Lucas Coenen French Junior champion, Sacha vice champion

Sacha Coenen and Amandine Verstappen won this weekend
Lucas Coenen French Junior champion, Sacha vice champion

Another great weekend for team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki, who won two events on the French Championship. In Saint Jean d’Angely Amandine Verstappen won both races of the Women series, while in Villars sous Ecot Sacha and Lucas Coenen got another 1-2. It was the final round of the French Junior, and Lucas is the new champion while Sacha is runner up in the series.

Never in the long history of the French Motocross we saw two brothers fighting for the title, before this final round of the 2021 Junior. Coming to this round eleven points behind his brother, Sacha had to win to keep some chance of title while Lucas could secure top three results. But with the Coenen brothers there’s no strategy, it’s always wide open! And this weekend Sacha was the strongest, taking his revenge as his brother dominates the previous two rounds in Romagne and Magescq; with better starts Sacha got a double win, but in the first race he had to control Lucas while in the second he had no rivals. With two heat wins he scores 50 points, but as Lucas finish twice second it was not enough to reverse the situation; despite a bad start in race one and a very bad one in race two, Lucas came back twice second to secure his title. In the MX2 class Quentin Prugnières ends the series in fifth position, best rookie in the class.

In Saint Jean d’Angely Amandine Verstappen got another double win, and remains unbeaten in the French women series. Fastest in the practice session, winner of the qualifying race and later of both motos, Amandine is leading the series by 36 points before the next two rounds. She will be in action this weekend at Clastres, while Lucas, Sacha and Quentin have three weeks to prepare the European championship who will start again on October 3rd in Germany.

Lucas Coenen: “My start in the last race was really bad, but I stay confident as in the first moto I already did a strong come back after an average start. I couldn’t beat Sacha today, he was really fast on this track but second positions were enough to get the title.”

Sacha Coenen: “My first start was so-so, I was in the top ten and came back immediately third but struggle to pass the leaders as there was mainly one good line. I did a little mistake, then come back and finally pass both leaders to win the race. The second moto was easier as I got the holeshot and then had fun on the track, it was a good weekend”

Quentin Prugnières: “Unhappy with the first part of the races, especially the second one as some riders push me in the first corners. I could get a good rhythm after ten minutes, but then in the last minutes of the races I struggle physically. I was disappointed at the end of the second moto when another rider did a block pass, as I lost seven positions, and I know what I need to work on before coming back in the EMX250.”

Amandine Verstappen: “What can I say? Pole position in the timed practice period, then I won the qualifying race and both motos, it was another good weekend. Let’s go now to the two final rounds of the series!”

A sixth for Amandine Verstappen in Turkey

Amandine Verstappen got a sixth position during the second race of the Women World Championship in four days at Afyonkarahisar in Turkey. She is currently sixth in the standings, with two more races to go.

Amandine Verstappen once again impressed on the 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki. Seventh in Qualification, she quickly secured sixth place in the opening moto, took over fifth after eleven minutes and, with solid lap times throughout the moto, was closing rapidly on the girl ahead through the final laps to finish just two seconds shy of fourth. In a repeat of her first start on Saturday the Belgian overshot the first turn in race two and was down in eleventh place at the end of lap one but she continued to push to reach eighth by half-distance, taking over seventh four laps from the end to secure sixth overall on the day and advance to the same ranking in the series points chase.

Now Amandine will race three back to back rounds of the French Championship, and will defend her leadership as she remains unbeaten.

Amandine Verstappen: “I’m pretty happy with my lap times and races but the results were not as good as on Saturday due to my starts. The lap times were really close during the timed practice period and I was in the same second as the fourth-best time with seventh. My first start was average but I came back to fifth, really close to van de Ven and Papenmeier. What can we say about my second start? The start is so important now that when you finish the opening lap in eleventh position you can’t fight for a podium. I found some good lines; most of the girls took the inside lines in the corners and I had to go outside to make some passes and come back to seventh. Now we have to return home quickly as next weekend we have the French Championship at St Jean d’Angely.”

Best season result for Amandine

Amandine Verstappen got her best result of the season this weekend at Afyonkarahisar, where the Women World Championship was back in action for a double GP. Fourth overall, she will have on Tuesday another opportunity to get a top result.

Fifth in Qualification, Amandine Verstappen stormed out of the start gate in race one on the 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki but overshot the first turn to emerge fourth. She quickly regrouped to take over third on the second lap and, despite persistent pressure, defended that position defiantly throughout the remainder of the race for her best result of the season to date. The Belgian again showed commitment in race two as she quickly converted an eighth-placed start into fifth by the end of the opening lap and next time round was fourth, a position she held until two laps from the close when she was pushed back to fifth. She narrowly missed the podium as fourth overall and remains seventh in the series points standings.

