Tough conditions greeted riders at the FIM Junior World Motocross Championships at the French circuit of Romagné at the weekend.
Although the young riders were faced with much tougher conditions than expected as heavy rain hit the north-western venue to leave a slippery surface, it was the same for all competitors to deal with and they all rose to the challenge.
Despite challenges from ever-changeable weather, the day was a brilliant one for the home nation, as Team France’s riders took two Gold Medals and one Silver for an unbeatable four-point total in the team standings, while Team Italy took second overall, and Team Great Britain claimed third for the second year in a row.
It was pure joy for in-form local boy Mano Faure (pictured above, centre), who took a solid 1-3 scorecard to overall victory for Yamaha Europe EMX125 MJC, despite several small crashes in the second race.
Italian Filippo Mantovani was consistent to take the Silver Medal on his KTM for the best Italian result of the day, while Jekabs Kubulins took the second race win for JK Racing Yamaha to claim the Bronze Medal.
The 85cc class saw a consistent pair of second-place finishes seal the overall victory for home hero Rafael Mennillo (pictured above, right), with Lucas Leok claiming Silver for Estonia with a second race win, just as he did in 2024.
Australian Seth Thomas took a brilliant third overall to justify his long journey to the race and complete a 1-2-3 finish for KTM.
The 65cc World Cup event got hit with the worst conditions for anybody, and were limited to just one race, and Gold was won by the American rider Kannon Zabojnik (pictured above, left) on his Cobra MOTO machine, ahead of local KTM ace Mathys Agullo, with another American, Levi Geis, taking the Bronze on his Cobra MOTO.
Riders from New Zealand at this event this season were Phoenix Van Dusschoten (who finished 22nd in the premier 125cc class), Jaggar Townley (who wound up 18th in the 85cc class), Nixon Coppins (20th in the 85cc class) and Tripp Glasgow (21st in the 85cc class).
125CC CLASS
The 13-17 year-old 125cc class got the brightest of conditions for any of the races, and it was the stars of the EMX125 championship, that many MXGP fans would be familiar with, that treated us to a spectacular day of racing on a track that still offered varying levels of grip and moisture.
French hope Faure, whose Yamaha has its base in close proximity to the Romagné venue, was inspired to take a clear holeshot after taking fastest time in Qualifying Group A on Saturday. He was followed by British rider Charlie Richmond, although the S Briggs Commercials Yamaha kid was quickly overtaken by regular EMX frontrunner Nicolò Alvisi of the Racestore KTM Factory Juniors team.
However, just as Alvisi looked to mount a challenge to Faure, he got the downhill approach to a big table-top jump completely wrong, falling off the side of the track in spectacular fashion! Richmond gladly accepted second place back, as Swiss rising star Ryan Oppliger, Czechia’s Vitezslav Marek, and the TM Moto CRD Motosport rider Niccolo Mannini battled for third place.
Oppliger dropped down the order on the second lap, eventually finishing in ninth, as Mannini challenged Marek for third, getting past the Czech on lap four.
Alvisi recovered well to get to fifth by lap five, but he brought his compatriot Filippo Mantovani with him, and as they both got past Marek, Mantovani seized his chance to pass his countryman to claim fourth at the end of lap seven.
Faure continued to dominate, winning by a comfortable 36 seconds from the delighted Richmond, who has only raced at a couple of EMX125 rounds this year.
Mantovani reeled in Mannini to take the top Italian position in third, while Dani Heitink of the Netherlands passed Alvisi for fifth with two laps to go.
Race two again saw a clear holeshot win by Faure, chased by JK Racing Yamaha ace Jekabs Kubulins, and the French flyer looked to be giving the home crowd a replay of his convincing first race win. Alvisi fell on the first lap again while in fourth behind Mantovani, leaving Heitink and Mannini to complete the top five by the start of the first full lap.
Faure pushed the front end out in the downhill left-hand corner after pit lane, toppled over and gifted the lead to Kubulins.
