FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIP LACAPELLE MARIVAL A STRONG START FOR OUR RIDERS

The French Elite championship kick off this weekend at Lacapelle Marival, where a few wild card riders came to prepare their GP season. Both Francisco Garcia and Jake Cannon got good results among some factory boys who will not race the entire series.

For both Francisco and Jake it was a first opportunity to be back on a motocross track after a long forced break for our Spaniard while Jake spent so far more time on Supercross tracks.
Our young duo opened their outdoor season in superb style to finish fifth and sixth overall in MX2. Garcia, racing for the first time in five months after an injury ended his season early last summer, finished fifth in each moto and is the effective leader of the championship as none of the riders ahead of him will contest the entire series. Cannon was also impressive in his first race in Europe with two seventh-placed moto finishes just a couple of days after flying into Europe from the States where he had been racing supercross.

Next round of the French Elite: Pernes les Fontaine, March 30th

Francisco Garcia: “It was a great day for my first race with Bud Racing Kawasaki. I’m really happy with the team and with my performance today; I was the leader in both races of the riders who will contest the entire series so it was a good way for us to start the season and I hope we can continue like this. The track was really challenging – tight with lots of ruts and bumps – and I really enjoyed racing here.”

Jake Cannon: “This was my first race in Europe and the track was really gnarly and technical; it was definitely a big change coming from supercross to motocross with longer motos and a challenging track so you definitely had to be on your toes. But I felt like I made a good step today and the result was a good starting point to keep building and improving. And the atmosphere here with all of the fans was crazy; I really enjoyed it.”

First race for Fancisco Garcia and first podium at “Le Touquet”

The Enduropale du Touquet marked the start of the season for Bud Racing’s newest recruit, Fran Garcia. The young Spaniard had no prior experience with sand racing before taking on the legendary race in Northern France in the Juniors category. More importantly, he hadn’t competed since his knee injury, which required surgery last July.
After a few weeks of preparation on his 250 KX, the Enduropale became his first race under his new colors. Curious yet determined to perform well, Fran started 138th from the waiting area (out of 200 riders). Making his way up to the first row at the starting line, he took off in 9th position before climbing to 4th by the end of the first lap.

A solid race

A collision with another rider in the first lap cost him some time before he found his rhythm again. In the end, after a strong race where he lacked only experience, Fran secured 3rd place and earned a spot on the final podium. The overall outcome is very positive—discovering the discipline and achieving an impressive result for his first participation.
The goal is to return next year and fight for victory. In the meantime, the Andalusian is focusing on the opening round of the French MX2 Championship this weekend in Lacapelle-Marival,
followed by the first round of the EMX250 European Championship on March 16th in Castilla de la Mancha (Spain).

Fran Garcia:
“I had a lot of fun in my first Touquet. It felt like I was doing a completely different sport, but I gained a lot of experience and truly enjoyed it. I had a great feeling with the bike, and my knee feels fantastic. I’m really happy to be racing again, and I feel great within the team. I’m already looking forward to the next race in Lacapelle next weekend.”

Stéphane Dassé:
“We didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived, as Fran was new to this discipline. Of course, we would have loved to leave with the victory, but for a first attempt, he did really well. Now that he has gained some experience, we hope to come back next year and go for the win.”

Another podium finish for Bud Racing colors—Tim Lopes secured 3rd place in the Espoirs category. The Bud Academy rider kicked off his season in style in his first official race under his new colors. Lastly, three young female riders at this 2025 Enduropale delivered a strong performance as Bud Racing support riders. Thelma Boudier won the Espoirs girls’ category, followed by Sarah Leroy, who claimed victory in the Juniors category ahead of Léa Chaput,
all three riding Kawasakis. Congratulations!

Watch the “Inside” video of the event on our YouTube channel >

https://youtu.be/qP_VtLGBoEg?si=2zeBOOicMTldQMQh

Jake Cannon and Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki in the USA

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki took off for the United States, and California to be precise, at the beginning of January. The team’s newest recruit for the next 2 years, young Australian Jake Cannon, was the lucky one to set off to discover the United States and, above all, to take part in his very first SX US race against the best young Americans of the moment. A novice in the discipline, with only one season in Australian supercross in the SX3 category, Jake set off for 3 weeks of preparation for the ultimate race, which took place in Glendale on February 1st.

