ARNHEM (The Netherlands) 18 August 2024 – The ninth round of the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing took centre stage at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden in the Netherlands, where the rough and challenging circuit in Arnhem set the scene for a thrilling contest. Known for its unforgiving and technical sand surface, the track demanded constant concentration and precision from every rider. The event unfolded under intense conditions, pushing competitors to their limits as they navigated the technical terrain and faced off against some of the stiffest competition of the season.

With high stakes and a relentless course, the stage was set for another intense round in the 2024 EMX125 series. And at this game it was home rider Racestore KTM Factory Rookies’ Gyan Doensen who simply dominated the weekend, showing his sand-racing skill and bridging the gap to 5 points with the leader of the championship, Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Noel Zanocz.

Race 1 kicked off the Dutch round for the young class of EMX125 presented by FMF Racing, and it was Gyan Doensen who came out with a holeshot with Fantic Factory Racing EMX125’s Simone Mancini behind him and red plate Noel Zanoczwho miraculously stayed up on two wheels on the first turn to get up to 3rd.

With the top 3 in the championship filling the front three spots, the British rider Jamie Keith was perfectly placed in 4th in front of Sandro Sols and Niccolò Alvisi from Racestore KTM Factory Rookies. Sols would eventually finish 24th.

Zanocz started to put pressure on his teammate and thought he made a good pass but got pushed on the outside by Mancini’s line and had to do it all over again as the Italian was not resolute to let him go through. Meanwhile, leader Doensen was creating a good 3.9 seconds gap on lap 3.

On lap 3, Zanocz was back on the charge to push for 2nd while the top 5 stayed unchanged. Race winner in Sweden, Dani Heitink from Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC didn’t start well on home soil as he found himself outside the top 10 for the first part of the race but made a good charge as he made his way up 6th on lap 9 of 14. The Dutch even managed to make an excellent pass on Mancini to move up to 5th and keep his chance of podium.

Zanocz went through on lap 5 as Mancini took an outside line that let the door open inside, which Zanocz took with both hands as he moved 2nd. This wasn’t finished for Mancini as he got overtaken right after by the surprising young brit Keith. Mancini would finish the race 6th in the end.  

The red plate Zanocz stayed solid to stay 2nd and even increased his pace towards the end while Alvisi consistency helped him to overtake Keith for 3rd. The young British his season’s best finish with an excellent and encouraging 4th place.

Meanwhile, Doensen was on a league of his own as he took off at the lead with up to 19 second at mid-race. The gap reduced a bit at the end as he cruised to victory and a very strong showing on home soil which foresaw another good result on the Sunday to get a coveted home overall win.

In Race 2, While Mancini took the early lead, there was a multi rider crash on the second corner involving red plate Zanocz, picking himself up in 23rd place and could lost the Championship lead.

Mancini led the race in front of Alvisi and was determined to stay at the top while Doensen was just climbing back up the rank so fast after an average start that placed him in 10th from the start. Doensen was on the charge in the opening lap and was up to 3rd already on lap 4 of 15 after passing many riders including Niccolo Mannini, Maximilian Ernecker from F4E GASGAS Junior Racing and Dean Gregoire’s Motovation Motosport.

Alvisi went down in the 1st lap but things went bad to worse as he went down again on lap 7 to finish 11th in the end.

The race was a lot faster that in race 1 as the track was groomed early in the morning and these conditions were ideal for a surprising Jekabs Kubulins going up to 2nd, behind Mancini.

On lap 7, Zanocz and Doensen were tied in the Championship lead! With an impressive comeback from Zanocz who was up to 9th and Doensen in 2nd after passing Kubulins and melting the 10 second-gap with the leading Mancini to 1.5 over the course of two laps. Impressive for the local rider who had a shot at taking the Championship lead along with the overall at home.

However, Zanocz was not letting Doensen winning and getting vital points without a fight and was doing all in his power to keep the red plate as he carved through the field passing Gregoire for 8th on lap 10 putting him on the 3rd step of the podium.

Doensen finally took the lead from Mancini on lap 9, thanks to his blistering pace! Mancini would secure his 2nd place for a well deserved 2nd overall.

Heitink would finish behind finish in the end after showing a solid pace as he constantly improved his position. The young Dutch who is acclimating very quickly to the class on his rookie season even managed to pass Kubulins and Ernecker on lap 12 to move up to 3rd and be on the edge of the podium for 1 point. Kubulins race strongly too as he finished 4th for a 10-4 and 7th overall.

Following a valiant effort, Zanocz had to stop his comeback to 6th place. The Hungarian produced a monumental effort to go from around the 30th place after his crash in the second turn. That also made sure he could keep the red plate.

However, thanks to his perfect and dominating 1-1, Doensen went on to win at home and is now only 5 points behind in the championship which promise an intense end of the season with two laps to go!

