Agueda, April 30th, 2023
Escandell and Werner took their Fantic XX 125s to second and third. A good performance by young Niccolò Mannini. In the EMX250, an unlucky weekend for Werner while Valk stubbornly stayed in touch with the leaders.
The track of Agueda, Portugal, hosted the fifth round of the 2023 Motocross World Championship. Tom Guyon is still recovering and for this reason, missed the GP but his comeback is expected next week at the GP of Spain. The riders of the 125cc and 250cc of the European Championship got to the track.
EMX125
Elias Escandell registered a solid performance in the qualifying race and set the fourth-fastest time. Max Werner did not find a satisfying feeling with the track and had to feel happy with the 19th position.
Max Werner stretched away at the start of Race 1 and moved to sixth place. During the race, he was the author of several storming laps that took him to fourth position. A few mistakes affected his result, and he lost ground, dropping to eighth. Elias Escandell reached second place and kept that same position after a very good race.
Excellent start of the second moto for Max Werner. The German rider reached the top of the standings and, thanks to a great performance, moved to second but eventually classified third. Tough start for Elias Escandell, who lost several positions and was also affected by a mistake while he was working his way up. Elias qualified in 13th place.
Thanks to two excellent performances, Max Werner finished his race in third place on the day. In the European Championship classification, Escandell is third and Werner fourth.
A good performance by the young Tuscan driver Niccolò Mannini: the 14-year-old finished race 1 in 18th position and race 2 in 11th, his best European performance, for a total score of 13 points and a 13th position on the day.
EMX250
In the 250cc, the two representatives of the Fantic Racing MX team could not find the right moment to reach the top but still made it to the top ten. Fueri was seventh and Valk eighth.
The start of the first heat was very solid for both Alexis Fueri and Cas Valk, who were fourth and fifth after the first lap. Fueri kept the position for most of the race but was overtaken by rivals and ended up sixth. Valk struggled a bit in the first part of the heat and recovered almost at the end of it, qualifying seventh behind his teammate.
The second race was challenging for the riders of the Fantic Factory Mx, as Alexis Fueri was forced to retire because of a technical issue. Cas Valk did not find the right feeling with the Portuguese track and, consequently, the most suitable race pace. Cas did his best and finished eighth.
Cas Valk is now fourth in the Championship standings, close to the podium and the first riders.
Marco Maddii: “This wasn’t such a great weekend for our team, but I’m very happy with Werner’s podium. Actually, we’re in third and fourth position in the Championship and not too far in the standings. We still have many races ahead for us to recover. In the 250cc, Cas and Alexis couldn’t find the right feeling with the track, and today something was definitely missing for us to be among the top riders”.