The Italian Pro Prestige Championship has reached the halfway point with the third stage at Miravalle in Montevarchi. A rainy Saturday and a beautiful sunny Sunday made the event even more unpredictable.

Our two boys, Yago Martinez and Brando Rispoli, were back in the MX2 class. On their 250s, the Spaniard on a 4T and the young Italian on a 2T, they took part in the Saturday afternoon time trials in the first group. An excellent performance for Yago, who was second fastest and Brando seventh.

On Sunday, at the start of the first race, Yago made a great start and immediately found himself in second place behind Bernardini. On the third lap he took the lead and began to pass his rivals. With a few laps to go, however, he had to surrender the lead to Lata and settle for second place. Immediately after the chequered flag Yago had to seek medical attention for a blow to his knee suffered at the start, and he also had to give up the TV interviews. Certainly this had an impact on the Spaniard’s performance.

Gritting his teeth, Yago started the second race. However, he crashed in the first corner and needed some time to restart. From then on, our boy had to put all his energy into the race, even ignoring the pain in his knee. His comeback was amazing and he finished the race in 11th place.

With these results Yago finished the day in fourth place overall and still holds second place in the MX2 Elite Championship.

YAGO MARTINEZ: “It was a difficult race for us, I felt very good on Saturday and also on Sunday morning. In the first race I had contact with another rider in the first corner and bent my knee, I fought the pain until the end and finished second. I decided to race the second race to get some important points for the championship and with a crash at the start I finished close to the top ten. Now it’s time to evaluate my knee and do all the necessary tests to reach a conclusion. We have to recover well, there is still a lot of championship ahead of us.

Brando’s first heat only lasted a couple of laps. Unfortunately, the youngster was unable to get a feel for the track and decided to leave the race early. In the break between the two races, the team decided to make some changes in the hope of getting Brando in the best possible condition for the race. His race was marked by a difficult start that saw him pass in the middle of the pack on the first lap. As the laps went by, Brando managed to move up the leaderboard to 12th place.
It was a difficult two days for him and to think that in Cingoli he was on the podium in his category. Let’s hope that at the next round in Ponte a Egola he can return to this level.
Brando finished the race in 21st place overall and is now 10th in the Fast MX2 championship after three rounds. There is still room for improvement, the championship is very short and Brando has all the potential to return to the top positions.

BRANDO RISPOLI: “Quite an unlucky weekend, a very treacherous track. I had a lot of fun on my 250, even if the result was very bad, we look ahead knowing that we have to improve the starts to stay ahead. I thank TM Moto, my family and the team”.

Next up for the team was the German GP next week, but Yago Martinez needs a few days rest. So everything will be postponed until the GP of Latvia on the 8th and 9th of June, certainly with Brando in the EMX125 and, if all goes well, with Yago in the MX2 World Championship.

The Pro Prestige Championship will return to Ponte a Egola (PI) on the 22nd and 23rd of June for the fourth round of this fiercely contested tournament.