Gyan Doensen: “It’s an unreal weekend. The crowd was so amazing absolutely, perfect weekend! I went the fastest in every session, 2 race wins, so yeah really happ. I can hopefully do it next week again and take the red plate! Still 2 rounds to go and looking forward to them. Thank you to my team and the crowd, my family. Thank you Netherlands, and see you next week.”

EMX125 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 29:12.709; 2. Noel Zanocz (HUN, Fantic), +0:08.344; 3. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), +0:08.536; 4. Jamie Keith (GBR, Yamaha), +0:23.144; 5. Dani Heitink (NED, Yamaha), +0:38.633; 6. Simone Mancini (ITA, Fantic), +0:47.069; 7. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GASGAS), +0:57.606; 8. Cole McCullough (IRL, Fantic), +0:59.538; 9. Dean Gregoire (NED, KTM), +1:03.852; 10. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, Yamaha), +1:05.381

EMX125 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 30:18.597; 2. Simone Mancini (ITA, Fantic), +0:09.256; 3. Dani Heitink (NED, Yamaha), +0:15.445; 4. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, Yamaha), +0:17.862; 5. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GASGAS), +0:24.580; 6. Noel Zanocz (HUN, Fantic), +0:36.357; 7. Cole McCullough (IRL, Fantic), +0:40.794; 8. Dean Gregoire (NED, KTM), +0:47.194; 9. Douwe Van Mechgelen (BEL, Fantic), +0:48.501; 10. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, Yamaha), +0:54.660

EMX125 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 50 points; 2. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 37 p.; 3. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 37 p.; 4. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 36 p.; 5. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 30 p.; 6. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 29 p.; 8. Cole McCullough (IRL, FAN), 27 p.; 9. Dean Gregoire (NED, KTM), 25 p.; 10. Douwe Van Mechgelen (BEL, FAN), 22 p

EMX125 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Noel Zanocz (HUN, FAN), 322 points; 2. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 317 p.; 3. Simone Mancini (ITA, FAN), 283 p.; 4. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 231 p.; 5. Salvador Perez (ESP, GAS), 213 p.; 6. Dani Heitink (NED, YAM), 204 p.; 7. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 185 p.; 8. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 170 p.; 9. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, GAS), 159 p.; 10. Markuss Ozolins (LAT, GAS), 148 p

EMX125 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Fantic, 381 points; 2. KTM, 365 p.; 3. GASGAS, 311 p.; 4. Yamaha, 298 p.; 5. TM, 133 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 71 p 

VAN DRUNEN IS THE SAND QUEEN IN THE NETHERLANDS AS SHE PERFECTLY WINS HER HOME ROUND

ARNHEM (The Netherlands) 18 August 2024 – The penultimate round of the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship took the spotlight at the Motorsportpark Gelderland Midden in the Netherlands, where the demanding sand circuit in Arnhem presented an ideal battleground for the top contenders in WMX.

With the championship race tightening, all eyes were on the Dutch red plate De Baets Yamaha MX-Team’s Lotte Van Drunen who entered the round neck-and-neck with Daniela Guillen from RFME Spain National Team in the standings. The treacherous, technical nature of the Arnhem track required flawless execution, with the smallest mistake potentially altering the course of the title fight.

In the end, it was the home rider and ‘Queen of Sand’, Lotte Van Drunen who came out victorious with two race wins and a perfect performance to extend her lead in the championship.

Th first WMX Race of the weekend kicked off the Dutch Round with Lotte Van Drunen taking the lead from the first turn in front of Lynn Valk from Schmicker Racing but the number 1, F&H Racing Team’s Courtney Duncan quickly took the 2nd spot as she took the inside of Valk to chase after the red plate. The first gate pick of Daniela Guillen didn’t make it happen for the Spanish who found herself boxed before the first corner and got 11th after a couple of turns but she quickly launched a charge up the field and was 8th on the opening lap.

The Dutch rider Valk showed composure to move up to 3rd in the opening lap with her countrywoman Sara Andersen getting to 4th along in front of another local rider and Champion who was taking part of her last career race as a one-off to ride on home soil, Nancy Van De Ven.

Meanwhile MXFONTARACING’s Kiara Fontanesi fought for 6th with Guillen on her back but the Spanish rider found her rhythm after an average start and passed the Italian for 6th and started to eye a move on Van De Ven for 5th who had a good cushion at that time.

With many Dutch rider showing what the fans came fore, it was Van Drunen who was at the top and managed to keep around 2 seconds gap on Duncan as she clocked the fastest lap of the round too but Duncan was not letting it go as to remind the young ace that she was a 4- times World Champion for a reason. On lap 8 of 12, Duncan reduced the gap to 1 perfect second and didn’t let Van Drunen have a rest.

