Much to the delight of the French fans, KTM Silver Action’s Frenchman Stephen Rubini ran away for an easy win in the opening race of the weekend yesterday. The red plate holder Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts kept the Frenchman honest for most of the race before making a slight mistake with three laps to go. DP19 Yamaha’s Roan van de Moosdijk almost took advantage of the Belgian’s mistake but made a mistake himself with a few turns to go and had to settle for third.

In race one today, Italian Andrea Zanotti got the break he’s been looking for when he pulled a super sweet holeshot ahead of yesterday’s race one winner KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini and Rubini’s fellow French countryman Pierre Goupillon, who had his good start undone when he crashed on lap one.

Team MJC Yamaha’s Zachary Pichon was the first to inherit a spot off of Goupillon and set the fastest lap time on lap three. While Pichon was looking good as the initial pace setter, he bobbled massively on lap four and allowed IceOne Racing Husqvarna’s Mikkel Haarup to close in. Another slip up a few turns later and Haarup capitalized to take second place.

The Fin riding for IceOne Husqvarna Racing, started closing up on Rubini who was in the middle of challenging Zanotti for the lead. As an instant response to the challenge from Haarup, Rubini dropped the hammer and nailed a berm to whip right around the outside of Zanotti for first. Haarup was also in a hurry to do the same but was a little to hasty and made a mistake which saw him almost go over the ‘bars and only loose one spot.

At the halfway mark, Goupillon was back on form and passed Haarup, Van de Moosdijk and Zanotti like they were standing still, to take third. Meanwhile, DP19 Yamaha Racing’s Roan Van de Moosdijk found some good lines and managed to make a move on Haarup before going after Zanotti. In a moment of impulse, Van de Moosdijk hit a roller tapped and launched past Zanotti but landed in some ruts and crashed.

Rubini had the crowd fevered with his second win of the weekend, which landed him on the top step of the podium for the second time this season. Meanwhile fellow Frenchmen, Pichon and Goupillon, made it a French whitewash in race two as Zanotti put in his best race finish with fourth ahead of Haarup.

The red plate holder, Sahkar KTM’s Jago Geerts, who was second in race one yesterday got off to a shocking start, well outside of the top 20, and only managed to get back to seventh. It was still enough for him to land on the podium behind the winner, KTM Silver Action’s Stephen Rubini and Frenchman Pierre Goupillon.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 1 Top Ten: 1. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 30:30.832; 2. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:13.132; 3. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Yamaha), +0:13.710; 4. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), +0:14.690; 5. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, KTM), +0:33.980; 6. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:36.161; 7. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:40.066; 8. Zachary Pichon (FRA, Yamaha), +0:55.831; 9. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), +1:22.069; 10. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), +1:26.056

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Race 2 Top Ten: 1. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 30:36.850; 2. Zachary Pichon (FRA, Yamaha), +0:05.343; 3. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), +0:08.362; 4. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, KTM), +0:14.170; 5. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:16.422; 6. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, Yamaha), +0:31.932; 7. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), +0:42.222; 8. Kim Savaste (FIN, Kawasaki), +0:44.811; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), +0:45.244; 10. Luca Milec (SLO, Yamaha), +0:55.751

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Overall Top Ten: 1. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 4. Zachary Pichon (FRA, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, YAM), 35 p.; 6. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, KTM), 34 p.; 7. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 27 p.; 8. Luca Milec (SLO, YAM), 21 p.; 9. Paolo Lugana (ITA, TM), 20 p.; 10. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 20 p.

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championship Top Ten: 1. Jago Geerts (BEL, KTM), 167 points; 2. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 154 p.; 3. Pierre Goupillon (FRA, KTM), 138 p.; 4. Roan Van De Moosdijk (NED, YAM), 132 p.; 5. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), 111 p.; 6. Zachary Pichon (FRA, YAM), 108 p.; 7. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, HUS), 84 p.; 8. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, KTM), 77 p.; 9. Kevin Horgmo (NOR, KTM), 69 p.; 10. Brian Strubhart Moreau (FRA, KAW), 62 p

EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Manufacturers: 1. KTM, 200 points; 2. Yamaha, 146 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 95 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 91 p.; 5. TM, 59 p.

MXGP OF FRANCE – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1660m

Type of ground: Hard pack

Temperature: 24°C

Weather conditions: sunny

NEXT ROUND

The next round of the European Championships EMX250 and EMX125 presented by FMF Racing will take place in Matterley Basin, Great Britain on June, the 19^th.