Top ten result in the opening round of the European MX250

Team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki visited this weekend the famous track of Valkenswaard in the Netherlands, for the first round of the European MX250 Motocross Series. Darian Sanayei and Nicolas Dercourt both finished in the top eleven in the rugged sand of the Eurocircuit.

Just a week after his first race of the season in the French series, Darian Sanayei was in the Dutch sand with Nicolas Dercourt among eighty other riders who all came to qualify for the first round of the series. With one single training session including ten minutes of free practice and fifteen minutes of timed practice, there was not so much time to set up the bike and get used to this track but both Darian and Nicolas qualified in their group with a fourteenth and a eighteenth position.

Darian Sanayei put together a solid ninth placed overall result from 7-12 moto finishes. The young American was still finding a secure footing in the strange world of European racing but qualified at the first hurdle in a record entry field before showing glances of his potential by racing through the pack from eighteenth to seventh in the first moto and overcoming stoner damage to the rear brake mechanism in race two. Nevertheless he persevered to finish twelfth and complete the weekend ninth.

Team mate Nicolas Dercourt finished eleventh overall from 9-14 moto finishes after a disappointing qualification had left him with thirty-sixth gate pick. Resilient rides from seventeenth to ninth and twenty-sixth to fourteenth saw Nicolas narrowly miss the top ten on the weekend and have given him confidence for the future rounds in the series.

Both riders will enter the fourth round of the French Elite in Romagne in two weeks time.

Darian Sanayei: “There were a lot of riders involved in this first round of the series, and my first goal was just to qualify, as we have only twenty five minutes practice with ten minutes of free practice and then fifteen minutes timed. I got a fourteenth position in my group, which was not so good but enough to qualify, and that gave me the twenty-eighth gate for both motos. From the outside it was impossible to get a good start, but my first start was not so bad and I came from eighteenth to seventh. The start in the second moto was OK but still not good, but before the end of the moto I don’t know if I hit a stone or what but I had no rear brake; at the middle of the race the stone came out, so I had some rear brake again and I could push to finish twelfth.”

Nicolas Dercourt: “It was a tough weekend; I just hope that it was the worst one of the season. There were a lot of riders involved in the qualifying sessions, my lap time was not really good and I got a bad gate for the races. My first race was not so bad as I came back to ninth; I had fun on the bike, and was happy with my riding. The second moto was not as good; the start was worse and with the rain it was not easy to find somewhere to pass. I’m disappointed with my lap times and the second race, for sure I must be faster in qualifying to expect better results.”

Nicolas Dercourt leads the French Elite MX2

It was a busy weekend for team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki, involved in four different championships! It’s in the French Elite MX2 that the team got the best results, with a podium for Darian Sanayei and Nicolas Dercourt; Darian won his first race this season, while Nico got the red plate as leader of the series. Xavier Boog fourth in the MX1 class and Brian Moreau eleventh in the junior series were also in St Thibery, while Cedric Soubeyras got in Detroit his first ‘top ten’ result in the US SX!

Brian Moreau was the first rider of the team in action on Saturday, for the second round of the junior series. Third in his group and again third in his qualifying race, Brian was fifth in the first race until he damaged the radiator in a bank and was forced to retire. In the second race he got a good start and scored a third position, but due to his DNF he is now seventh in the standings. Sunday it was ‘Elite time’ and it was also the first race of the year for Darian Sanayei, back racing after his back injury; Darian got the holeshot in race one and then led the entire race to claim his first win of the season! A bad start and some mistakes in the opening lap of the second heat put him at the back of the pack, but Darian had a good rhythm and came back ninth to collect the second position of the day, just ahead his team mate Nicolas Dercourt. Nico struggled with his starts this weekend, and spent a lot of energy in the first race to come back from fifteen to fourth; in the second race he scored a sixth position, and got the leadership of the MX2 class with these results.

Xavier Boog got the holeshot in the first MX1 race, and offered with Guillod and Aranda a great show as they passed each other’s several times for the leadership of the race. Xavier was third in the last ten minutes, but in one of the last laps he lost one position to Pourcel. With another good start in race two, Xavier scored another fourth position and he is now back in fifth in the standings after two races.

Detroit will remain as a very good memory for Cedric Soubeyras, who got his first ‘top ten’ result in his US experience. Already in the first free practice session he had a good feeling with the track, and once more he qualified straight for the main in the heat race; he got a good start in the main and was sixth for a long time, but lost a couple of positions after an aggressive move from another rider. Ninth of the race he can for sure expect a top five result soon, maybe in Indianapolis in three weeks time.

