The tenth round of the Motocross World Championship, held on the famous and selective Agueda track in Portugal, brought great excitement and important results for Team Honda Maddii ABF Italia. On the characteristic red clay of the Lusitanian circuit, the team secured an exceptional podium finish in the EMX250 European Championship and showed excellent potential in the MX2 World Championship class, despite having to deal with some bad luck.
Elias Escandell returns to the podium, Alvisi struggles with starts The star of the weekend was undoubtedly Elias Escandell. The young Spanish talent secured a fantastic third step on the overall podium in the EMX250 European Championship, confirming that he has regained optimal physical form. Race 1: At the end of a solid moto raced with an excellent pace, Escandell crossed the finish line in an outstanding 3rd position. Race 2: Despite the pitfalls of the track, the Spaniard managed the situation maturely, finishing in 4th place and locking down the overall podium for the day. This performance makes the whole team incredibly happy, knowing that the rider is not yet at 100% and has plenty of room for improvement as the season progresses. It was a complicated weekend for Niccolò Alvisi, who finished 14th in the overall standings. Alvisi paid a heavy price for difficult starts that forced him to battle from the back of the pack. Despite this handicap, the rider showed an excellent pace, completely comparable to that of the frontrunners, which bodes well for the upcoming rounds if he can manage to get a good jump out of the gate.
Maxime Grau: incredibly fast but unlucky, betrayed by a technical issue In the MX2 World Championship class, Maxime Grau experienced a weekend of two halves, characterized by excellent speed but also a lot of bad luck. In Race 1, the French rider was putting on a masterclass performance, solidly in fifth position and in full fight with the top riders of the category. Unfortunately, a technical problem forced him into a bitter retirement just as he was tasting a top-tier result. In Race 2, Grau partially redeemed himself, riding with grit and securing a solid 11th place, which earned him 16th position in the overall daily standings.
Marco Maddii – Team Manager: “It was an excellent weekend for Elias Escandell, who made it to the podium. We are very happy for him because he has finally recovered a good shape, and the podium confirms it. He is definitely not at 100% yet, so I expect him to improve even further. Alvisi had a difficult weekend due to the starts, which he didn’t manage to nail. Despite having a great pace, equal to the frontrunners, he unfortunately always started from the back. Maxime, on the other hand, was riding a super race in fifth position. Unfortunately, we had a technical issue in the first moto that forced us to retire, while in the second moto he still managed a good eleventh place. It’s a pity about the technical mishap, but overall the balance of the weekend remains positive.”
