Yamaha Motor Europe have announced that Rick Elzinga will be joining the EMX title challengers Andrea Bonacorsi and Dave Kooiker at the Hutten Metaal Official team for 2022.
Meanwhile, the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team has retained its current crop of young stars, Ivano van Erp, Karlis Reisulis and Ferruccio Zanchi, for the 2022 EMX125 season.Ā
Spearheading the effort in the MX2 feeder class, EMX250, Elzinga makes his return to the Yamaha Family after a two-year hiatus. The Dutchman demonstrated his capabilities in the 2021 EMX250 Championship with an emphatic overall victory at his home round, the first of his career. The 19-year-old went on to score another three podiums, before securing the EMX250 bronze medal with a third-place finish at the final round in Mantova, Italy.
After winning the EMX125 Championship in 2020, Bonacorsi moved up to the highly competitive EMX250 class in 2021, joining the Hutten Metaal Yamaha Official EMX250 team. Raising the bar for the next crop of up-and-coming talents, the 18-year-old Italian completed his first full term in the 250cc category in fourth overall after proving his true potential with a pair of back-to-back race wins at two of the three rounds in Pietramurata, Italy. The rookie sensation also raced his GYTR kitted YZ250F to the podium on three further occasions and will look to add to that tally to mount a title challenge next year.
Remaining with the Hutten Metaal set up for a third full season, 16 year-old Kooiker hopes to line up fit and strong in 2022, eager to inch closer to the front runners.Ā
In the EMX125 series, the MJC Yamaha Official EMX125 team is thrilled to continue with its trio of proven title challengers, Van Erp, Reisulis and Zanchi.
All three MJC Yamaha riders celebrated podium silverware in 2021. Van Erp emerged as one of the major title contenders with three race and round wins at EMX125 events in Germany, Spain, and Italy. After starting the 2021 season with an injury, Reisulis bounced back with a vengeance. The 16-year-old Latvian rounded out his season with two overall podiums at the final two rounds in Italy, finishing second on both occasions. Zanchi was classified second overall at the first round in Matterley Basin, while the Italianās first full season in the series also included an impressive race victory in France.
All three riders are confident and eager to continue racing the highly competitive GYTR kitted YZ125 inside the EMX125 Championship in 2022.
“I am happy and proud to run Yamaha’s Official EMX250 Team for a third year in a row.’ said Wim Hutten Team Hutten Metaal Yamaha’s team owner. “For this upcoming season, we add Rick Elzinga to the team, which is exciting because we are a Dutch-based team and he is a Dutch rider, and is also close to the Hutten Metaal area.”
“It is also nice to keep Andrea, after an excellent rookie season, and Dave who will continue with us for another year as well. We see a lot of potential in this line-up, and our team will do all we can to give them the best opportunity to show what they are able to achieve.”
