The 2024 FIM Junior Motocross World Champions and World Cup Winner have been crowned today at the conclusion of racing on the Circuit Kamperweg Heerde in the heart of the Netherlands, with Champions from a far afield as Hungary and New Zealand, but the home crowd also had one of their own claim a winner’s trophy on the podium!
Words | Press release
Fantic Factory Racing EMX125 rider Noel Zanocz continued his fantastic year with the World Junior 125cc title in his pocket after a stunning display of riding in the sand. The Hungarian also leads the EMX125 Championship at the time of writing! New Zealander Levi Townley justified the long journey with a stunning overall win to add another FIM Gold Medal to the family collection as father Ben watched on proudly! Finally, the home crowd cheered the success of young charger Kash van Hamond, who used his skills in the sand to claim the 65cc World Cup!
It was also joy for the local supporters in the Nations standings, as Team Netherlands claimed the overall team victory, going one better than last season, ahead of Team France in second and Team Great Britain in third!
125cc: NOEL ZANOCZ ON FIRE
The 125cc class was a hot one, with the top 10 of this year’s EMX125 Championship Presented by FMF Racing present alongside top racers from all the other continents.
Race One: It was Sweden’s Sandor Sols who claimed the first race holeshot on his GASGAS ahead of local ace Dean Gregoire. However, it was Fantic Factory Racing EMX125 pilot Simone Mancini who dispelled the rumours that young Italians can’t ride sand by taking the lead on the opening circulation! Jayson van Drunen, son of 1990s star Marcel and no relation to WMX star Lotte, was battling with another Dutchman, Gyan Doensen in the top five, but Zanocz was on a mission and charged through to take second by the end of lap three. With a clear track to chase his teammate, he set the fastest time of the whole race on lap four, and dived past Mancini for the lead on lap six!
Behind them, Sols dropped back with a bike issue to finish 14th, but Spaniard Francisco Garcia put in a solid ride on his GASGAS to take third on lap six, then chased down Mancini to break-up the Fantic 1-2 with a pass on the very last lap of the race! Finn Kasimir Hindersson, one of the fastest qualifiers, also fought through to finish fourth, with current EMX125 Championship challenger Doensen ending his topsy-turvy race in fifth. Zanocz cruised to a 14-second victory to leave everyone else scratching their heads.
Race Two: That super Swede Sols grabbed the holeshot again in race two, but would once more finish in 14th. Mancini grabbed the lead on lap two this time, but Zanocz was outside the top 15 and giving his opponents some hope! Gregoire and Van Drunen were again giving their home fans something to cheer for, but it was Doensen who climbed to 2nd at the end of lap five!
Incredibly, by half-distance it was that Hungarian menace Zanocz who had powered up to second place past his series rival, and set after Mancini! With Doensen staying solid in third ahead of Garcia, who also fought through from behind at the start, it meant that Zanocz was in the driving seat for the overall, but he still put everything into catching his teammate, with a small mistake just interrupting his rhythm enough to give it to the Italian!
Local ace Dani Heitink claimed fifth ahead of Hindersson, but it was Zanocz who claimed the World Junior Championship with his 1-2 scoreline ahead of Mancini’s 3-1. Garcia completed the podium ahead of Doensen and Hindersson, with Brit Jamie Keith taking a good sixth overall with consistent 6-8 finishes.
85cc: LEVI TOWNLEY KEEP THE TRADITION
The 85cc class had taken the 40 starters from 108 entrants on Saturday, so it was always going to be a full and frantic circuit for the buzzing machines! IN race one, Austrian GASGAS pilot Moritz Ernecker took the holeshot and held the early lead from Levi Townley and French flyer Sleny Goyer, before Finland’s Viktor Leppälä moved into contention on his KTM! On lap five, Ernecker threw away the lead, remounting in 16th and recovering to finish an eventual 8th.
This gave the elder of the two Townley brothers, Levi, a lead which he would not relinquish, as Goyer moved up to claim second with three laps to go, leaving Leppälä to hold off a charge from Estonian Lucas Leok. The USA’s Wyatt Duff claimed fifth ahead of another Estonian, Aston Allas, who put al ast lap pass on France’s Kenzo Ferez.
Race two saw a clean holeshot for Leok, and he simply would not be caught as he made an early gap and claimed a solid 12-second victory by the flag. The battle raged behind him as the Dane Casey Karstrom put his Yamaha into second initially, before local ace Dex van den Broek completed his charge from outside the top five to claim second in the race, but Levi Townley battled past Brit Finley Pickering, Austrian Ricardo Bauer, and finally Karstrom to take third place, enough to keep Leok back in the points and claim the first ever World Junior Championship for New Zealand! Van den Broek claimed third overall ahead of Goyer and Leppälä, with American Braxtyn Mes taking sixth overall by virtue of a stunning charge right from the back in race two!
65cc: HOME HERO
It was another NewZealander, Nico Verhoeven, who has also been racing in the AMA recently, who claimed the first race holeshit in the 65cc class, and was never overtaken to win by nearly ten seconds. Van Hamond fought from outside the top five to claim second in the race, ahead of Estonian Theo Kolts and a stunning charge from Great Britain’s Cohen Jagielski. Belgium’s Xen Temmerman took fifth ahead of fast-starting Frenchman Timoteï Cez.
Verhoeven again took the holeshot in race two, but Van Hamond had charged from outside the top ten to claim second by lap three, then dived past the New Zealander to take the lead! Despite his efforts to fight for the World Cup overall victory, Nico lost positions to Germany’s Luca Nierychlo, who claimed second ahead of Kolts. Verhoeven had to settle for fourth, enough only for second overall behind popular local ace Van Hamond! Verhoeven’s AMA rival Jaydin Smart came through from an awful start to claim fifth, with his countryman Joseph Vicari claiming sixth in race two.
Overall though, it was Van Hamond who claimed the first 65cc title for a Dutch rider since Ivano van Erp in 2017, with Verhoeven and Kolts second and third. Nierychlo took fourth overall from Vicari, with Jagielski recovering from a second race crash to finish 12th, good enough for sixth overall!
