The highly anticipated Motocross of Nations in Ernée, France, delivered an epic weekend, with both Fantic Factory Racing MXGP riders, Alberto Forato and Jörgen-Matthias Talviku, putting in strong performances to finish in the top 10 of the MXGP class.
Two Fantic riders were called up to represent their countries at the biggest race of the year: Alberto Forato (Italy) and Jörgen-Matthias Talviku (Estonia), both lining up in the MXGP class aboard their Fantic XXF 450 machines and wasting no time in leaving their mark in Saturday’s qualifying heat.
“Alby” was quick to make moves and showcased his strong return to form with an impressive performance. He even closed in on third place in the final stages of the race before eventually crossing the line in fourth. Talviku was fast out of the gate and held a top-five spot for the first few laps before crossing the line in seventh, helping Team Estonia qualify in eleventh place. Meanwhile, Italy was sitting in fourth place, putting the young team among the podium contenders.
Talviku carried his strong form into race 1 (MXGP and MX2), running in the top 5 for most of the race, while Forato worked his way up to get past the Estonian in the latter stages. The Italian then carried on to secure sixth, while “JMT” managed to hold on to eighth.
The start to the last race of the day (MXGP and Open) was less ideal for the Fantic pairing, but Forato put his head down and charged hard from the back of the field all the way to twelfth. Talviku had to settle for 23rd after a tip-over, but secured tenth overall in the MXGP class, and his top-eight finish in race 1 played a massive part in Estonia’s twelfth-place finish in the Nations classification. The Italian squad secured a solid sixth place, also thanks to Forato’s fifth overall in the MXGP class.
Alberto Forato:
“As Team Italy, we gave it everything, but in the end, the result we were hoping for wasn’t quite there. I think we could have fought for the podium, but things just didn’t go our way. There were still some really good things to take away from the weekend. I am happy with my qualifying race and I had a pretty solid sixth-place finish in race 1. It’s just a bit of a shame about race 2: after a small issue at the start and a crash, I gave everything I had and fought my way back to 12th. Thanks to everyone for the support, we had a good time!”
Jörgen-Matthias Talviku:
“It was a really good weekend, we did a good job on Saturday to qualify directly for the final with Team Estonia. Personally, I had a really good qualifying heat and finished seventh. I have been feeling good on the bike lately, and I have enjoyed the races a lot, especially while I was riding in fifth for quite a while in race 1. Race 2 was a little more difficult, but all in all, we can be happy with tenth overall for me and P12 for Estonia.”