Nicolas Dercourt: “It was not such an easy weekend, I couldn’t get starts as good as in Sommières and then it was difficult to pass as the track was rough. It was a tough weekend but finally I got the red plate so that’s not so bad, and I have a few more points than my rivals. We’ll try to keep the red plate at the next round in Romagné, but now the goal is to prepare the sandy opening round of the European MX2 in Valkenswaard.”

Darian Sanayei: “I came in France two weeks ago and I’ve been riding a few times there since my back injury, we just decide to enter this race last week with the team. I qualified fifth in my group, so had the tenth gate pick; I got the holeshot in the first moto, and led every lap so that was pretty cool. Second moto wasn’t as good, after a bad start and a few mistakes in the first lap I came around twenty five or twenty six; then I was riding pretty well, had good lap times and finished ninth to get a second position overall. It was my first outdoor since six months, and my first race since Lille SX in November; there’s some improvements to come, but I had a good feeling. The bike and the team are good, we were not really prepared for this race as we work for Valkenswaard; next week we have the first round of the European MX2, I just hope to get some good results and then we’ve one month to work before the second race.”

Xavier Boog: “The timed practice session was Ok, with the second fastest lap in my group with similar results than the series leader. I got a great start in the first race and was leading the moto, but I got arm pumped and couldn’t recover, as we were four riders looking for the leadership! We had some nice fights, for sure a little bit disappointed to finish in fourth position but I think we offered some great show to the fans! My second start was Ok but not as good; the track has changed, it was dryer and I didn’t felt really comfortable; once more I finished fourth, but couldn’t fight for the win as in the first race.”

Cédric Soubeyras: “It was a good weekend, I had a great feeling with the bike and the track; our practice track this week was similar to the race track, so I had straight a good feeling in the first practice session. I had the ninth position in the first session, but couldn’t improve in the second one as we had a yellow flag during most of the session. I had a great start in my heat race, was side by side with the Pro Circuit boy during a long time; I was sixth during most of the race and finished seventh, didn’t want to take any risks in a heat race. I had another great start in the main, much better than in the previous SX; I was sixth during many laps, then Davalos made an aggressive move and I couldn’t jump the next section and lost two positions. I was back behind Coates but couldn’t pass him; anyway I’m happy with my first top ten result with the 250 Bud Kawasaki. I’ve now two weekends off; I will do some MX training and then will be back to SX to prepare Indianapolis.”

Brian Moreau: “I had a good day, just disappointed to retire in the first race as the radiator wad damaged. In the second race it was good to get another podium result, the last lap was really tough as Goupillon was pushing for this third position and I pushed so hard that I felt a little discomfort after the race! I’m not so used to race on this kind of track, but it was a nice one with many deep ruts.”

Second US experience for Soubeyras

In the United States the racing calendar is always very tight and just one week after Daytona, Cedric Soubeyras was in Toronto for the third round of the US East Coast SX series.

Single race organised outside America, this round of the Supercross World Championship met once more the best SX riders on a very typical track compared to Daytona. Racing Supercross in his career all over Europe, Cédric was tense before the first practice sessions. “Some sections are really hard and the whoops are much bigger than usual, you can’t compare with any SX Tour race,” he said. Thirteenth overall in the practice sessions, the Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki rider qualified straight for the main with a good sixth position in his heat race. At the start of the main there was a pile up in the first corner, but Cédric found his way until the second corner…where he crashed! During fifteen laps he fight with the other American riders, always hard to pass, giving 120% to get a thirteenth position. Not exactly what he was expected, but next weekend in Detroit Cédric will be again very motivated for his US challenge.

Since last summer Nicolas Dercourt didn’t enter any race except the French elite opening round 2 weeks ago due to his last year knee injury, so this weekend he went to a local race in his native Picardy to prepare the French and European series. Winner of both MX2 heats, Nicolas didn’t took any risks during the super finale as the night was coming; he did a strong race against Richard Fura and it’s 450, finishing second. But the most important for him was to take some starts, and to prepare the second round of the French Elite, this coming weekend in St Thibery.

Cédric Soubeyras: “This weekend was not too bad, even if the result is just average but I was not at my best coming to Canada as I got flu in the week. I was stressed before the practice sessions with such impressive sections, but in the heat race I was more relax and qualified for the main with a sixth position. I was not involved in the first corner pile up, but I did a mistake in the second corner and crashed! I was nearly last, and couldn’t take a good rhythm as it was a tough race with the other riders; we were always passing each others, so sometimes I couldn’t jump the triple. Thirteen is not exactly the result I came for, and this week the goal will be to recover from the flu and be 100% in Detroit.” (photos Jeff Kardas)

Second start of season for Bud Racing

After a first season opening early in January in the US West Coast SX Series, team Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki took a second start this weekend, involved both in the US East Coast Series and in the French Elite championship.