He remounted in fourth, just in front of Mannini, who then had his own crash to put him down to 13th.
Heitink was third after a back-and-forth battle with Faure, but the former 85cc Junior World Champion’s position was short-lived as news came through that he was to be disqualified for running off-track, but therefore on smoother ground, up the whole length of the start straight.
He raced on and crossed the line second, but the early advantage gained meant that disqualification was inevitable.
Kubulins marched on to take a solid win for Latvia, which combined with his 12th in race one to nudge himself onto the podium overall.
Faure tipped over several times but managed to stay ahead of his Yamaha team-mate Jarne Bervoets to claim third behind Mantovani, while countryman Liam Bruneau enjoyed a top five finish.
Marek took sixth overall as the best Czech rider of the event, ahead of Alvisi and Richmond, who suffered a bad start and a 16th place in race two.
Bervoets’ 10-4 finishes were enough to claim fifth overall, behind the 4-8 scores of Mannini. Kubulins took Bronze with a wild 12-1 scorecard, while Mantovani’s 3-2 efforts were good for the Silver Medal to go the way of the Italian, who was the best finisher for his country on the day.
Despite his second race issues, Faure claimed the fourth 125cc Junior World Championship for a Frenchman, following in the footsteps of such stars as Jordi Tixier, Maxime Renaux and Mathis Valin. The future looks bright for the Yamaha rider, and he will look to continue his good form with the EMX125 red plate as they race in Finland next weekend.
85CC CLASS
The 85cc brigade also had a muddy circuit to deal with, with sporadic rain falling on the 12-14 year-old riders for their first 20-minute plus two-lap race.
Latvian Martins Cirulis claimed a surprise holeshot from top Group B Qualifier Mennillo.
British rider Brian Gyles was briefly third before a crash dropped him down the order, as Tim Lopes of France held off a determined Lucas Leok for Team Estonia.
Leok was to suffer his own accident which dropped him to 15th at the end of the first full lap, as Mennillo burst into the lead, while his countryman Enzo Herzogenrath used his tall frame to fight through to second place, making it a French 1-2 from very early on.
Team USA’s Gauge Brown was another tall rider on the move and was up to third when Cirulis crashed out of the race altogether, although he was unhurt.
The battle up front was already raging between Mennillo and Herzogenrath, as the pair passed and re-passed each other again and again, sometimes even briefly hitting the ground, but staying in the top two positions throughout.
Australian Seth Thomas had suffered a small crash early on, but fought through from ninth to catch and pass Brown for third on the very last lap, while Leok had also used his top qualifier’s pace to claw back up to fourth by lap five, before once again slipping down the order.
The hot pre-race favourite would eventually recover to take eighth place, the highest scoring rider to be lapped by the flying French pair out front.
New Zealander Tripp Glasgow was briefly in the top five, but in the end Spanish rider Pau Caudet would claim fifth behind Brown, and ahead of the third French rider Louis Morette in sixth.
His compatriots Herzogenrath and Mennillo continued to battle back and forth, even if the lap charts showed they didn’t change position, as Herzogenrath was always able to retaliate successfully against Mennillo’s overtakes, or indeed recover from his own mistakes very quickly.
The gap at the end was just 1.733 seconds in favour of Herzogenrath, and the crowd thoroughly appreciated their efforts for a French 1-2 at the close.
Leok was in no mood to mess around in race two, claiming the holeshot and never being passed in the entire race, charging off with a first lap that was an incredible 12 seconds faster than the next rider.
Herzogenrath was initially second, but jumped off-track on a difficult uphill leap, dropping him outside the top 30.
He would eventually recover to finish 13th, which would lead to him taking fifth overall on the day.
New Zealand’s Jaggar Townley was another one who fell from a strong position, and the New Zealander would eventually take 15th place, as Brown battled with Mennillo for 2nd place behind the charging Leok.
Italian Francesco Assini made his presence felt in a strong battle with Caudet, and as Brown got stuck in a rut to drop from third to an eventual ninth, Assini made a strong move on Caudet to take that top three position.
