Weckman takes title as Bintcliffe's a close second
By TMX Archives on 30th Aug 15
After a championship fight that went down to the last race, Emil Weckman emerged triumphant with two dominant rides that saw him take the championship title today in Assen.
The young Finn faced a season-long tough battle with British rider Jack Bintcliffe, with the pair only separated by two points going into the final round in the Netherlands. Unfortunately for the Brit two bad starts left him with too much work to do on the man-made sand track at the Assen TT circuit to catch Weckman; however, Bintcliffe's impressive rides did see him close down a ten second deficit in the first moto to 0.894 seconds within three laps and come from outside the top ten at the start to finish within fifteen seconds of winner Weckman.
Weckman showed his potential from the very start of the year at the pre-season training camp in Albaida, Spain. Coming from the same Manninen Bros. team as last year's Honda 150 European championship runner-up Jere Haavisto, now a regular points scorer in the European 250 championship, the small youngster soon drew attention to himself with his confident style and big jumps.
Emil took race one victory at the first event of the season in Pietramurata and went on to further moto wins at Teutschenthal, Germany, and Matterley Basin, Great Britain, where Weckman also finished first overall. Earning himself the overall win in the Netherlands made the Finn only the second rider to take two overall GP wins in the championship this season, the other being Albin Larsen.
A mark of his extraordinary ability Weckman is too young to compete in the European 250 championship next year, but will receive support and training bikes from Honda in preparation for the next step of his career.
The Honda 150 European Championship aims to nurture youth talent and help them to progress up the motocross ladder. Open to 11-14 year olds the championship features as one of the support races to the World Motocross Championship and visits a variety of Grand Prix tracks. As part of the Honda Racing Family the young riders also benefit from tuition and guidance from other members of the Honda Racing Family, which this year has included Team HRC world motocross rider Gautier Paulin (MXGP), Honda's Gariboldi world motocross rider Tim Gajser (MX2) and Team HRC Sporting Manager Jean-Michel Bayle.
Emil Weckman #25
"The race was pretty good, I have had two good days. In Lommel I had some bad starts but now the luck was on my side. I didn't want to wish Jack bad luck but today it was my turn for the luck. When I was riding I wasn't thinking about the championship until when I crossed the finish line because I didn't want to get stressed, I just wanted to have a comfortable and fun ride. Of course it feels really, really good to win the title today and I am really happy with what I have achieved this year.”
Davy Dousselaere – Honda Europe off-road manager
"Today's last race of the season was another exciting one with the possibility of Emil or Jack taking the title. Similar to last year we had a Finn and a Brit battling it out with only a few points between them, this year though it was the turn of the Finnish rider Emil Weckman. Both him and Jack have been very strong throughout but it has been close between five or six of the riders all year. Emil has proved to be very strong mentally all year and I am very impressed with how he handled the pressure of going into this last round with the championship lead.
"Emil is not quite old enough to compete in the European 250 championship yet, but it shows just how good he is! So now we will be supporting his riding development and working with the Manninen Bros. team to help prepare him for the next step in his motocross career.”
Top five 2015 championship standings:
1 – #25 Emil Weckman – 259pts
2 - #11 Jack Bintcliffe – 249pts
3 - #48 Tim Edberg – 212pts
4 - #3 Albin Larsen – 198pts
5 - #54 Viking Lindstrom – 197pts