After a few International races (Valence, Lacapelle Marival) to prepare the season, it was time this weekend to enter the French Elite series, including now the Junior (125cc) and Hopefull (85cc) classes. It’s Sommières in Southern France who met this opening round; it was a very good day for Nicolas Dercourt, a good one for Brian Moreau Strubhart and an average one for defending champion Xavier Boog.

Racing for the first time since his knee injury last summer, Nicolas Dercourt confirmed his strong winter training, as he was always one of the fastest MX2 riders. Fifth in his timed practice session, he got two great starts with his Bud KX250F and took the lead of each race after just a few laps. He did a perfect race in the opening moto, winning it 8 seconds ahead of his rivals with the fastest lap time; in the second heat a couple of mistakes relegates him in third, only three seconds behind the winner. He is tied in the points with the leader of the series.

Fastest rider in the MX1 class during the practice session, Xavier Boog will not be as successful as his teammate at the start. Twice in the pack, he lost everything in the opening lap of the first race when another rider hit and him and damaged his bike. Sixth after a few corners in the second heat, he came back third but already played his joker in the series with a tenth overall.

Fifth in the Junior qualifying race, Brian Moreau Strubhart was fifth during the first race when he crashed and lost a couple of positions; finally tenth of the race, he then scored a strong third position in the next heat to leave Sommières fifth in the standings. Next round of the French Series is in two weeks time in St Thibery, again in Southern France.

Flying to the US only last Monday, Cedric Soubeyras had just a few days to prepare the most famous race of the US calendar: Daytona! Ninth overall in the timed practice session, only two seconds from the pole position, Cédric qualified straight for the main event with a seventh position in his heat race. He then scored a twelfth position in the main event, not so far from the top ten and he will be for sure stronger next week in Toronto!

Nicolas Dercourt: “It’s good to start the season with such a good result, as I’m second in the series tied with the leader for my first race since six months. I got a good start in the first race, and won my first ever Elite race; in the second race I was again leading the pack, but I did a few mistakes and score a third position. Happy to start like this, and a big thanks to the staff and the partners of team Bud.”

Xavier Boog: “The weekend started pretty well with the fastest lap time in the MX1 class, but I missed a good start in race one and another rider hit my bike and damaged my chain guide so I had to stop. In the second moto I start again in the pack and came back third, so the results are not what I expected. We’ll continue to train before St Thibery, especially to get good starts.”

Sudden stop for Maxime

The third round of the AMA Supercross series was not the best one so far for team Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki, who didn’t got the expected results. Maxime Desprey crashed heavily during his qualifying race in Anaheim II, and stopped his US experience as he broke his femur in this crash.

Week after week and race after race, we saw that Maxime was improving a lot these past weeks, thanks to the hard work alongside David Vuillemin! Second in the first practice session of his group Maxime couldn’t improve his lap time in the next session due to a small mistake and crash, but qualified easily for the night program. He didn’t got the best gate for his qualifying race but did a superb start putting him in second place at first corner but went too much outside and lost many places, he was eleventh after the first lap; with only six laps and the first nine riders qualified for the main event you have to give all but unfortunately Maxime didn’t finished the fourth lap as he crashed badly in the whoops section. Suffering from a broken femur, he will need a couple of months to recover and come back on the European tracks.
We want to thanks warmly Kawasaki USA and Monster energy for their confidence and support but also all the people who followed our US experience from France, Europe and anywhere else through the 20 videos episodes made by DV934.
Maxime Desprey: “This American experience ends unfortunately too early for me, with this broken femur after my big crash in the whoops. It’s difficult to accept it, as we worked so hard during the past weeks and i was feeling a real progression. Surgery was OK, they put a pin in my bone and I will stay a few more days at the hospital before joining the mechanics and my teammate in Lake Elsinore at team’s base. I want to thanks team Bud Racing, Stephan who stay with me at the hospital, David my trainer, my mechanic Jeremy, all my friends, my family, my girl friend Camille who was on the phone all night long and all the people who sent nice messages on the social medias.”

David Vuillemin: “Difficult to explain my feeling since Max got injured. It’s a massive blow and my stomach is knotted since I saw him down on the track, in the ambulance and at the hospital….”

Stephane Dasse : « we are really disappointed to stop the US SX experience so early, our 2 young riders Darian Sanayei & Maxime Desprey did very big efforts and a superb job with David Vuillemin to progress every week since we are in the USA, Maxime’s injury is really bad for him and us but it’s Motocross and we know that this sport is always a challenge and we can’t change anything now. We must speak with our sponsors during the day but we may be forced to go back to Europe earlier to prepare the European MX championships who will start end of march. It’s so difficult to find a rider who is able to race SX at this US level, specially for us who want to give the chance to young riders or new talents in this championship. However, we will come back even stronger in 2017”.

: Crédit photos: Jeff Kardas