James Scott at Matterley Basin
European MX150 2016
In spite of the DNF, James is in 7th place overall in the Championship series.
Although Weckman missed out on the holeshot again, this time to Rasmus Moen, and was fifth at the start of the first lap it didn’t take long for the reigning champion to move up into second behind James Scott. The pair battled hard for the opening laps before Weckman managed to pass Scott and start to open up a lead.
Towards the end of the race Scott joined Weckman in lapping in the 2:16’s on their CRF150Rs and started to pull back the gap to the #1 plated rider. Unfortunately with only two laps to go it was too much for the New Zealander to do, who was forced to settle for second.
Hakon Fredriksen, who needed a good result to close the gap on Weckman, found himself out of the top five in the first lap but was soon able to make his way up to third, and stay there until the chequered flag. The top five was rounded out by Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (fourth) and Yago Martinez whose fifth place finish was enough to join Weckman and Fredriksen on the podium.
Emil Weckman will now head to the next round in Lommel, Belgium (30-31 July) with the red plate and a 12 point lead ahead of Hakon Fredriksen.
Emil Weckman: “It feels pretty good to win today. Last year I had a pretty good weekend here so it is good to have another great weekend here this year. I like this track and I get to take the red plate to Lommel so that’s great. I like the Lommel track as well and I’m pretty good in sand, but I haven’t seen how Hakon rides in the sand but I think we’ll have a good race there.”
Davy Dousselaere, Honda Europe Off-Road Manager: “Today we had a very fast paced race and we had a very good battle between Emil Weckman and James Scott at the beginning. We also saw a very good ride from Jorgen-Matthias Talviku who had a great start and finished fourth. I have been very impressed with how our CRF150R riders have tackled this track with the big jumps. Now we head to Lommel where they will get to experience the deep sand, which should make for some very interesting racing.”
Race 1 :Saturday saw Emil Weckman take an emphatic win at the Matterley Basin track in the UK, which has moved him into the championship lead ahead of tomorrow’s second race.
Although Weckman (FIN) was first to the finish line, it was James Scott (NZL) who took the holeshot and set the pace on the first lap. Unfortunately the New Zealander crashed at the end of the first lap gifting Emil the lead going into the second lap.
Weckman was then able to open up a gap to the second placed Luis Outeiro and stay in front until the chequered flag. The Finn also took the honours of fastest lap aboard his #1 plated CRF150R. Luis Outeiro was also able to maintain his second place until the end of the moto.
Yago Martinez, who was quick around the Winchester track last year, proved that he’s one to keep an eye on with an impressive ride to third. The top five was rounded out by Hakon Fredriksen and Jorgen-Matthias Talviku, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
It was also a good showing from the British riders, including the three wildcard riders for this round. Calum Mitchell rounded out the top ten after fending off the attacks of Henry Vesilind, while a battle of the Brits saw Ryan Mawhinney and Todd Leadbitter finish 14th and 15th respectively. Josh Peters finished 17th, Ethan Lane 20th and Tobias Sammut 22nd.
Comments:
Emil Weckman: “I’m feeling really good with this win. I think Hakon [Fredriksen] had some bad luck but of course I could have some bad luck too in later races but all the points matter. The track here is really good and I like it a lot. I have ridden with 65cc here so I know the track really well and I like the jumps.”
Davy Dousselaere, Honda Europe Off-Road Manager: “Today we saw a very impressive ride from Emil who was able to lead the race from the start of the second lap until the end, but we saw some very strong rides from many riders today. Luis Outeiro has shown how much he has improved from last year and I am very pleased to see that he was second. We knew Yago Martinez would be one to watch as he was quick here last year and today proved that with a good third place. It is good to see a large number of British riders competing with us this weekend in front of their home crowd. I think tomorrow will be another good race as Hakon will be hoping to close the gap in the championship to Emil.”
Honda EMX150 Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), 25:29.767; 2. Luis Outeiro (POR, Honda), +0:44.851; 3. Yago Martinez (ESP, Honda), +1:08.277; 4. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Honda), +1:08.848; 5. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Honda), +1:25.264; 6. Rasmus Moen (SWE, Honda), +1:30.170; 7. Anton Nordström Graaf (SWE, Honda), +1:45.168; 8. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, Honda), +1:51.251; 9. Jimmy Grajwoda (FRA, Honda), +1:53.389; 10. Calum Mitchell (GBR, Honda), +2:11.899.
Honda EMX150 Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Emil Weckman (FIN, Honda), 25:09.012; 2. James Scott (NZL, Honda), +0:27.909; 3. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, Honda), +0:48.356; 4. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, Honda), +1:09.321; 5. Yago Martinez (ESP, Honda), +1:31.838; 6. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, Honda), +1:35.345; 7. Rasmus Moen (SWE, Honda), +1:37.594; 8. Josh Peters (GBR, Honda), +1:40.332; 9. Jimmy Grajwoda (FRA, Honda), +1:43.210; 10. Pascal Jungmann (GER, Honda), +1:47.308
Honda EMX150 Overall Top Ten: 1. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 50 points; 2. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, HON), 38 p.; 3. Yago Martinez (ESP, HON), 36 p.; 4. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HON), 34 p.; 5. Rasmus Moen (SWE, HON), 29 p.; 6. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, HON), 28 p.; 7. Luis Outeiro (POR, HON), 26 p.; 8. Jimmy Grajwoda (FRA, HON), 24 p.; 9. James Scott (NZL, HON), 22 p.; 10. Anton Nordström Graaf (SWE, HON), 22 p.
Honda EMX150 Championship Top Ten: 1. Emil Weckman (FIN, HON), 97 points; 2. Hakon Fredriksen (NOR, HON), 85 p.; 3. Yago Martinez (ESP, HON), 72 p.; 4. Jorgen-Matthias Talviku (EST, HON), 59 p.; 5. Leopold Ambjörnson (SWE, HON), 55 p.; 6. Rasmus Moen (SWE, HON), 53 p.; 7. James Scott (NZL, HON), 52 p.; 8. Luis Outeiro (POR, HON), 49 p.; 9. Henry Vesilind (EST, HON), 43 p.; 10. Jimmy Grajwoda (FRA, HON), 39 p.
Click here to obtain the complete result
All the photos of the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain will be available HERE
FULLBACK MXGP OF GREAT BRITAIN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1640m
Type of ground: Hard pack
Temperature: 17°C
Weather conditions: cloudy