French Elite Championship – Round 4 Gaillac Toulza – Another podium for Francisco Garcia

Francisco Garcia has definitely acquired a taste for podium finishes since joining team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki, in the French and in the European championships. This weekend at Gaillac Toulza he secured his sixth podium of the season, finishing third, just ahead of teammate Jake Cannon in fourth.

Newcomers to the French Elite Championship tracks this year, both Francisco and Jake have quickly made their mark, becoming two of the key players in the MX2 class. And while Jake hasn’t yet tasted the podium, finishing fourth in the last two races, Francisco has already secured podiums at three of the four events of the series.

Fifth fastest in the timed practice period at Gaillac Toulza, Francisco started the first moto in sixth before doing some passes to gain a few places and to finish the race in fourth position, one place ahead of Jake who made an excellent start – second for a few laps – before losing time in a crash. Both did better in the second moto, with Francisco quickly moving into second place while Jake took the third place with two laps to go.

Francisco, third in the race, is now second place in the championship (4 points behind the leader), while by finishing fourth, Jake gained two places and is now seventh. There are two more races in the French Elite, one at Plomion in Picardy on June 15th and the final one at Rauville-la-Place in Normandy on June 29th.

Now it’s time to be back to the European Championship, with the MXGP of France this weekend.

Francisco Garcia: Third of the event (4/2) and second in the championship
Jake Cannon : Fourth of the event (5/3) and seventh in the championship

250 European Championship in Spain: A moto top five for Francisco Garcia

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia retained his third place in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship standings with a solid fifth in the second moto on Sunday morning after a DNF on Saturday.

Once more we had to deal with rain and mud this weekend! On Saturday the conditions were good for the practice sessions, but it start raining mid-day and on Sunday it was even worse as the rain stopped after the European second moto.

Francisco, fourteen points from the points-leader at the start of the weekend after three consecutive podiums in Trentino, Switzerland and Portugal, was optimistic that he could intensify his title challenge on home soil after posting second-fastest time in Timed Practice and held a solid sixth place halfway through the first moto on Saturday before being forced to pull out. Heavy rain for three hours before the second moto on Sunday morning rendered track conditions extremely difficult but he limited the damages with a spirited ride from a twelfth-placed start to fifth at the chequered flag. He remains third in the standings before the next round in two weeks’ time at Ernée (France)

Qualified in eighteenth position Jake Cannon had mid-grid gate and at the start of the first moto he had to stop at the tight first turn as several riders crashed in front of him! Twenty eighth after the opening lap he never give up to come back fourteenth, and the scenario was pretty similar on Sunday when he crashed in the first corner. Once more he came back strongly from twenty third to thirteenth, for fifteenth overall.

Next weekend we will race the fourth round of the French Championship at Gaillac Toulza

Francisco Garcia : Thirteenth overall (DNF/5) and third of the championship
Jake Cannon : Fifteenth overall (14/13) and seventeenth of the championship

Third podium for Francisco Garcia in the European 250

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia recorded his third consecutive podium in European EMX250 Motocross Championship racing to maintain his challenge for the title.

After setting the fastest lap in Free Practice the Spaniard qualified third in Timed Practice on a dry surface before it rained heavily to turn the track into a quagmire for the first race on Saturday. With visibility at a minimum in the muddy conditions he rode a cool race to regularly advance up the leaderboard, taking over his eventual third place on lap nine of fourteen. On Sunday morning he showed great composure in the appalling conditions riders faced in race two to salvage the podium. Rain was running down the ruts on the hillside by the end of the race and lap times were a full minute slower than during practice so survival was the key. Sixth at the start Garcia did another strong race and was rewarded with fourth at the finish, sufficient to earn him third overall. He remains third in the standings before the next round at Lugo (Spain) next weekend.

Bud teammate Jake Cannon scorched through turn one to take the holeshot but his race was soon over he slithered to the ground at the sweeping turn two and, gloves and controls covered in slimy mud, with a bended handle bar had no alternative to pull out of the race. Jake was clearly not comfortable in conditions so alien to those he has ever raced in his native Australia and had to withdraw also on Sunday after crashes.

Francisco Garcia: “I am not used to conditions like this in Spain so I am glad to have finished the day on the podium with good points for the championship; I dropped a few points to the leader but the championship is long. There was so much rain today; the conditions were completely crazy and the track was getting more and more difficult every lap so I concentrated on not crashing. Now we stay focused for my home GP next weekend; I hope we will have better weather.”

