EMX125: Will it be all against Rene Hofer?
This coming weekend the youngsters will start in the European Championship on their 125cc. What was once a world championship class is now a class in which semi-professional, hard-working kids from 13 to 17 years old, trying to convince professional teams of their capabilities.
One of these young people who is already very advanced in his development and is therefore already under contract with KTM is the Austrian Rene Hofer. The 16-year-old young man is KTM's wet dream, an Austrian who makes their Austrian Orange rip iron howl like a piglet that knows it will be salami. However, KTM also wants to compete with Rene Hofer in the Austrian championship, and the gifted pilot will compete there on an SX250F. If these changes between motorcycles go well for him, Rene Hofer on his prototype 2019 125cc KTM will be the big title favorite.
The possible opponents
If we had to name one major opponent in this extremely unpredictable class, we would go first Tom Guyon. The 15-year-old Frenchman participated in one EMX125 race last season as a rookie, and finished it in fourth place overall on his then TM machine, after finishing seventh and sixth in the series. However, it remained a one-off performance and after this EMX125 competition in Ernée, the further program drawn up by TM France was completed with French motocross and supercross competitions. This year, however, the young man will contest the entire European championship for Valentin Teillet's VRT KTM team. One side note is that we still have to wait and see whether this talented little guy can match his strong results on the hard home courts on sand courts.
Someone who very surprisingly scored second place on such a sand track Petr Polak. The Czech scored this last weekend in the Dutch Masters of Motocross in Markelo. Whether this is a harbinger for a breakthrough season remains to be seen, because he finished the previous season in 21st place with 62 points.
We are also looking forward to the pilots who field the Belgian teams Diga Racing and CreymMert Racing. At Diga we see two-time European champions in the Honda 150cc class Emil Weckman position himself to do better with the support of the team than the disappointing 28th place he achieved in the championship in 2017. At CreyMert Racing it is necessary David Braceras, make you forget Kevin Horgmo who will compete in the EMX250 class this year. Not an easy task for the Spaniard.
What can the 85cc world champion do in Rookie season?
Who will also make an appearance in the championship is the Briton who lives in Spain Eddie Wade. The Briton became world champion in the 85cc class last year, and will compete in the EMX125 this year for Jezyk Racing with support from Austria. The championship is probably a bit too ambitious for 14-year-old Eddie. However, it will be extremely interesting to see what the reigning world champion in the 85cc class can do in his first 125cc season. We still see the talented Spaniard in the Jezyk Racing team Oriol Oliver. In 2017 he made his debut on the 125cc machine. He competed once in the EMX championship and scored ten points.
French brothers Matheo and Florian Miot
The French brothers Miot have been known to us for some time now. Every time we were allowed to watch them in the BMB competitions, we could only conclude that these brothers have to work very hard. Because with every meeting with our pilots, their progress is astounding. Both will contest the EMX125 championship this season for the Motoblouz HB team on a KTM. We will soon know what they are worth on the international battlefield, but it was two years ago Matheo Miot already apply in the Beloften 125 series, while his brother, Florian competed in the 85cc class with Avo Tack, Wannes van de Voorde and other…
The Belgians and Dutch
When we look at our “lowlanders”, our eyes automatically go to the name of Rick Elzinga. Unfortunately, this name is not on the list of participants due to injury, both arms were broken and the title ambitions were immediately ended. The Dutchman, with a factory contract with Yamaha, already had an injury-prone season in 2017, but we hope that 2018 will not be a blueprint for that year. That some great results are waiting for Rick Elzinga after the rehabilitation.
In addition to the boy on the blue one, Dutch people can also look forward to Raivo Dankers. The Dutchman, who is in his final year of EMX125, has already shown in the past that he has qualities that allowed him to compete with Jorge Prado Garcia and Jago Geerts, among others. However, these 85cc days no longer count and for that 125cc title it is now make or break for Raivo Dankers. In the first round of the Dutch Masters of Motocross he showed that he can be the equal of major title favorite Rene Hofer on a sand track. Can he also extend these strong performances to the hard bans and does Raivo Dankers make himself an outsider for the title? It just might be possible.
Anyone who can always achieve a strong result on sand tracks, such as four in the EMX125 championship this year with Valkenswaard, Kegums, Lommel and Assen, is Raf Meuwissen. In the second series in Markelo, he managed to cross the finish line in third place, after Rene Hofer and Petr Polak, but ahead of Emil Weckman and others…
Other lowlanders such as Boyd van der Voorn, Kjell Verbruggen, Wannes van de Voorde, Ryan de Beer, Loeka Thonies and the many others I'm forgetting must mainly focus on trying to outdo and qualify themselves. Everything that comes next is an experience that no one can take away from you and an experience that will make you stronger for the future. It will show you what you can already do well, but also where you still have a lot of work to do. I keep in mind that no one is born a world champion, and that your peers may now have a head start in development, but could easily lose it due to a wrong choice or injury.
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