Briton Mel Pocock was robbed of a potential podium place when he crashed with just a handful of laps remaining in Sunday’s EMX250 race. He was seventh in the race but that would have been good enough for third overall. Mickey Eccles took a stunning fourth in that moto, proving he’s a master of the sand.

In the first moto on Saturday, Pocock took seventh. Todd Kellet took 11th place while formerBritish champ Brad Anderson, riding a two-stroke 250 KTM which is now eligible for the EMX class, was 14th. Eccles didn’t finish and Brad Todd was 30th.

On Sunday, Eccles took fourth, Anderson 14th and Kellett 18th while Todd didn’t finish.

One week after his third place podium finish in Trentino KTM DIGA Junior Racing’s Miro Sihvonen started EMX250 race 1 in 6th but he made several passes including the most important one on F&H Racing Team’s Ruben Fernandez for the lead with only two laps remaining, Fernandez kept Sihvonen in sight but he finished 2nd. In Race 2 Sihvonen won again but Fernandez finished 25th scoring no championship points and placing 8th overall.

Dutch rider Nick Kouwenberg placed 3rd in Race 1 after starting in 7th passing several riders including Round of Trentino’s Race 2 winner, Morgan Lesiardo. Race 2 started slightly better for Kouwenberg, he was 5th on the first lap and again he made some passes to get himself to 3rd. Kouwenberg’s impressive 3-3 were consistent enough for second overall in front of his home crowd.

Morgan Lesiardo’s 4th in race 1 was his better finish of the two races with a 10th in race 2. The 4-10 surprisingly secured him the podium being the third best results in the class.

Nichlas Bjerregaard and iFly JK Racing’s Ken Bengtson were another example of how consistency pays off. The two didn’t necessarily have any remarkable race performances but their ability to place in the top ten twice in one weekend is proving to be a feat of its own. Bengtson’s 6th and 9th put him 4th overall and Bjerregaard’s 10-7 achieved the 5th overall.

Last week’s winner Yamaha SM Action’s Simone Furlotti is now third in the points after finishing 11th overall going 18-6 here at Valkenswaard.

Another member of the top 5 riders in the championship is ASTES4-Tesar Yamaha’s Karlis Sabulis. Sabulis was 5th in race 1 but he had issues in race 2 where he scored no points and finished 22nd.

Last year’s EMX 300 Presented by FMF Racing Champion, GL12 Racing’s Mike Kras also struggled scoring a consistent result. The two-stroke rider placed a disappointing 20th in Race 1 before his impressive rebound in race 2 to 5th for 12th overall.

Sahkar KTM Racing’s Belgian rider, Jago Geerts, had scored only 1 point after the first 3 races until he flew into a 2nd place in Race 2 scoring 22 points and putting himself into 14th in the championship.

EMX250 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 30:39.344; 2. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:03.333; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), +0:11.367; 4. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:16.290; 5. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:18.776; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:20.638; 7. Mel Pocock (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:35.202; 8. Jere Haavisto (FIN, KTM), +0:37.629; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, Honda), +0:39.798; 10. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, Yamaha), +0:46.678.

EMX250 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 29:26.087; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:03.837; 3. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, Yamaha), +0:05.257; 4. Michael Eccles (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:15.062; 5. Mike Kras (NED, KTM), +0:22.491; 6. Simone Furlotti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:24.651; 7. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, Yamaha), +0:25.054; 8. Marshal Weltin (USA, Kawasaki), +0:28.402; 9. Ken Bengtson (SWE, Yamaha), +0:31.777; 10. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), +0:40.587

EMX250 Overall Top 10: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 50 points; 2. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 40 p.; 3. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 4. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 27 p.; 5. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, YAM), 25 p.; 6. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 23 p.; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 22 p.; 8. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 22 p.; 9. Marshal Weltin (USA, KAW), 21 p.; 10. Michael Eccles (GBR, KAW), 18 p.

