Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia and Jake Cannon shared the podium in the British round of the European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Matterley Basin. Francisco got a double win, while Jake enjoyed a third overall.

In the first race on Saturday Francisco, second-fastest in Timed Practice, held a tight line at turn one to emerge third and was soon on the move, cutting decisively under his rival for second in the final turn of lap two. He closed the four second gap to the leader to launch past with a massive leap over the uphill triple which saw him carry the speed around the outside of the following turn. He then put his head down to establish a solid six-second lead before rolling back the throttle slightly on the final lap to win comfortably by three seconds. Again taking a tight line through turn one on Sunday Francisco emerged fourth before quickly easing past his teammate for third and then launching into second before the completion of the opening lap. As the race approached half-distance the Spaniard upped his tempo and, with a succession of fast laps, hauled back the leader before diving inside at the end of the home straight three laps from the finish for his second win of the weekend. It was his second overall victory of the season, and his first with a perfect 1-1 scoreline; he remains third in the series points-standings but made massive gains on each rider ahead of him and is now forty-four points clear of fourth.

Francisco Garcia: “What a perfect weekend. I already felt at home with the track in practice yesterday and then a win in the first moto. The track was a little different today with more ruts but I was always in control. I rode a little too calmly at the beginning of the races but I can always push hard at the end; I did that again today to take the win. I have a really good feeling with my bike at the moment and we have such a good atmosphere in the team. It’s great to take the overall with a double win; I don’t have a realistic shot at the title after dropping some points earlier in the season, so I came here looking for race wins … and I took my first two-moto sweep in EMX this weekend.”

Jake had used his sixth choice of gate to good effect as he followed his teammate out of turn one in fourth for his best start since the opening round of the series. Settling quickly into a podium race-pace in company with the series points-leader he ran down the riders ahead to make two identical passes on consecutive laps at half-distance to establish a Bud Kawasaki 1-2. Growing in confidence by the lap he defied the red plate holder until the penultimate lap and continued to race his more experienced rival to the chequered flag for a deserved third-place finish. On Sunday he made an even better start than on Saturday to hold down third the first time past the pits; he surrendered two positions quickly as the race settled. At half distance he made a decisive pass for fourth and immediately sprinted clear on a clear track to bring home the fourth place in moto which secured him third overall over the weekend. It was the Australian teenager’s career-first EMX podium since arriving in Europe at the start of the season, and his thirty-eight point haul sees him leap to thirteenth in the series standings, just twenty-four points shy of seventh.

Jake Cannon: “I’m over the moon; finally on the podium ! I had a consistent weekend and have finally been able to show everyone what I am capable of. It started well with P4 in Free Practice, then sixth in Timed Practice to give me a good gate-pick for the races. That is what has been missing; it’s been my anchor. I got twice a good start, I had a really nice battle with Reisulis on Saturday, then on Sunday I was riding tight on the first lap and made a few small mistakes to lose a couple of positions. The track was really wet and slippery so you had you hit your marks. Now I hope I can keep it going to finish the year strong. It’s been a special moment as my family are here this weekend all the way from Australia.”

Stéphane Dassé (Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki team owner): “What a weekend for the team, with a double win for Francisco and the first podium for Jake in the European championship. They truly gave me a nice birthday present this weekend ! Francisco already had some podiums this season, and we saw that Jake’s results in the French championship were improving recently so we are happy to see him where he deserves to be. Both riders are young and we are very happy with them; they work well together, they train hard with Thierry Van Den Bosch, and they bring a great and positive atmosphere in the team so we can say that we made a good choice when we signed them.”

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia narrowly missed the podium in the European EMX250 Motocross Championship, to retain third place in the series points-standings with five more rounds to go.

Kegums is a regular venue for the European and World Championships, and this weekend we were there for the eighth of the thirteen rounds of the series. Racing conditions were very different as we had nice weather on Saturday, but again some mud on Sunday due to overnight rain.

On Saturday in the first moto of the weekend Francisco confirm the pace he had shown as he posted second-fastest time in Timed Practice. The Spanish youngster moved from a twelfth-placed start to sixth within a lap and continued to make strong passes to reach third by lap four. The front two had already escaped but the Kawasaki rider, regularly setting the fastest laps, closed the gap dramatically, sweeping into second with three laps remaining, and he continued his pace to finish just three seconds behind the winner. Overnight storms left extremely heavy track conditions for the EMX riders in their second moto on Sunday morning; Francisco made an excellent third-placed start but had been pushed back to fifth at the completion of the first lap. Further mistakes saw him relegated to seventh, his position at the end of the race. Missing the podium by just two points, he retains third in the points standings after eight of thirteen rounds.

On Saturday a first lap crash demoted Jake Cannon, twenty fifth on the gate, to thirty-first but the Australian teenager responded well to pull back to fifteenth until a last-lap incident with a fallen rider put him out of the race. On Sunday chaos at the first turn again left Jake outside the top-twenty but he showed great resolve to advance to eleventh with two laps to go; he had a top-ten result in sight before a mistake on the final lap put him back to fourteenth. He is now fifteenth in the points standings.

Francisco Garcia : Fourth overall (2/7) and third in the championship
Jake Cannon : Twentieth overall (DNF/14) and fifteen in the championship

Francisco Garcia: “I was riding really well with a good feeling for the track on Saturday, but the guy from my left cut my line straight out of the gate so my start was not so good. Still, I made some good passes and I was riding so fast at the end to come close to the win. On Sunday track conditions were so difficult after the rain; it was the same for everyone but I never had a good feeling on the track and there were unpredictable ruts on the jumps. I crashed once and then I had a really big moment on the finish jump and scared myself; but the most important thing is that I am leaving here in one piece and have kept my third place in the championship.”

Jake Cannon: “My riding’s OK and I had two good comebacks through the field, but the starts are killing me at the moment; it all begins with Qualifying and I need to sort that out. I got two good jumps but particularly here it’s a really big detour at the first turn from the outside. Let’s hope I can sort out my Qualifying before the next round in England.”

Discovering every weekend a new track, Jake Cannon got at Ernée during the French Grand Prix his best result in the European Championship. Sixth overall he scored his first top ten this season in the EMX250 and offered to team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki his best result this weekend.

Many fans, a sunny weather, a renewed track and many guests who came to visit us, this GP was once again lived up the reputation of the French Grand Prix!

On the sporting side the weekend started well for Francisco Garcia, with a second-fastest time in the timed practice period, followed by a fifth-place finish in the first race on Saturday. Once again fighting for a top-five finish on Sunday, Francisco was unfortunately forced to retire, but he is still third in the championship.

While he had only achieved one top-10 finish in the last four European races, Jake Cannon had his best weekend of the year at Ernée, securing in both races ninth-place finishes. On Sunday, after starting in the pack, his comeback from eighteenth to ninth confirmed that the hard work he had put in was paying off, with a fine sixth-place finish overall.

Riders and staff will now enjoy one weekend ‘off’ after seven race weekends in a row, and then we’ll be back racing in Latvia on June 7-8.

Jake Cannon : “We’re heading in the right direction with top-ten in both motos. I still have a lot of things to iron out and put together but we’re getting there. This was a proper race track where you had to be smart and be patient because things could happen quickly. And the public were crazy; there was a hillside there but all I could see were people and you could hear them all moto!”

Francisco Garcia: Eleventh overall (5/DNF) and third of the championship
Jake Cannon: Sixth overall (9/9) and sixteenth of the championship