"
In the opening EMX250 race yesterday the holeshot went to Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Cornelius Toendel as he led Lucas Coenen of Jumbo Husqvarna BT Racing Team and Yago Martinez.
Camden McLellan of TBS Conversions Racing Team crashed as Martinez began to come under pressure from Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Haakon Osterhagen as the two battled for third.
Series leader, Rick Elzinga of Hutten Metaal Yamaha Racing started down in around tenth and was doing his best to make some nice passes in the opening laps. He caught onto his teammate Andrea Bonacorsi and passed him to move into ninth before also catching his other teammate, Dave Kooiker.
By that point Toendel was already more than four seconds ahead, as Osterhagen continued his quest for third with Martinez not backing down easily. There was not changed inside the top three until lap seven, when Osterhagen was finally able to fight an opportunity to pass for third place.
Elzinga struggled to fight back further up the field as he managed to make just one more pass before the chequered flag as him and Bonacorsi got by Lorenzo Ciabatti. In the end, Elzinga was forced to settle for seventh.
Toendel went on to win the opening race with a 5.970 second advantage over Coenen who rode a strong and consistent race and finish in second, ahead of Osterhagen who was third.
In the second race, it was Osterhagen who grabbed the holeshot from his teammate Toendel, Wade, David Braceras of Team VRT KTM Veritise and Marcel Stauffer of WZ Racing Team.
Lucas Coenen, who finished second in race one, got unlucky as he crashed on the start straight after the gate dropped, eventually managing to fight back to 15th.
Elzinga started down in around seventh behind Bonacorsi and Braceras, as Camden Mc Lellan of TBS Conversions Racing Team passed the series leader, pushing him down to eighth.
Bonacorsi then passed Braceras as he set his sights on Stauffer who managed to move by Wade for third. All while Elzinga crashed and rapidly dropped down the order. The Dutchman did not carry on with the race and therefore lost valuable points and the red plate.
Toendel set the fastest lap of the race in the early stages, as Osterhagen responded in order to keep a healthy gap at the front. While Wade lost another spot to Bonacorsi and then to Braceras and eventually Mc Lellan.
On lap six, Bonacorsi got himself into third but was too far behind the two Norwegians at the front. Osterhagen was able to maintain a clean and steady race on his way to his first EMX250 race victory, with Toendel second, Bonacorsi third, Braceras third and Mc Lellan fifth.
With a 1-2 result, Toendel celebrated an overall victory at the round of Italy, with his teammate Osterhagen in second and Braceras finishing on the box in third. With Elzinga not picking up any points in the second race due to a DNF, Toendel now leads the series, as Elzinga slips to second and Osterhagen takes the third spot.
The next round of the EMX250 championship heads to Riola Sardo for the round of Sardegna which will take place next weekend.
Cornelius Toendel: “Solid weekend, good starts and good races. The most important thing is to score good championship points and I did that, and we came away with the red plate. I would like to also congratulate my teammate; he had a good second race and it was nice to get a 1-2 for the team”.
Main Photos: 1. EMX250 Podium 2. EMX250 Start
Bottom Photos: 1. Cornelius Toendel 2. Haakon OsterhagenEMX250 - Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, Fantic), 30:25.128; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:05.970; 3. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, Fantic), +0:15.006; 4. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), +0:16.939; 5. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), +0:21.845; 6. Mike Gwerder (SUI, KTM), +0:25.951; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +0:27.881; 8. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.965; 9. Lorenzo Ciabatti (ITA, KTM), +0:31.755; 10. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), +0:32.798;
EMX250 - Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, Fantic), 30:52.195; 2. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, Fantic), +0:17.171; 3. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, Yamaha), +0:29.354; 4. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), +0:52.200; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, KTM), +0:53.054; 6. Eddie Wade (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:57.759; 7. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), +1:04.871; 8. Federico Tuani (ITA, GASGAS), +1:12.499; 9. Paolo Lugana (ITA, KTM), +1:17.578; 10. Lorenzo Ciabatti (ITA, KTM), +1:26.910;
EMX250 – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, FAN), 47 points; 2. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, FAN), 45 p.; 3. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), 34 p.; 4. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 33 p.; 5. Yago Martinez (ESP, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 28 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, KTM), 23 p.; 8. Eddie Wade (ESP, KAW), 23 p.; 9. Lorenzo Ciabatti (ITA, KTM), 23 p.; 10. Maximilian Spies (GER, KTM), 19 p.;
EMX250 - Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Cornelius Toendel (NOR, FAN), 124 points; 2. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 107 p.; 3. Haakon Osterhagen (NOR, FAN), 92 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, KTM), 80 p.; 5. David Braceras (ESP, KTM), 77 p.; 6. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 68 p.; 7. Meico Vettik (EST, KTM), 68 p.; 8. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 62 p.; 9. Andrea Bonacorsi (ITA, YAM), 61 p.; 10. Marcel Stauffer (AUT, KTM), 60 p.;
EMX250 - Manufacturers Top 10 Classification: 1. Fantic, 131 points; 2. Yamaha, 127 p.; 3. KTM, 120 p.; 4. Husqvarna, 77 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 65 p.; 6. GASGAS, 45 p.;
MX OPEN
In the first EMX Open race of the weekend, it was Rath’s Motorsports Michael Sandner who took the holeshot from JD Gunnex KTM Racing’s Jose Butron. The Spaniard was quick to get himself in the lead as Sandner followed, ahead of Stefano Pezzuto, Tomas Kohut of Osicka MX Team and KTM Beddini MX2 Joakin Furbetta, while Millionair Racing Team’s Giuseppe Tropepe started in around seventh.