Stunning Second for Ivano van Erp at Penultimate Round of EMX250
VRT Yamaha Official EMX250 team’s Ivano van Erp has finished as runner-up at the 10th round of the 2024 EMX250 Championship in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. Impressive all weekend at the penultimate round of the series, the young Dutchman placed third in Race One and second in Race Two to secure his third overall podium result of the year. Rounding out a solid weekend for the team, Gavin Towers finished fifth in both races for fifth overall.
Bouncing back from a challenging ninth round in Switzerland, van Erp kicked off the weekend in Turkey with the fourth-fastest time in Time Practice. That speed carried through into Race One as the 19-year-old emerged from the first turn side by side with his teammate, Towers. A small mistake allowed Mathis Valin into the lead, and a few laps later, an epic battle between van Erp and Valerio Lata began. The GYTR-kitted YZ250F racer lost out on this occasion and crossed the finish line in the wheel tracks of his Italian rival.
Another excellent start in Race Two saw van Erp lead the way over the chasing pack of riders. As the laps wound down, he maintained a comfortable gap over Valin in second until he stalled his bike with three laps to go. Able to regroup quickly, the time lost was too much to overcome that late in the race, and van Erp finished second for second overall. Ahead of the final round, and with such large margins in the points ahead and behind him, van Erp has secured fourth in the Championship Standings.
Absent from the previous round in Switzerland, Towers was back to his best in Turkey. Race One started very well, with the American running second until he clipped his teammate’s rear wheel and fell. Following a race-long charge, he worked his way up to finish in fifth and then replicated that result in Race Two for fifth overall. With the strong points secured, Towers jumps up to 15th from 22nd in the Championship Standings.
The final round of the EMX250 Championship takes place alongside the MXGP of Castilla la Mancha in Spain over the weekend of September 28-29, where Towers can continue to work his way up the Championship Standings.
