Second place for Darian Sanayei in Trentino

Darian Sanayei raced his Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki to second place in the fourth round of the FIM European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Pietramurata in northern Italy. It’s the third podium in a row for the young American rider, third in the standings now.

Darian had found difficult conditions in qualification on a track made rutted and sticky by midweek rain but he used the power of his KX250F to immediately sweep into the leading group and maintain a top three placing throughout the first moto on Saturday evening. An even better start in the second race on Sunday morning saw Darian round turn one in second place before quickly taking the lead to maintain it for four laps before coming home second, thus earning second overall for the weekend. Darian is now third in the series standings after four of ten rounds.

Nicolas Dercourt advanced quickly during the first moto from thirteenth place to fourth before another rider hit him, hurting his leg, in an incident three laps from the finish but he bravely continued to finish thirteenth. Another collision at the third corner of race two on Sunday morning relegated Nicolas to the back of the field but he fought on to cross the line twelfth despite the pain from the leg he hurt the previous day. Nicolas is now tenth in the series standings.

The European 125 was also involved in Arco di Trento, and both Brian Moreau and Kim Savaste qualified well with a second place for Brian and fifth for Kim. Runner up in his group, Brian got twice a very good start and was fifth during most of the races; unfortunately the track was muddy on Saturday for the first race, and Brian did a mistake during the last laps and went down to fifteen.The 14 years old French kid will got his revenge on Sunday with a fifth position, his best result so far which gave him a ninth overall. Kim never got any good start and fight in the pack during both races; thirteenth in race one, he felt better on Sunday and came back from twenty one to twelfth, despite a crash at mid race.

No race for the team next weekend, everyone will be busy to prepare the next rounds of the series with four European rounds (Spain, France, UK and Italy) within the next four weeks, and a French Elite between France and UK!

Darian Sanayei: “Another podium! That’s good and I hope we can keep building and go one step up; I want to win! This weekend was pretty good, I got some valuable points for the championship and I’m now third in the series. In the training session it was pretty muddy. It had rained a lot and I didn’t get a very good lap; I even got stuck in the mud one time and was only twelfth in the timed practice period of my group, which gave me a twenty third gate, pick. Fortunately on this track you can get a good start from nearly everywhere at the gate and that’s exactly what I did with a third position in the first race. We changed the engine between the warm up and the second race, so a big thanks to my mechanic as he didn’t had so much time to do that! I was second at the start and took the lead after a few corners to stay in front for about ten minutes before Olsen passed me. It’s my best result of the year so far; it will be good to have one weekend off to come back even stronger in Spain.”

Nicolas Dercourt: “The track was mainly one line on Saturday with the mud, and I qualified in tenth as it was not really easy to have one clear lap. In the first race I came back from thirteenth to fourth, but in the last few laps another rider hit me and I crashed; I got my bike on my leg and it was painful, but I could finish thirteenth. On Sunday I got another decent start in the top ten, but in the third corner another rider crashed and I was stuck with him. I restarted nearly last and came back to twelfth; the track was better to ride but my leg was still painful so I did my best.”

Brian Moreau: “It was a pretty good weekend for me, I posted the second fastest lap time in my group and a podium result was possible if I didn’t made a mistake during the first race. I got good starts in both races, but during the first one on Saturday I crashed with two laps to go and lost my fifth place to finish fifteenth. Sunday was better, I was fifth at the start of the second race; I lost some places in a uphill but came back fifth, now the goal is to do two good races in a row.”

Kim Savaste: “I never felt confident this weekend, even is usually I like this track. My qualification was Ok with a fifth position in my group, but I never took any good start and then couldn’t come back as I would like. I just found my rhythm during the second heat, but it was too late even if my lap times were really good. Now I’m focus on Spain and France, it will be good to stay and work with the team between these two races as the goal is to reach soon a podium result.”

Another podium in Germany for Darian Sanayei

American Darian Sanayei claimed his second consecutive podium in the third round of the FIM European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Teutschenthal. The Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki rider got a third overall in Germany with a sixth and a second position, while Nicolas Dercourt got a top ten result.

Darian Sanayei discovered a new track in Germany, and had to learn it quickly to get this third overall and his second consecutive podium. The young American had finished second in his qualifying group, ahead of the series leader, despite suffering with a headache but a poor start in the first moto forced him to charge through the pack for an eventual sixth placed finish. With their practice session early in the morning and the first heat late in the evening, the European riders discovered a new track when they came behind the gate! The track was well renovated during the night, and on Sunday morning he led the second moto for six laps before surrendering the lead to Hunter Lawrence; Darian kept all other challengers at bay. The 6-2 moto results earnt Darian third overall for the weekend and he is now fourth in the championship standings.