EMX250 Championship Top 10: 1. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 90 points; 2. Morgan Lesiardo (ITA, KTM), 70 p.; 3. Simone Furlotti (ITA, YAM), 63 p.; 4. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, YAM), 63 p.; 5. Karlis Sabulis (LAT, YAM), 54 p.; 6. Ken Bengtson (SWE, YAM), 43 p.; 7. Ruben Fernandez (ESP, KAW), 40 p.; 8. Nichlas Bjerregaard (DEN, YAM), 34 p.; 9. Alberto Forato (ITA, HON), 32 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, HUS), 31 p.

EMX250 Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 93 points; 2. Yamaha, 85 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 73 p.; 4. Honda, 50 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 42 p.; 6. Suzuki, 14 p

At the first round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, Ice One Racing Husqvarna’s Mikkel Haarup had two impressive races over the two days, with a pair of decent starts he moved into the lead quickly during both races. He won race 1 on Saturday by over 13 seconds and on Sunday doubled his gap to win by 26 seconds.

Behind Haarup in race 1 it was Tim Edberg who battled with BUD Racing Monster Energy’s Brian Strubhart Moreau in which Edberg came out ahead.

Sunday was not as fortunate for Edberg though as he would instead battle for 6th with Alessandro Manucci all the way to the finish. Manucci finished 7th over but ended up holding off Edberg and denying him of the final spot on the podium which would instead go to Jesyk Racing Team’s Sergi Notario.

Moreau however improved his 3rd place finish from Saturday to a hard fought 2nd today. Moreau was in a race of his own for second the first half of Race 2 but was later pressured by Creymert Racing’s Kevin Horgmo, the battle for second was fierce but Horgmo couldn’t find a way past and eventually he finished 3rd, combined with his 10th on Saturday Horgmo rounded out the top 5 with 5th overall.

Last year Gianluca Facchetti finished 4th in the championship, he now leaves this weekend with a 6 overall result after 6th Saturday and 5th today. Facchetti was 5th on the first lap of race 2 before being passed by Horgmo, he later found his way back into the top 5 when he got fellow Italian Manucci on lap 6.

2016 EMX85cc Champion Rene Hofer finished 9th in Race 1 and looked like he was going to improve on the result in race 2 as he had a strong ride and battled for 7th. Hofer made an error and went down where he struggled to get going again, he eventually picked himself up in 12th before fighting his back to a 10th place finish, good enough for 9th overall.

2016 Honda EMX150 Champion and now JTECH Suzuki Valenti rider Emil Weckmann didn’t have the weekend he was hoping for, the 125cc rookie finished a decent 13th in Race 1 but his 21st place today put him 17th overall.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), 28:55.139; 2. Tim Edberg (SWE, Yamaha), +0:13.601; 3. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:22.108; 4. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:31.050; 5. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:34.445; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:35.091; 7. Jeremy Sydow (GER, KTM), +0:35.641; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), +0:43.808; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +0:45.507; 10. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:45.908.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), 29:55.247; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:26.081; 3. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:30.995; 4. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), +0:46.842; 5. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:59.415; 6. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:03.178; 7. Tim Edberg (SWE, Yamaha), +1:03.595; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), +1:09.768; 9. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), +1:10.503; 10. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), +1:11.884.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top 10: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 50 points; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 7. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 26 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), 22 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top 10: 1. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 50 points; 2. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 42 p.; 3. Sergi Notario (ESP, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Tim Edberg (SWE, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 7. Alessandro Manucci (ITA, HUS), 31 p.; 8. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 26 p.; 9. Rene Hofer (AUT, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Viking Lindstrom (SWE, KTM), 22 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Manufacturers: 1. Husqvarna, 50 points; 2. Kawasaki, 42 p.; 3. KTM, 38 p.; 4. Yamaha, 36 p.; 5. TM, 26 p.; 6. Suzuki, 8 p.