex KTM Racing Team as well as Marcel Stauffer from Sturm STC Racing Team.

On the opening lap, Sandner crashed out of the lead which gave Pezzuto a FastTrack ticket into first place as Grimshaw snuck past Meuwissen into third.

While Sandner dropped quite a few positions as a result of his crash, he was quick to make some good passes after that, in order to catch-up with Brad Anderson who was fifth at the time. Anderson was defensive, but Sandner was able to get past him by the sixth lap.

Pezzuto led until lap six, as Tropepe was able to close in and make a pass stick. At the same time Sandner and Tomas Kohut of Osicka MX Team closed in on Anderson. Both eventually passed the Brit who dropped down to 13^th by the end of the race.

Grimshaw then began to struggle as he was caught and passed by Meuwissen and Sandner, with the Austrian taking over third by the ninth lap.

Tropepe was getting comfortable at the sharp end, as he led Pezzuto by 3.967 seconds. Butron though was edging closer to the top ten and a few laps later the Spaniard, along with Simon Jost of Osicka MX Team and Jens Getteman passed Grimshaw, as the Brit eventually dropped down to 12^th.

Butron continued his charge forward as he got by Kohut and then Meuwissen for fifth, as Meuwissen was also passed by Kohut and later Jost to eventually finish the race in 8^th.

Tropepe went on to win the opening heat ahead of Pezzuto, Sandner, Stauffer and Butron who were the top five.

In race two, it was Sandner who led into the first corner, Tropepe was second ahead of Kohut and Croci, but Croci was fast to make a pass on Kohut to move into third. Meanwhile, just like in race one, Butron along with Stauffer, Krestinov and Anderson got caught in the first turn crash involving quite a few riders.

Stauffer made some nice passes on the opening laps and was already in 11^th by the third lap with Meuwissen just ahead of him. But at the front of the field, Tropepe was closing in on the leader, as he set the fastest slap of the race, though Sandner was quick to respond bettering that time and giving himself some breathing room from the Italian in second.

De Bortoli went out of the second race, as he saw his championship go from bad to worse.

Kohut then started to push Croci for third, as Jost passed Pregel for fifth while Sandner got comfortable in the lead as he stretched it to 7.068 seconds.

In the closing stages of the race the fight for third between Croci and Kohut intensified as the pair made contact, with Kohut diving down the inside of Husqvarna rider to not only take third but solidify his spot on the podium.

Sandner went on to win the race ahead of Tropepe and Kohut. Though the podium looked a little different as Tropepe’s 1-2 result gave him the upper hand and a ticket to the top step of the podium, with Sandner second and Kohut on the third step of the box.

After round two, Sandner continues to lead the EMX Open Championship and is 24 points clear of Butron who remains second ahead of Meuwissen who is third with 60 points.

Giuseppe Tropepe: “Was a really consistent weekend. Yesterday the track was better and today was a bit more slippery, I got a good start in second position and stayed there. I am really happy about my riding after injury. I’m really happy and I want to say thanks to my team, my family my sponsors for the opportunity”.

Main Photos: 1. EMX Open Podium 2. EMX Open Start

Bottom Photos: 1. Giuseppe Tropepe 2. Michael Sandner

EMXOpen – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Husqvarna), 29:55.753; 2. Stefano Pezzuto (ITA, KTM), +0:05.519; 3. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), +0:09.695; 4. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:10.894; 5. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +0:19.798; 6. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), +0:24.465; 7. Simon Jost (SVK, KTM), +0:25.623; 8. Raf Meuwissen (NED, KTM), +0:29.527; 9. Jens Getteman (BEL, GASGAS), +0:30.434; 10. Simone Croci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:31.283;

EMXOpen – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), 30:01.752; 2. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:05.704; 3. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), +0:15.281; 4. Simone Croci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:24.910; 5. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, GASGAS), +0:25.476; 6. Simon Jost (SVK, KTM), +0:31.321; 7. Bence Pergel (HUN, KTM), +0:46.271; 8. Jens Getteman (BEL, GASGAS), +0:51.511; 9. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:55.257; 10. Raf Meuwissen (NED, KTM), +1:00.968;

EMXOpen – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, HUS), 47 points; 2. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), 35 p.; 4. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Simone Croci (ITA, HUS), 29 p.; 6. Simon Jost (SVK, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Jens Getteman (BEL, GAS), 25 p.; 8. Raf Meuwissen (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Stefano Pezzuto (ITA, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, GAS), 21 p.;

EMXOpen – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Michael Sandner (AUT, KTM), 90 points; 2. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 66 p.; 3. Raf Meuwissen (NED, KTM), 60 p.; 4. Tomas Kohut (SVK, KTM), 58 p.; 5. Michael Ivanov (BUL, HUS), 50 p.; 6. Giuseppe Tropepe (ITA, HUS), 47 p.; 7. Tom Grimshaw (GBR, GAS), 47 p.; 8. Sven Van der Mierden (NED, GAS), 44 p.; 9. Simon Jost (SVK, KTM), 44 p.; 10. Simone Croci (ITA, HUS), 37 p.;

EMXOpen – Manufacturers Classification: 1. KTM, 97 points; 2. Husqvarna, 91 p.; 3. GASGAS, 51 p.; 4. Honda, 49 p.; 5. Yamaha, 22 p.;

The next rounds of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing and EMX Open Championships will take place in Kegums, for the round of Latvia on the 23^rd – 24^th of April.

MXGP OF TRENTINO QUICK FACTS:

Circuit length: 1570m

Type of ground: Hard Pack

Temperature: 16° C

Weather conditions: Sunny