The young Italian made a successful debut last weekend at the opening round of the Internazionali D´Italia in Riola Sardo. He won overall in his first-ever race under the Honda colors, which is a big boost of confidence for him and his team that will return in the MX2 class of the MXGP World Championship for the first time since 2017.
In the first MX2 race, having qualifyed fourth, Zanchi was down in 29th as they rounded the first lap after having trouble after the opening few corners. Still, that didn’t deter the youngster from putting his head down and working his way through the field at speed. Despite being in traffic, the Team HRC rider was the fastest guy on track for numerous laps and after putting in his best lap near the end of the race, he was able to make the move into fourth place. It was a great recovery and it still gave him a shot at a solid result if he could do the same again in race two.
This time, the first lap went much better and the #73 was quickly into third place. From there, he stalked the two riders in front, eventually picking off second place before setting his sights on the leader. Knowing that victory in the race would also give him the overall, he kept charging and with a few laps to go, he made his move and swept into the lead. It was a great moment for the 17-year-old on his debut with Team HRC to not only take the moto win, but also the overall and the perfect way to start this renewed CRF250R programme.
“It is amazing to get the win here today. It wasn’t easy, crashing on that first lap in race one and picking up in last place, but I just kept pushing and pushing and was really happy to get up to fourth. I knew I had good speed and once I found myself in that position in race two, needing to win for the overall, I tried my hardest and made it happen! A big thank you to the whole of Team HRC for all the work and all the support. This is a great first race, but there is more to come!“