Teammate Nicolas Dercourt got a ninth overall; he qualified with a fourth position in his group, and finished fifteenth of the first heat with some vision troubles as he got dust in his goggles. On Sunday he had a better feeling with the track and scored a seventh position, which gave him a ninth overall; he is now tenth in the standings with seven more races at the calendar.

Cédric Soubeyras entered his last Supercross event in Las Vegas, home of the final round of the series. Eight in the practice session, the Bud supported rider had then to qualify for the main event mixing both East and West Coast riders; ninth, he got a eighteenth position on the gate and came back fourteenth at the chequered flag. With three top ten results during the campaign, he finished the series in twelfth position.

Darian Sanayei: “Coming here I didn’t feel so good; I had a headache and I was not sure I would have enough energy. In the first moto I was pretty far back at the first corner and I wasn’t riding really good but I got a sixth place finish. I knew that today would be better; I got a holeshot, which was good, and I pushed during the first part of the moto; I was leading for six laps and then Hunter passed me but with a sixth and a second place I got another podium result. It’s great to get two podiums in a row; again I scored a sixth position in the first race so now I need to improve my first motos to achieve a better position on the podium.”

Nicolas Dercourt: “Not exactly what I was expecting, but the results are better than in Latvia. I qualified in fourth in my group, and was confident; at the start of the first race I was twelfth, but another rider sent a stone in my goggles and I had vision troubles, with mud and dust in the goggles, I finished fifteenth. The second start was similar, during the first laps I lost some positions but then passed enough riders to score a seventh position. There’s still some points I need to improve, but it’s coming better.”

Podium for Darian Sanayei in Latvia, win for Xavier Boog in France

Darian Sanayei raced his Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki on to the third step of the podium in the Latvian round of the FIM European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Kegums, while Xavier Boog won the fifth round of the French MX1 Elite.

The young American came through with flying colours after this baptism of fire on one of the roughest circuits on the calendar. A solid fourth in his qualification group gave him seventh choice of gate and he rode diligently to advance from an initial eighth place to finish sixth. He rode even better in the second moto to finish third after completing the opening lap fifth, and the combined results of the two motos saw him mount the podium in third place. He is now sixth in the series standings after two of ten rounds.

Nicolas Dercourt had a tough time on the rugged track but showed determination to qualify through the Last Chance and he continued to fight to the end of both motos to finish fourteenth and fifteenth. He is now twelfth in the series standings.

Kegums also met the opening round of the European 125, and both Brian Moreau and Kim Savaste did their first appearance of the season in this class. Back from an injury Kim did a strong opening race, to claim his first podium result with a third position; he was again doing a great performance in the second heat, but crashed when he was in fifth place and had to retire. Brian Moreau was more unfortunate with crashes in both motos, but he proved in the second heat that he could expect top ten results in the series.

In the fifth round of the French Elite Championship, Xavier Boog scored his second win this season and confirmed that he is at the moment the fastest rider in the MX1 class. Runner up in the first race and winner of the second one in Gaillac Toulza, Xavier got three wins and three second positions in the last three rounds; he is always third in the standings, seven points behind Teillet and thirty behind Aranda with two more races to go.
Penultimate round of the East Coast SX series, East Rutherford was another opportunity for Cedric Soubeyras to score a top ten result, his third one this season. Next weekend Cédric will be in Las Vegas for the last SX of the season, while Darian and Nicolas will be in Germany for the third round of the EMX250 championship.

Darian Sanayei: “Coming into this weekend my goal was to have a better qualifying time and I got a fourth in my group; that gave me seventh gate pick which was a pretty good gate. In the first moto I was seventh or eighth at the start, and then was using the techniques we’ve been working on with team trainer Thierry. I got a sixth place which was my best finish this year in the European series, but I wasn’t really satisfied with that. In the second moto I got a decent start in sixth, rode there for a while and just gave the best I could to get a third in this race and a third overall. The track was really rough there. Everybody told me that before we came but now I know what that means; you need to save some energy and ride with European style.”