Meanwhile Guillen finally managed to get to Van De Ven and made a decisive move to go 5th. While Valk 3rd, Andersen 4th, Guillen 5th, Van De Ven 6th and Fontanesi 7th would keep their positions for the remaining laps, the battle for the race wins was raging.

On Lap 9, Duncan was literally alongside the Dutch rider and pushed hard which was one tough test for Van Drunen. The Dutch took advantage of the back markers to put a gap between the charging Duncan to 2.5 seconds and fly to victory. It was a great race that predicted another strong showdown on the Sunday.

In Race 2, Van Drunen took the holeshot and the lead in front of Fontanesi, Valk and Duncan. It was not the dream start for Guillen as she found herself 10th in the opening lap. Van De Ven fell I the first straight and would not finish the race in the end.

Valk wanted to show herself on her home race as she passed Fontanesi during the opening lap while Guillen started to show her fast pace as she was already up to 5th on the turn of the opening lap after overtaking riders including Ceres 71 Racing’s Danee Gelissen, Sara Andersen and SYE Racing Team 423’s Larissa Papenmeier. The Spanish was on fire and not finished as she passed Fontanesi on lap 2 and set the fastest lap in 1.57.091, nearly 2 seconds quicker than Van Drunen and moved up to 4th behind Duncan.

Van Drunen was creating a gap with Valk to 4 seconds. It didn’t last long for Valk as Duncan fought back to 2nd with a good flow while Valk came under pressure on the charging Guillen on lap 3 who was eying the 3rd spot. Fontanesi in 5th fell behind to 12 seconds with Andersen on her back wheel.

Finally on lap 5 of 11, Andersen made her move on the outside of the Italian Champion to go 5th. Meanwhile Guillen had Valk exactly where she wanted as she got on the outside to pass Valk for 3rd.

At the lead, Van Drunen extended her margin on Duncan to 6.9 seconds on lap 6 and looks very well into her rhythm. Duncan in 2nd had 6 seconds on Guillen at that time.

Meanwhile Andersen showed great skill to overtake Gelissen for 6th and kept going a lap later to pass Fontanesi for 5th. Both riders would keep their spot until the end to finish 5th and 6th overall respectively.

Things seem to settle between from lap 5 with no overtake happening between the 3rd place of Guillen and the 7th place of Gelissen. With a good 3-4, Valk got on the 3rd step of the podium whiule Guillen missed out on it and could have blamed her starts over the weekend because she had an excellent pace.

Duncan was pushing hard to get to Van Drunen as the Kiwi went on for a late charge as she increased her pace to start a final showdown. In the last lap while Flares were already lit up to celebrate the win of their home hero Van Drunen, Duncan was racing hard to get a shot at the overall win.

Fans were on their feet with a couple of seconds separating them but there would be no late drama as Van Drunen passed the finish line with a second race win. Duncan would go 2-2 for 2nd overal but the hero of the day was without a doubt, Van Drune who clinched a magnificent home win and extended her lead in the championship. 

Lotte Van Drunen: “That is exactly what I need to do, two good starts. I knew I was the fastest but I just had to do it. And now to get two whole shots, that’s incredible. My starts have been so bad this season. Now we have quite a bigger gap than we started in the championship so yeah that gives me a lot of confidence for Turkiye and I’m ready for more so thanks to everybody around me.”

WMX –  Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), 25:56.780; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:03.475; 3. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), +0:45.117; 4. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:46.925; 5. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:59.547; 6. Nancy van de Ven (NED, Yamaha), +1:01.393; 7. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +1:34.201; 8. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda), +1:35.090; 9. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), +2:24.437; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), -1 lap(s)

WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), 24:08.822; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:03.129; 3. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), +0:32.782; 4. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), +0:42.509; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), +0:49.894; 6. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:59.143; 7. Danee Gelissen (NED, Yamaha), +1:24.796; 8. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda), +1:28.537; 9. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), +1:33.201; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:37.271

WMX Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 50 points; 2. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 36 p.; 5. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 34 p.; 6. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 29 p.; 7. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 26 p.; 8. Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 24 p.; 9. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 22 p.

WMX World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 248 points; 2. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 231 p.; 3. Lynn Valk (NED, KTM), 204 p.; 4. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 192 p.; 5. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 164 p.; 6. Sara Andersen (DEN, KTM), 162 p.; 7. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 152 p.; 8. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 120 p.; 9. Danee Gelissen (NED, YAM), 117 p.; 10. April Franzoni (FRA, HON), 94 p

WMX Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Yamaha, 251 points; 2. GASGAS, 235 p.; 3. KTM, 208 p.; 4. Kawasaki, 164 p.; 5. Honda, 164 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 51 p