The first round of the EMX125 presented by FMF took place in Switzerland and it was 737 Performers GASGAS’s Mathis Valin who clinched the victory with a strong performance throughout the whole round.

Words & Images: MXGP

The first race of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing class saw MJC Yamaha Team’s Janis Martin Reisulis taking the lead from the first lap in front of Mathis Valin as the youngsters found themselves making a good gap over the rest of the pack. Valin managed to stay in touching distance with Reisulis for a few laps, but the Latvian increased the gap to 5 seconds to maintain the distance and not get put under pressure by Valin until the end. Reisulis won the race while Valin settled for a solid 2nd place after showing very good speed throughout.

Behind them we thought that 3rd place was promised to Fantic Maddii Factory Racing‘s Maximilian Werner as he was there from lap 1 until 2 laps to go on lap 13. He had to resist successive attacks from Alfio Pulvirenti and Alban Alm during the race. Unfortunately for the young German, a costly mistake on lap 13 saw him drop down to 7th at the finish. Alm benefitted from Werner’s crash as he marked his comeback from 12th on lap 1 to 3rd in the end. Pulvirenti was unfortunate as he was 4th until lap 3 when he crashed down to 35th.

Vitezslav Marek rode strongly to move up the rankings as he managed to go from 6th on lap 1 to finish 4th, capitalising on some crashes and mistakes in front of him. The promising Elias Escandell from Fantic Maddii Factory Racing is another rider who had to work hard as he gained 6 positions throughout the race. Escandell advanced from 11th after an average start, steadily finding his rhythm to finish 5th.

The young Italian riders, JK Racing Yamaha’s Nicola Salvini and Simone Mancini, who finished 6th and 8th respectively, also showed good maturity throughout the race as they both passed and got passed several times, but kept fighting to move forward right until the last lap.

It was another story for Francisco Garcia and Mads Fredsoe, who finished 9th and 10th respectively. Fredsoe started well as he got himself to 5th after the first lap and even advanced to 4th following Pulivirenti’s misfortune. Garcia, 8th on lap 1 also made his way up to 5th right behind Fredsoe on lap 10. However, Garcia made a charge on the inside of Fredsoe on lap 12 to overtake, a  move which put both riders on the ground! Eventually they finished in 9th (Garcia) and 10th (Fredsoe).

On Monday in race 2, WZ Racing Team’s Gyan Doensen got the holeshot but Reisulis quickly overtook him. Valin also passed Doensen for 2^nd on the opening lap. As with the first race, Reisulis and Valin got the better of the rest after 1 lap and started to pull away from the pack. Valin started to chase after Reisulis, clocking the fastest lap early on. It looked like they were set for the race but Reisulis, after saving a scare on lap 2, hit the ground hard on lap 4 and remounted in 7^th. Valin would keep his composure until the end to win the race. Reisulis had to nurse his badly bent machine to finish 11^th at the chequered flag.

Doensen also stayed strong to keep 2^nd place until the end even if he had to show his skill to stay in front of Escandell mid-race, and also Marek in the closing laps. Marek finished 3^rd after a strong performance and great comeback coming from 7^th after lap 1. Escandell had to settle for 4^th giving him good points for the overall. Behind them, Salvini finished lap 1 in 5^th place and remained there until the end. Noel Zannocz started well as he found himself 6^th after lap 1, although he had to battle with Marek who passed him on lap 3. He then benefitted from Reisulis’s fall to get back up to 6^th and remain there until the end.

Garcia and Alm did not have the best start as they found themselves 12^th and 15^th respectively after lap 1. They kept fighting their way up as they gained precious places by passing several riders along the way. On lap 9 Garcia was 7^th in front of Alm. The pair went back and forth, passing each other several times with Garcia gaining the last word at two laps before the end. Garcia finished 7^th while Alm finished 8^th.
Maximilian Ernecker and Salvador Perez rode strongly as after getting to 14th and 19^th respectively on lap 1 and went up the order in great fashion as Ernecker finished 9^th ahead of Perez in 10^th.

At the finish, Valin took the overall win in Switzerland for the first round of the campaign in front of Marek and Reisulis 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Mathis Valin: “It is amazing, a very good weekend for me. I had a good start in race 1 to finish 2^nd. In race 2, Reisulis fell down and I could pass him to win the race and the overall. I want to thank my team for this weekend!”

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), 28:51.036; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, GASGAS), +0:05.258; 3. Laban Alm (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:49.657; 4. Vitezslav Marek (CZE,KTM), +0:54.755; 5. Elias Escandell (ESP, Fantic), +0:55.992; 6. Nicola Salvini (ITA, Yamaha), +1:00.486; 7. Maximilian Werner (GER, Fantic), +1:05.320; 8. Simone Mancini (ITA, Yamaha), +1:07.144; 9. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GASGAS), +1:13.828; 10. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +1:17.811;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, GASGAS), 29:47.146; 2. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:15.458; 3. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), +0:20.622; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, Fantic), +0:22.933; 5. Nicola Salvini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:29.451; 6. Noel Zanocz (HUN, KTM), +0:37.197; 7. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GASGAS), +0:45.321; 8. Laban Alm (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:47.850; 9. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GASGAS), +0:49.399; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, Yamaha), +0:51.605

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 47 points; 2. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 35 p.; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 34 p.; 5. Laban Alm (SWE, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Nicola Salvini (ITA, YAM), 31 p.; 7. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 26 p.; 8. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 22 p.; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, YAM), 20 p.;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Mathis Valin (FRA, GAS), 47 points; 2. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 35 p.; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, FAN), 34 p.; 5. Laban Alm (SWE, HUS), 33 p.; 6. Nicola Salvini (ITA, YAM), 31 p.; 7. Francisco Garcia (ESP, GAS), 26 p.; 8. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Maximilian Werner (GER, FAN), 22 p.; 10. Salvador Perez (ESP, YAM), 20 p.;

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing – Manufacturers Classification 1. GASGAS, 47 points; 2. Yamaha, 41 p.; 3. KTM, 40 p.; 4. Fantic, 34 p.; 5. Husqvarna, 33 p.;

For full Results see the MX Vice Results page: MXGP of Switzerland: LIVE Results – MX Vice