Nicolas Dercourt: “It was a tough weekend, as I had to go to the Last Chance race to qualify. I made too many mistakes during the practice session and although I won the Last Chance race I had a bad gate for the points-scoring races. My first start was not too bad but I lost many positions during the first lap to finish fourteenth. The second start was bad; I was nearly last and had to battle back to fifteenth. Apart during the Last Chance race I had no fun riding on this rough track; hopefully some hard pack tracks are coming and I will do my best to improve the results.”

Kim Savaste: “It’s been a lot difficult for me as I broke my shoulder this winter, and it’s great to be back racing. Saturday was fine, I didn’t felt so good on the track but I got a podium result, which is great; it was tough to keep the podium, I had some arm pumped for my first race this season but I didn’t made any big mistake. On Sunday I felt much better and was fifth when I had a big crash; now I have two weeks to prepare the next round, I go back home in Finland to prepare this round. I like Arco so I’m expecting some good results there.”

Brian Moreau: “The track was rough and it was tough weekend for me, but I learned a lot and gained some experience for the future. The second race was better, my start was not so good but I came back eight; I was fighting for the seventh position when I crashed just two laps before the end. I know that I need to get better results in the qualifying session, it’s a very short one and all the riders are pushing so it’s difficult to find his way and do some fast laps.”

Xavier Boog: “It’s good to get a second win after Romagné, I nearly missed it last weekend in Castelnau and at the moment I’m pleased with my results. I was second in the timed practice session and was second at the start of the first race; I got the lead but Aranda passed me after ten minutes, then I had some arm pumped and finished second. In the second heat I got the holeshot and won the race, happy to offer another win to the team.”

Wins and podiums in France

Team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki was involved this weekend in the fourth round of the French Elite Championship, and claimed in Castelnau de Lévis near Toulouse two heat wins. Both Nicolas Dercourt and Xavier Boog remains title’s contender in their class, with three more rounds to go.

Home of several GP’s in the past, the track of Castelnau was unfortunately wet and muddy after some heavy showers on Saturday and during the night. Even if it didn’t rained on Sunday, the track was rough with slippery sections, deep ruts and some muddy places.

Second in the MX2 timed practice period, Nicolas Dercourt got a great start in race one and came second right behind the race leader. He put some pressure on his rival, who finally crashed in a corner at mid race and offered the lead to Nicolas who claimed his second heat win of the season. Nico got another great start in the second heat but struggled to find his lines as the track changed a lot between both races, and finally lost a lot of time when he crashed in a corner. Forced to stop in the pits to repair his bike, he came back from last to fourteen, his worst result of the season. But he remains second in the standings, just six points behind the leader.

After his overall win during the last round in Romagné, Xavier Boog confirmed with a pole position in the MX1 timed practice that he is at the moment one of the fastest rider of the series. He got the holeshot in the first race and pulled away after three laps, to conquer another heat win. His second start was similar, but with Greg Aranda right behind him the Alsacian had no time to rest! Leading the entire race he unfortunately did a small mistake in the last corner, and lost the second heat and the overall! Tight in the points with Aranda, he finished second overall with a 1/2; in the standings he is always in third position, only twelve points behind Valentin Teillet before the next round this weekend in Gaillac Toulza.

The team was also involved in the US Supercross series, with Cédric Soubeyras racing in Foxborough. Ninth overall in the timed practice sessions, Cedric was racing for his best qualification with a third position when he had to retire with a puncture! In the last chance session he came back from seventeenth to sixth, too far to get one of the four qualifying spots for the main event.

Nicolas Dercourt: “The first race was great, I was second behind Arnaud Aubin after the start and we had a great battle; he finally did a mistake, and I won the race. I got another good start in the second heat, but I didn’t found the best lines and lost two positions to Richier and Aubin; then I crashed in the third lap, and lost too much time in the pits as the bike was damaged. I did my best to come back fourteenth. I’m not so happy with the result, the track was really rough; there was not so much grip on the track, and the conditions changed all day long so it was not so fun to ride there.”

Xavier Boog: “We did a good race with Greg in the second heat, for sure I’m disappointed with this little mistake in the last corner and once more until the finish flag nothing is done… I couldn’t make a gap with him in this 2nd race, and we both had some troubles with the lappers who don’t always recognize the blue flag. But it was anyway a good weekend with the pole position, two holeshot, a moto victory and a second position overall, tight in the points with the winner. It’s cool to get twice the holeshot, which confirmed that we did a good job on the bike with the team! After Gaillac next weekend I will not have so many races until the French GP, it will be perfect to prepare the coming SX season and the French MXGP who is an important event.”

