Strong Russian performances and a third French title for the team

Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki continues his trip to East those past weeks, and after Latvia the entire squad, including Valentin Teillet back from his collarbone injury, moved to Semigorje to celebrate the comeback of the series in Russia, while David Herbreteau secured the 85cc French national title.

Once more the rain affected the qualifying races, and for everyone it was a tough Saturday as riders struggled on a muddy layout while mechanics had even more work than usual. Dylan was pretty unlucky as he stalled his engine in the first corner and lost much time to restart in last position; the track was muddy and slippery but he never gave up and came back fifteen, just behind his teammate Valentin who had a bad start and then did his best for his comeback.

On Sunday morning everyone was happy to see the sun back for the day, and a strong attendance of excited 45000 Russian fans along the track. Dylan started mid pack in the first heat, coming eighth and showing once more that he is learning rapidly in his first full season of GP racing. His second race was more difficult with two crashes despite of a perfect start where he was in 2nd place; but after his crashes he was relegated in sixteenth place he came back eleventh and consolidates his ninth place in the championship. For Valentin who came there mainly to train it was a very good GP, and he put up a gutsy performance on his return to racing from injury. Coming back from eighteenth to eleventh in race one, he confirmed later with a twelfth position that he will be soon back at his best level to fight for the podium.

While his teammates went to Russia, our youngest rider David Herbreteau secured in France the 85cc French National title, winning again and offering to his Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki team his third French title this season. David will enter of course the main round of the 85 European series in England, at mid august in Matterley Basin

Dylan Ferrandis: “I felt good on the track in practice, but it rained for the qualifying race and I stalled the engine in the first corner. I recovered to finish fifteenth so that was not too bad for the choice of gate. Today was dry and sunny and that was great and I battled with Tonus and Osborne for most of the first race to finish eighth. I got out of the gate second in race two but Van Horebeek cut across my line and I lost a few places; afterwards I crashed twice, but I had some good lap times to finish 8th overall of the day.”

Valentin Teillet: “For a comeback ride it was not so bad, even if on Saturday it was pretty difficult for me with the mud. I knew that I was not really ready for racing at this level as I only rode one time before I came here, but the goal was to finish both races and I did it. My first start was bad but I came back through to finish eleventh, and in the second one I inevitably felt tired but still scored a twelfth position. That was a good first step in my comeback and I can be happy with the result; but for sure I will expect more in the next GPs!”

Jacky Vimond: “It was a good day for both riders. Dylan did two strong races on this demanding track, especially the second one: after his crashes he was able to find again a good rhythm and he shows a good speed. Concerning Valentin it was more a training session for him as he didn’t practice so much since his injury, and we were not expecting so good results today, that’s promising for the next events.”

Le premier podium de Dylan en mondial, et un nouveau podium pour Livia aux X Games