French Elite Championship – Round 3 Castelnau de Lévis Francisco Garcia is leading the Elite MX2!

Once again Francisco Garcia climbed on the podium in Castelnau de Lévis, and claimed the French MX2 Championship leader’s plate. The Spaniard placed his #29 Kawasaki from the Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki team on the third step of the podium, and it was a good day for the team as Jake Cannon finished fourth !
Our Youtube video of the race day : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn8mQq95A2k

Castelnau de Lévis is a regular venue for the Elite Championship, and presented a new look this year, with a partially reworked track. Racing conditions evolved throughout the day, which began in the mud after overnight rain and came drier as the sun finally shines!

We can say that Francisco earned that red plate by himself! After an excellent start in the first heat he suffered a crash on the first lap, and was almost last after three turns! Already eighteenth after one lap, he made his way up, coming into the top ten four laps later and pushing until the end to cross the checkered flag in fourth position. Eleventh at the start of the second heat, he came back to fifth with three laps to go, and made two more passes in the final two laps to snatch the third place of the moto and the event.

Lacking success in recent weeks, Jake Cannon delivered his best performance to date in the Tarn, finishing 4th of the event. Starting in the top fifteen each time, Jake quickly found his lines on a track where the ruts deepened throughout the day, finishing sixth in the first race and foutth in the second. These results put him in fourth place on the day and he has now moved into 9th position of the championship.

Now it’s time for the European Championship, with two consecutive races in Portugal and Spain.

Francisco Garcia : Third of the event (4/3) and leader of the championship
Jake Cannon : Fourth of the event (6/4) and ninth in the championship

Francisco : “Difficult track here, with deep ruts different than what we have in the European championship. I have a good feeling since Switzerland and that’s important, and today I felt strong and was able to push during both motos in the last ten minutes. I was really happy with my start in the first race – the second one was not so good – but I crashed on a big jump and came back from last to fourth. Not so bad, I’m happy with the results today.”

Jake : “This weekend was a lot better than the previous ones, I rode more like myself to score a 6/4 with a small crash in the first race. I know that I have to work on my opening laps so we’ll keep working and for sure the results will come. I enjoyed the track, it was tight but just a French track and I’m getting used to it! Now I’ve got some more confidence moving to Portugal where I hope to have two solid motos.”

More and more podiums for Francisco Garcia!

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia leapt to second, just two points shy of the points lead, in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship after scoring his second consecutive podium in the Swiss round of the series at Frauenfeld.

Just a week after his first ever win in the European Championship, Francisco had another top ride in Switzerland. Sixth in the timed practice session he took a top-five start and worked his way forward to third on lap seven of sixteen. He was closing on the leaders until a slip four laps from the close lost him contact but could not prevent him taking the twenty championship points with a third position. Two days later, on Monday as there was no action on Easter Sunday, he moved quickly from seventh to fourth through the first few turns and leapt past for third on the uphill climb already on the opening lap. He finally broke down the stubborn resistance of the rider in second on lap eleven of seventeen but the leader was already eleven seconds clear by then. Third- and second-placed motos earnt second overall over the weekend and the forty-two points have seen him close dramatically in the championship points-chase; he is now second in the series, just two points shy of the red plate, heading to the next round in Portugal on May 3-4.

Jake Cannon discovered an unusual layout at Frauenfeld, and qualified In seventeenth position for both races. On Saturday he ride a solid race to seventh from a top-ten start, and was expecting to repeat that in the second moto two days later. Unfortunately he was involved in a massive crash at turn five in race two but the Australian teenager showed great character, pushing hard all race to come back from thirty eighth and earn two points in nineteenth place.

This weekend the team will be at Castelnau de Lévis for the third round of the French Elite series

Francisco Garcia: “I am really proud to have scored another podium. I was not riding at my best this weekend but I am happy with the result.; I leave with second overall after a third and a second in the two motos and that is important in a long series. On Monday I had Zanocz and Reisulis on my back wheel for a time as I looked for a way past Askew so once I got past him I concentrated on riding smart for a couple of laps; I pushed a little more at the end to close up to the leader but ran out of time to catch him. It was a solid weekend and I have the red plate in sight as I am now just two points from the lead in the series.”

Francisco Garcia : Second overall (3/2) and second of the championship
Jake Cannon : Twelfth overall (7/19) and sixteenth of the championship