Round five of the European Championship EMX125 was swept clean by KTM Factory Juniors’ New Zealand rider Josiah Natzke who had the hilly circuit of Villars sous Ecot, France, dialled this weekend to claim his first overall win of the season.

The talented young Kiwi from Hamilton took his third race win of the season on Saturday in race one, ahead of the French favourite Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Maxime Renaux. While Renaux flew the flag for the French riders, Natzke’s KTM Factory Juniors team-mate Jorge Prado rounded out the top three.

Kicking off a new day, when the gates dropped this morning it was Renaux who had the packed hillside fired up with his amazing holeshot. While the roaring crowds did their best to egg the young Frenchman on, it wasn’t enough as Natzke hit the finish line jump wide open to take over the lead at the start of lap two.

Half a lap later and the red plate holder KTM Factory Juniors’ Prado emerged pinned on his KTM 125SX.

The Spaniard, one of the youngest riders in the class at the tender age of 14, barged his way from outside of the top five to take over the lead on lap three. There is perhaps nothing worse than being passed by a teammate, which Natzke made evident when he out of nowhere turned it up a notch and passed Prado back. Prado did his best to respond again but eventually let Natzke go and sat back for second.

The home town hero Renaux cruised around for an easy third while fellow Frenchman Stephen Rubini, who was in good shape on Saturday before he stacked it and finished a lap down, held off MX Racing Team’s Filippo Zonta for fourth.

At the end of the weekend it was Natzke who dominated both races for the overall while his team-mate Prado went 3-2 for second. Renaux rounded out the top three.

EMX125 Race 1 Top Ten:

1. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 29:57.656; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:07.411; 3. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), +0:20.342; 4. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), +0:24.141; 5. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), +0:26.853; 6. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), +0:27.331; 7. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.027; 8. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), +0:29.136; 9. Filippo Zonta (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:30.007; 10. Andrea Zanotti (SMR, Yamaha), +0:31.428

EMX125 Race 2 Top Ten:

1. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 29:07.516; 2. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), +0:06.466; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, Yamaha), +0:19.174; 4. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), +0:36.899; 5. Filippo Zonta (ITA, Husqvarna), +0:41.880; 6. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), +0:43.965; 7. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), +0:46.517; 8. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, Yamaha), +0:47.340; 9. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), +0:52.588; 10. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), +0:53.656

EMX125 Overall Top Ten:

1. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 42 p.; 4. Nathan Renkens (BEL, KTM), 33 p.; 5. Filippo Zonta (ITA, HUS), 28 p.; 6. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 28 p.; 7. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Gianluca Facchetti (ITA, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 22 p.; 10. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 18 p.

EMX125 Championship Top Ten:

1. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 205 points; 2. Maxime Renaux (FRA, YAM), 200 p.; 3. Josiah Natzke (NZL, KTM), 190 p.; 4. Miro Sihvonen (FIN, KTM), 136 p.; 5. Conrad Mewse (GBR, KTM), 130 p.; 6. Davide Cislaghi (ITA, TM), 111 p.; 7. Glen Meier (DEN, KTM), 109 p.; 8. Stephen Rubini (FRA, KTM), 109 p.; 9. Filippo Zonta (ITA, HUS), 105 p.; 10. Mathys Boisrame (FRA, YAM), 99 p.

Photo courtesy Ray Archer

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