La date du 1er juillet 2012 restera sans doute gravée à vie dans la mémoire de Dylan Ferrandis, qui a décroché en Suède son premier podium en championnat du Monde. Troisième du Grand Prix derrière Tommy Searle et Jeffrey Herlings, qui se battent pour le titre mondial, le pilote Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki revient par la même occasion à la huitième place du Mondial. La météo aura largement perturbé le déroulement du Grand Prix, les averses de la nuit et du dimanche matin ayant rendu le circuit particulièrement difficile. Des conditions qui n’inspiraient pas outre mesure Dylan, qui a toutefois su profiter de deux excellents départs. Signant le holeshot en première manche devant les KTM usine, Dylan allait mener les hommes forts du Mondial l’espace d’un tour, avant que Searle, Herlings puis Roelants ne prennent logiquement l’avantage. Ne cherchant pas à rivaliser avec eux et se concentrant sur ses trajectoires, Dylan terminait la première manche en quatrième position, comme il l’avait déjà fait au Mexique et au Portugal. Le soleil étant revenu la piste avait partiellement séché pour la seconde manche, et Dylan se faufilait si bien au premier virage qu’il pointait encore en tête de la course ! Cette fois encore il n’opposera pas de résistance inutile face à Searle et Van Horebeek, gérant sa course et assurant une excellente troisième place synonyme de podium du Grand Prix. Valentin Teillet toujours indisponible, le team avait fait appel à Benoit Paturel, pilote support engagé dans l’Europe MX2, pour disputer ce GP. Pour sa première sortie à ce niveau Benoit, qui évoluait encore en 125 l’an passé, a fait une superbe performance puisqu’il prend la quatorzième place de l’épreuve (10/17). Dixième de la première manche alors qu’il ne pointait que vingt quatrième au premier tour, puis dix septième de la seconde, Benoit n’aura pas rate son entrée en GP et sera dans deux semaines en Lettonie pour la reprise du championnat d’Europe. De l’autre côté de l’Atlantique, enfin, Livia Lancelot a atteint son objectif en ramenant une médaille des fameux X Games ; comme l’an passé c’est du bronze qu’elle ramène, face à une opposition plus musclée que jamais. Dylan Ferrandis : « C’est vraiment une surprise que de décrocher le podium ici, car avec la pluie la piste était bien détrempée et je ne me sentais pas plus à l’aise que cela. Mais mon holeshot en première manche m’a bien aidé, tout comme mon excellent départ en seconde manche ! Ce n’est pas mon premier holeshot mais c’est la première fois que je boucle quelques tours en tête, c’était génial ! Je n’ai pas cherché à résister quand les hommes forts du Mondial m’ont attaqué, j’ai fait ma course en me concentrant sur mes trajectoires. Ce podium fait du bien, surtout après ma blessure du GP de France qui avait été dure à surmonter. J’espère maintenant décrocher d’autres top cinq d’ici la fin de saison, je suis confiant car la Kawasaki Bud marche vraiment très fort. » Benoit Paturel: « Cette saison l’objectif est l’Europe MX2, mais quand Bud m’a proposé de remplacer Valentin (Teillet) je n’ai pas hésité! La piste était bien ce matin au warm up, mais après la grosse averse du matin elle avait beaucoup change pour les courses. Mon premier départ n’a pas été trop bon, mais j’ai pris un bon rythme et je suis revenu dixième; en seconde manche je suis encore plus mal parti, la piste avait encore évolué et je reviens dix septième. Ce fut un super week-end, et on va maintenant se concentrer sur l’Europe qui reprend dans deux semaines en Lettonie. » Stephane Dassé : « Ce fut un très bon week-end, on espérait tous un podium mais plutôt en fin d’année, pas si tôt dans la saison. Dylan a pris deux super départs et à très bien roulé, il a fait quelques petites fautes en première manche mais s’est bien repris dans la seconde. C’est une belle récompense pour tout le monde dans le team, les mécanos comme nos partenaires qui nous soutiennent. Ce podium booste tout le monde, et nous avons eu le plaisir de voir Benoit Paturel faire une très belle prestation pour son premier GP, ou il remplaçait Valentin qu’on espère voir avec nous en Lettonie. »

Dylan Ferrandis continues to impress / Livia win again

Coming back to Wallonia for the first time since a while, the Belgian Grand Prix had a different face with a rainy Saturday, and a sunny Sunday. Injury to Valentin Teillet left Dylan Ferrandis alone to represent Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki and the French teenager again showed tremendous speed with a second position in qualification and a seventh place in the race.

In order to preserve the track for the races, the qualifying races were cancelled on Saturday and after a free practice session the riders qualified through a timed practice period. That didn’t affect Dylan’s confidence, which was fast on the wet and slippery track; posting the fastest lap time in his third lap, Dylan was leading the series for a long time but finally Van Horebeek grabbed the pole. With a good opening lap in race one Dylan came seventh behind Jordi Tixier, and the two Frenchmen passed each others a couple of time; unfortunately Dylan slides and lost a couple of seconds, and then crashed when another rider hit him. The engine stalled, and Dylan lost too much time in the incident…. His second race was similar, but this time and despite pain in his recently injured wrists he fought stoically forward to seventh place in race two to maintain his top ten world ranking. After three GP’s in a row (France, Portugal et Belgique) the world championship will make a break next weekend before the Swedish Grand Prix.

Livia Lancelot won again the french championship women with 3 moto win and will fly to America this week to race the XGames in Los Angeles end of june.

Dylan Ferrandis: “On Saturday I had a good feeling with the track, and only needed a few laps to get the second position in the timed practice session. The track was very good today, but in the first race I made a small mistake when I was seventh and another rider hit me; I stalled the engine stalled and lost too much time to restart. My second start was not so good, but I fought back to seventh; my wrist was painful again, so I will rest for a few days but we have two weeks before the next GP so I hope for a good race in Sweden.”