Live a few minutes from the Castelnau week end into the Bud Racing rig:

A win for Xavier and a podium for Nicolas

It was another busy weekend for team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki, involved with four riders in the third round of the French Elite series in Romagné. While Cédric Soubeyras scored another ‘top ten’ result in the US Supercross series, Xavier Boog won the MX1 class in Brittany while Nicolas Dercourt scored a second position in MX2, followed in fifth position by Darian Sanayei.

Due to some local showers the track was wet on Saturday for the junior class, but on Sunday for the Elite series the track was perfect. The ground was soft, with some ruts, and the racing was exciting in both classes. In the MX1 class reigning champion Xavier Boog scored his first win of the season on this track; runner up behind Teillet in the first race, the Alsacian dominates the second one and won the overall, coming back third in the standings with four more rounds to go.

In the MX2 class Nicolas Dercourt was again one of the main protagonists of the races, even if he lost the red plate; a small mistake (engine stalled) cost him the win in the first heat, and in the second he had a great fight with Boisrame who was racing on his home track. Again second and second overall, Nico is runner up in the series, three points behind the leader with 160 points available in the next four rounds. Also riding this event, Darian Sanayei discovered what can be a track in Brittany and with a fifth position in each race the American learned a lot and had a good training to prepare the next round of the European series. The junior riders had tougher conditions on Saturday, and Brian Moreau Strubhart had one good and one bad race; fourth in the opening heat, he had to retire in the second one (chain guide damaged by another rider).

The boys were back in action for the East Coast Supercross series in the US, and Cédric Soubeyras had to deal with very deep ruts. He didn’t took unnecessary risks; qualified with a sixth place in his heat race for the main, Cédric ‘survived’ during the first two laps of the main and came in fourteenth position; riding with consistency he couldn’t avoid a mistake on the final jump, but got a strong tenth position. With this second ‘top ten’ result in a row he is now thirteenth in the standings, less than ten points from the top ten of the series before St Louis this weekend.

Xavier Boog: “It’s really good to be back at the top of the podium, just hope that there will be some others soon! Timed practice session was Ok with a second position behind Teillet in my group; we were all closed including Greg (Aranda) so that was a good sign! I got two good starts this weekend, in the first race I came second after a few corners but it took me ten minutes to get a good rhythm and contain Greg who was in my rear wheel during most of the race, he just gave up 3-4 laps before the end. In the second heat I passed Aubin for the lead in the opening lap and pushed during the entire moto as Teillet was behind me. I won the heat and the overall, it was a good weekend in Brittany!”

Nicolas Dercourt: “I posted the fastest lap of both groups in the practice session, and just after the start of the first heat I came second but we collided with the leader; he crashed, I damaged my rear brake but was still in second. Later I stalled my engine and lost time to restart in third position, I came back second but the leader was too far and I finished second. I got the holeshot in the next race, led during fifteen minutes until Boisrame passed me; we passed each others several times but finally he won and I finished second. Twice second and second overall, I’m now second in the standings.”

Darian Sanayei: “This weekend was ok for me, but I struggled with the track most the day. I qualified sixth in my practice group, which gave me 11th gate pick. In the first moto I was fifth off the start and rode mediocre, to finish fifth. Second moto I was sixth off the start and felt a bit better; I quickly got into third by the second or third lap and settled there but around the 18 minutes mark I made a small mistake and crashed in a corner. I ended up fifth in that moto as well, so 5-5 on the weekend. I’m not happy with that result at all but I’m here to learn and get better. Thank you to the entire Bud Racing Monster Energy Team for backing me. I’m ready to put in the work and come out swinging for Latvia.”

Cédric Soubeyras: “Usually I enjoy ruts, but only when they have a normal size. When they are so deep that your foot pegs hit the bumps it’s not so fun and that’s why I’m happy to leave Indianapolis safe! I qualified for the main with a sixth position in my heat race, and I got a great start in the main; we were side by side with Frye and his factory KTM, and in the first corner I was in front of him. Then it was more confused as there were a lot of collisions and after two laps I was fourteenth! I rode stiff as the track was dangerous, and after a few laps I took a bad rut before the finish jump and landed outside of the track. I was able to finish tenth, but I never rode over the limit as I didn’t want to end my season here.”