Amandine Verstappen: “It was a good day for me. The track was really well-prepared and I already had a good feeling in the practice session; I was happy to have a good gate-pick with fifth-fastest time. I never take a gate next to my main rivals but I was a little bit too far from the inside and in the first corner the inside line was harder and faster than the outside. In the first race I had good start and battled all race-long to finish third which was my best of the season. In the second moto I was fourth for a long time, then I made a small mistake and lost one position but fourth overall is my best result so far. I have been training differently for the last month and today we saw the result; today was good mentally to give me confidence for the remainder of the series! ”

The WMX competitors now have three days to regroup before the second race of the Turkish double-header at the same facility on Tuesday.

The Coenen brothers show

Team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki was racing ‘at home’ this weekend, as the penultimate round of the French Elite Championship took place at the Bud Racing Training Camp. On one of their training facilities the Bud riders got great results, as Lucas and Sacha Coenen dominate once more the Junior class while Quentin Prugnières won his first race in the MX2 class.

For the second year in a row the Bud Racing staff was involved as an organizer, and once more it was a great success! Sun, nice racing, many spectators, everything was there for a succesful event.

For the fourth time this season Lucas and Sacha Coenen dominate all their rivals in the Junior class, and consolidate their positions – Lucas first and Sacha second – in the championship. This weekend Lucas was the boss as he won both motos; fastest rider on track in both races he got of course the overall win and is now a strong leader of the series before the final round scheduled in Villars sous Ecot. During the timed practice session Sacha did an incredible performance as he posted the fastest lap 1.7 second ahead of his brother and 3.5 seconds faster than the third rider! He got the holeshot and lead the opening race during a few laps, but Lucas won twice and with two second positions Sacha scores important points for the championship.
Single representative for the team in the MX2 class, Quentin Prugnières had a bad and a good race. Forced to retire in the first race he took his revenge in the second one as he won it despite a bad start! It is the first win in this class for Quentin, an important step in his young career.

Next races for the team:
Double Women GP for Amandine Verstappen in Turkey on September 4th and 7th
Final round of the French Elite on September 12th in Villars sous Ecot

Quentin: “I had a good feeling with the track all day long, but it was not that easy for the races. I was fourth in the first race when I was forced to retire, and in the second moto I missed a good start! I never give up to come back and win the race, what a good feeling!”

Another win & double podium for the Coenen brothers

Lucas and Sacha Coenen once again hoisted the colours of the 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki team on the highest steps of the podium at the French Junior Championship in Romagne, where Lucas won ahead of Sacha. More complicated day in the sands of Lommel for Amandine, Quentin and Hakon.

Change of leader in the French Juniors, and after this fourth round of the series in Brittany it is now Lucas who hold the red plate as leader of the Championship! In Romagne the twin brothers had no real opponents, each one posting the best time in their qualifying group before fighting for victory in both races. Sacha got the holeshot in both motos and was the first leader of the races, but twice he will be trapped when he comes back on the lappers, which will allow Lucas to take the lead in each race to get a double win. Lucas (1/1) climbs on the top step of the podium ahead of Sacha (2/2) and is now five points ahead of his brother before the Magescq round on August 28 and 29.

The sands of Lommel hosted the Women’s World Championship and the European 250. Tenth in qualifying practice, Amandine Verstappen will never manage to ride as she knows how to do on this surface; for a long time sixth in the first round before losing two places by arriving on the lappers – definitely! – she will be classified ninth in the second round and is seventh in the championship, fourteen points from the podium before the next double GP which will be organised at the beginning of September in Turkey. For Hakon Fredriksen, who got a podium here last year, the 2021 vintage will not be remembered; fifth fastest time in his group, our Norwegian had a big crash soon after the start of the first race; he will courageously try to restart in the second heat, but will give up after a few laps. Despite bad starts including a crash at the second one, Quentin Prugnières will never give up to do two good races coming back from the twenty-first to eleventh in the first moto, and then from thirty-eighth to eighteenth in the second one. Thirteenth of the day, he continues to learn for his first year in the 250 class at only 16 years old, he will race again this weekend as the European Championship 250 continues in Latvia.

Lucas: “I had a bit of trouble getting into practice, but then it went well and in qualifying I had a good result with the pole of my group. In the first moto I start in second and stay there until my brother has a problem with a lapper; I passed him on the outside and I won. My second start was not great, but I was quickly second behind Sacha, whom I overtook when he again had a problem with a lapper, happy with the day. ”

Sacha: “The track was really well prepared and in the qualifying session I was able to set good times with pole position. In the first moto I grabbed the holeshot and lead the race during fifteen minutes until a lapper blocks me, Lucas overtakes me at that time and I could not catch him. Second moto and another holeshot, and once again a lapper makes me fall! Lucas wins, I finished second twice and it’s still a good weekend. ”

Amandine: “I raced almost all of the first moto in sixth position, but a couple of laps before the end the marshal didn’t put out the blue flag and I lost two positions. The second moto was more difficult as I had used a lot of energy in the first one; physically it was tough today. Now we have several weeks before the next GP in Turkey; we went there two years ago and the track suits me.”