Sunny skies but chilly temperatures greeted the first round of action for the EMX125 riders, with the first race of 2022 taking place on Saturday afternoon, followed by the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning.
Race 1 was an absolute thriller. Reisulis powered his GYTR kitted YZ125 to the front of the pack on lap one as teammates Zanchi and Van Erp quickly progressed through the field after bumping ‘bars on the start.
Showing great speed and determination, Reisulis stretched out a 10-second lead and led the first seven laps but lost his cushiony advantage when he hit a kicker on a tabletop and crashed. The ‘47’ quickly remounted his YZ125 and managed to hold onto the lead but found himself under immense pressure from his teammates Zanchi and Van Erp.
Proving the competitiveness of the GYTR kitted YZ125, all three MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 riders provided great entertainment as they went bar-to-bar for top honours. On lap-8, Zanchi put a textbook pass on Reisulis and stormed to an emphatic race win, the third of his career. At the same time, teammates Reisulis and Van Erp could not finish after each rider crashed out of contention, on the same lap but in different incidents.
In the second race on Sunday morning, the riders were faced with a much harder and slicker circuit. Van Erp got off to a great start, emerging from turn-one in third, as Zanchi and Reisulis had to battle back through the order after starting outside the top-15.
Van Erp made one of his characteristic hard-charges and took over the lead on lap-4, as Reisulis made an impression blitzing past many of the classes’ top competitors to slot into the top-10.
After nine laps upfront, van Erp had an 8-second buffer but crashed again with three laps remaining. The young Dutchman recovered for sixth, while Reisulis settled for seventh.
As for Zanchi, the rapid Italian put in an astonishing ride from mid-pack up into the top-five but crashed out of the race at the end of pit-lane with five minutes left on the clock.
The next round of the EMX125 Championship will take place on April 9th and 10th in Pietramurata, Italy.
Click here for full results from the opening round of the EMX125 Championship.