It was in one of the 10 most beautiful stadiums in the world that he set his wheels down last Saturday on the biggest track of the SX US calendar. The 17-year-old rider didn’t blush against the discipline’s top youngsters, placing 5th in time practice and 3rd in the second session, less than half a second from pole. He showed then that he had the speed and ambition to go for a good result in the one and only race of the evening.

And so it was on a single 8-minute final that it all came down to this evening. Unfortunately, Jake got tangled up with another rider just 10 meters from the start line and couldn’t keep his handlebars from passing into his rival’s wheel. As a result, he fell and broke his throttle, unable to fight back and show what he could do.

The experience was more than productive, and a lot of positives can be taken from it, with speed well in evidence against competitors who have been training in this discipline since they were very young.

The Team is now back in France, already focused on the Enduropale du Touquet, where Francisco Garcia, the Team’s second Spanish recruit, will compete in the Junior category, before heading off with his two riders to the opening round of the French ELITE motocross championship the following weekend. The idea of returning to the US in 2025 is still very much on our minds.

Stéphane Dassé: “Although it’s very frustrating not to have been able to fight, I’m really happy with Jake, his attitude and what he showed on Saturday. My aim is to continue to bring young people to the United States, and in particular to Supercross, to open their minds and show them what’s going on in the world alongside MXGP, and if they want to hope one day to finish in the United States, they have to do Supercross from a very young age, that’s what I’m trying to teach them.”

Jake Cannon: “What an experience it’s been for me. I arrived here on January 10, I didn’t know the Team and I immediately felt really good. I really learned and enjoyed the experience, but I’m very disappointed not to have been able to go all the way. It makes me want to come back even more, but I’m already going to concentrate fully on my European season.”

Anthony Bourdon and Bud Racing French SX vice-champions

The Supercross seasons ends this weekend at Grenoble, and once more after Paris Supercross one month ago Anthony Bourdon got a silver medal to end the season SX1 vice champion with team Bud Racing Kawasaki.

With seven podiums (three times second and four times third) in as many finals in the French Supercross Championship, Anthony Bourdon has this season combined speed and consistency to claim this title of vice-champion SX1 behind Greg Aranda. If he had to settle for third places two weeks earlier in Lyon behind Aranda and Tixier during the penultimate round, Anthony beat twice in Grenoble the former MX World Champion to take second place in the main event on Friday and Saturday, ending the season by delivering a superb duel with the new French champion.

Anthony Bourdon: « Once more runner up in the SX1 class for the second year in a row, happy but a little bit frustrated as I didn’t won any main event! I think that I can be proud of this season, I end it at Grenoble really closed to Greg and we keep the positive to continue my progression. A big thanks to team Bud Racing Kawasaki for their support all season long.”

Paris Supercross: Silver medal for Anthony Bourdon

As every year team Bud Racing Kawasaki was last weekend at the Paris la Défense Arena, home of the 41st Supercross of Paris. And it was a good one for us and our partners, with a great second overall for Anthony Bourdon in the SX2 class and a podium for Brice Maylin in the SX Tour round.

The Paris Supercross celebrated its 40th birthday this year (and 41st edition as there was two SX organised in 1984) and the success is always there, on the track as well as in the stadium which was full during both days. And the atmosphere was great, a few months after the Olympic swimming competitions organised in this Arena.

Coming straight from US where he trained alongside David Vuillemin, Anthony Bourdon was stronger race after race during the weekend to fight for podiums results in each of the six races (three per day). Saturday evening he was leading the ‘Prince of Paris’ classification as he was the most consistent rider (3/4/2) while the two favourites crashed in one race. Performing well on Sunday (3/3/3) Anthony ends the event tight in the points with Tom Vialle who won the gold medal thanks to heat wins. Anthony received the silver medal behind Tom who is a reigning US champion, and this result confirms his progression in Supercross and the competitivity of our 250 KX Kawasaki.

The French SX Tour was also invited at Paris, with one SX2 race each night before the main program. On Saturday Brice Maylin finished sixth, and improved his rhythm on Sunday to perform better with a strong second position; he consolidates his third position in the championship before the last two rounds in Lyon and Grenoble. Invited to race the International SX2 class, Brice scored top eight in each race ( (5/8/5 on Saturday and 7/6/8 on Sunday) to finish seventh overall.

The team is now moving to Australia, to race next weekend the second and third rounds of the Supercross World Championship.