Jacky Vimond: “We were pleased this weekend to see Dylan so strong, and he impressed many people with his excellent result in the qualifying session. It was a great performance, and he confirmed his potential on Sunday, even if he didn’t finish the first race. He was strong in both heats, he always improves his results and is now regularly in the top seven for his first GP season; I’m sure that he will be even faster soon. Valentin has to stay at home with his broken left collarbone; we got advices from his orthopaedist, and he didn’t have any surgery. He will probably be back in Latvia.”

Two top five for Teillet and Ferrandis

Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki came back from Portugal GP with two top five results for Valentin Teillet and Dylan Ferrandis, but unfortunately none had been able to finish both heats due to racing incidents. In France Livia Lancelot got another triple win, and had not been defeated in the women series!

Valentin Teillet had a great qualifying race on Saturday, as he holeshot the race to score a strong fifth position right behind the leaders of the series. The track was different on Sunday as it didn’t stopped raining during the night, but once more Valentin shows his ability and scored another fifth position in 1st moto. Unfortunately his unlucky season with injury continued in the first turn of the second heat; the energetic Frenchman was involved in a pile-up and suffered a broken left collarbone to end his day’s racing. Valentin will miss at least the Belgian and Swedish GP’s.

After a good qualifying session, Dylan Ferrandis was in the top ten of the first race after a few laps when he got a stone in his rear brake disk and had to retire prematurely. He grabbed the holeshot in the second GP moto, and defied the discomfort of the wrist injury he had suffered one week earlier in France to maintain fourth place to the chequered flag. Dylan equalled his best ever race result – he got a fourth during the first race in Mexico – and is currently tenth in the standings before the Belgian GP this weekend.

Valentin Teillet: “I had a good qualifying race, as I got the holeshot and finished fifth after leading during three laps. In the first race I was happy to finish fifth again, and was expecting another good result in the second race, but at the start we all crashed when Roelants pushed me wide; unfortunately I felt on my left shoulder and broke my collarbone. It’s so frustrating to have another injury, especially as the accident wasn’t my fault.”

Dylan Ferrandis: “I had a good start in the first race and was running ninth when I got a stone in the rear brake disc; the disc was damaged, and I had to retire. I grabbed the holeshot in the second race, but Herlings and Searle passed me already on the first lap; later I only lost one more place to finish fourth position. This was a good result as the wrist which I injured last week was painful during the second half of the race.”

Valentin scored his best GP result at his home Grand Prix

Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki spent a good weekend in St Jean d’Angely, home of the French Grand Prix, despite the injury of Dylan Ferrandis who didn’t entered the sunday races. Many fans, partners and sponsors came to visit the French squad in the paddock, and with a sixth position in the MX2 class Valentin got his best result of the season in an incredible atmosphere.

On Saturday the team got his best result during the pre qualifying session, as Valentin and Dylan posted the second and third lap times behind the Championship leader! Valentin got a good start and secured a fourth place for the races, while Dylan crashed twice and ended the race with a painful wrist. Further exams revealed some damages to the cartilage, and Dylan had to watch the races.

After suffering terribly bad luck with injuries since the opening GP Valentin Teillet took his Kawasaki to sixth place overall in his home GP to augur well for the rest of the season. Supported by many fans, Valentin did a great race in the first moto; he came in third position after fifteen minutes, was passed by Searle and finally scored a fifth position after a small crash. His second heat was more difficult, as he crashed in the waves section during the opening lap; ninth of the race, he got his best result of the season.

Valentin Teillet: “After my injuries I haven’t been able to race so much and couldn’t practice correctly for several weeks, so it was physically demanding for me this weekend but I reached my goal with two correct results. It’s such a great feeling to finish two motos again, particularly in front of my home crowd; it was incredible to get so much support from the fans, I could hear them while riding my bike! Sixth place overall was a great result and it could have been better if I had not had one small crash in each race.”

Dylan Ferrandis: “I had my best pre-qualifying session of the season with the third best time, so I had a good gate for the qualifying race. My start was also good and I was in sixth place after several corners, but another rider hit me and forced me to crash. I carried on but then the front wheel slipped away in a fast corner and crashed again. I felt pain in my wrist and the team and I decided that I should not race until I have had a thorough examination on Monday.”

Stephane Dassé: “This weekend was pretty good for us, and Valentin had two strong races even if he is not fit due to his injuries. It’s a shame that Dylan got injured, he was so fast on this track; we took together the decision to skip the races, he will have more exams this week and we’ll see if he can race in Portugal. We met many people this weekend in the paddock, as always at the French Grand Prix, and it was a pleasure to see such a great atmosphere around the track.”