Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250’s Rick Elzinga triumphed in the fifth round of the EMX250 Championship in Ernee, France, securing his third-round victory and fourth podium finish of the 2022 season. As a result, the Dutchman has reclaimed the EMX250 Championship leaders’ red plate and now has a 1-point advantage over Cornelius Toendel. Teammate Andrea Bonacorsi has leaped up to third in the championship standings following a solid top-10 finish – he was 10th. At the same time, MJC Yamaha Official EMX125’s Karlis Reisulis has moved up to second in the EMX125 Championship Standings after celebrating the fifth round of the series on the second step of the box.
After spending the last week bed-bound through illness, Elzinga arrived in France low on energy. The tall Dutchman limited his time on the track in the practice sessions to conserve as much strength as he could.
The opening race of the weekend was a game of two halves. The race started dry with Dave Kooiker off to a strong start inside the top five, as teammates Elzinga and Bonacorsi battled for a place inside the top-10.
Elzinga did his best to chase the leaders in challenging conditions despite struggling for energy after a storm destroyed the track 15-minutes in. After doing his best to keep his bike on two wheels in wet and sloppy conditions, he impressively fought to a second-place finish.
At the same time, Bonacorsi found himself midst a frantic top-five dispute, in which he managed to finish fifth.
Following the rain-hit EMX250 race, the EMX125 riders lined up for their opening race. In extremely challenging conditions, van Erp powered his GYTR kitted YZ125 to an incredible second place start. He shuffled the lead with Toni Giorgessi briefly before securing the position on lap two.
As rain continued to fall, van Erp fell from the front after cross-rutting at the bottom of a big table-top and eventually regrouped for a fourth-place finish.
Reisulis didn’t get off to the best of starts but managed to excel in the testing conditions as one of the strongest and smoothest riders in the category. The Latvian charged through the pack and eventually finished third.
The track was much drier on Sunday morning, although it had developed only one fast line. Elzinga arrived healthier and had a good feeling on the track as he battled back from a top-10 start. Running a fantastic pace, the Dutchman made some great passes on his way to third but could not challenge the leaders after running out of tear-offs. Nevertheless, two top-three results were enough for the overall victory and to reclaim the red plate as the championship leader.
Bonacorsi also showed potential, but a costly mistake in the second half of the race left him on the edge of the points. Fortunately, the young Italian never gave up and salvaged 15th on the final lap. He was classified 10th overall, which bumped him up to third in the EMX250 Championship Standings.
Kooiker was ranked 21st overall after two 16th-place finishes.
At the same time, the MJC Yamaha duo dominated in the slightly drier but still muddy and challenging conditions. Van Erp charged to an impressive holeshot with Reisulis in tow.
Reisulis made a quick move on his teammate to take the lead but was nudged back to second on lap three after van Erp set the fastest lap of the race.
Van Erp stretched out a 6-second lead before colliding with a slower rider with three laps to go. His teammate then inherited the lead and took charge, storming to his first EMX125 race win of the season and his fourth podium finish. Van Erp recovered for third and narrowly missed the podium by 2-points.
Reisulis is now second in the EMX125 Championship Standings, while van Erp is fourth. The third of the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 trio Ferruccio Zanchi posted the third-fastest time in his group in Qualifying, but unfortunately received two time penalties for yellow flag offenses and was deemed a ‘non-qualifier’ and therefore unable to race. He is now 11th in the standings.
The sixth rounds of the EMX125 and EMX250 series’ will take place in Teutschenthal, Germany, this weekend, June 11th and 12th.