Brit Harley Marczak, a disappointed 16th in race one, was this time much higher up, and moved into fifth as he took advantage of a mistake from Seth Thomas, who looked like he had lost his overall podium position to Caudet until the Spaniard was finally passed for third by Assini with three laps to go.
The Italian was the best of his country in the class, taking seventh overall, while Marczak’s tenth overall was the best for Team GB, and crucial in claiming third in the overall team results.
Gauge Brown was the top American with sixth overall, while Caudet missed out on the podium by just a single point.
Leok powered to win by nearly a full minute, finishing second overall in the class for the second straight year, but Mennillo couldn’t care less about the big gap as he steadily made sure of second place, matching his first race result to claim the FIM Junior 85cc world title, the first ever by a Frenchman in the class.
The top European stars will be looking forward to the EMX85 finale at Loket in just three weeks’ time, while many will look to step up to a 125cc machine next season.
NATIONS CLASSIFICATIONS
The 2025 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship concluded with an electric atmosphere in Romagné, where the home team, Team France delighted the home crowd by securing the sought-after team title, finishing with an unbeatable four-point total. Italy followed in second with strong, consistent performances and Great Britain claimed a well-deserved third overall.
The top five was completed by the USA and Latvia both of whom showed great depth and determination across all categories. Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia respectively rounded out the top 10 in the nations classification.
Meanwhile, Team Ireland proudly took home the prestigious Ride Green Cup, awarded for their outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability throughout the event.
With passionate fans, fierce competition, and incredible memories made, Romagné delivered a world-class showcase of junior motocross talent.
LEADING FINAL STANDINGS:
2025 Junior World Championship Nations Top 10 Classifications:
1. France 4p.; 2. Italy 15p.; 3. Great Britain 22p.; 4. USA 34p.; 5. Latvia 46p.; 6. Belgium 49p.; 7. Spain 51p.; 8. Germany 56p.; 9. Netherlands 64p.; 10. Australia 12p (competed in only 2 categories).
125cc Junior World Championship Top 10 Overall Classifications:
1. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 45 points; 2. Filippo Mantovani (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 34 p.; 4. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, TM), 31 p.; 5. Jarne Bervoets (BEL, YAM), 29 p.; 6. Vitezslav Marek (CZE, KTM), 29 p.; 7. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Charlie Richmond (GBR, YAM), 27 p.; 9. Liam Bruneau (FRA, KTM), 24 p.; 10. Ryan Oppliger (SUI, KTM), 23 p.
85cc Junior World Championship Top 10 Overall Classifications:
1. Rafael Mennillo (FRA, KTM), 44 points; 2. Lucas Leok (EST, KTM), 38 p.; 3. Seth Thomas (AUS, KTM), 35 p.; 4. Pau Caudet (ESP, GAS), 34 p.; 5. Enzo Herzogenrath (FRA, KTM), 33 p.; 6. Gauge Brown (USA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Francesco Assini (ITA, GAS), 29 p.; 8. Maxim Zimmerman (SVK, HUS), 27 p.; 9. Tim Lopes (FRA, GAS), 25 p.; 10. Harley Marczak (GBR, KTM), 21 p.
65cc Junior World Cup Top 10 Overall Classifications:
1. Kannon Zabojnik (USA, COB), 25 points; 2. Mathys Agullo (FRA, KTM), 22 p.; 3. Levi Geis (USA, COB), 20 p.; 4. Cohen Jagielski (GBR, GAS), 18 p.; 5. John Slade (GBR, GAS), 16 p.; 6. Daniel Corda (ITA, KTM), 15 p.; 7. Liam Morette (FRA, HUS), 14 p.; 8. Tobe Vandeneynde (BEL, KTM), 13 p.; 9. Kye Sproule (AUS, YAM), 12 p.; 10. Alfie Cotter (GBR, KTM), 11 p.
Photo courtesy Infront Moto Racing
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