BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Marc Prugnières just missed another podium in the Dutch round of the FIM European EMX250 Championship at Arnhem.

Quentin put in two strong rides against the local sand experts after rounding turn one just outside the top-six in each moto. His persistence paid off in race one on Saturday afternoon as he eventually forced his way forward to third, and the overall podium looked a very realistic possibility as he took another solid start in race two on Sunday morning to push into fifth after a few turns. But an incident further round the lap dropped him to thirteenth; he was back into the top-ten within four laps and maintained his charge to reach seventh. The 3-7 scoreline earnt fifth overall, just two points shy of the podium, but more significantly has seen him advance to fifth in the series standings with two rounds remaining next month.

Team mate Benjamin Garib showed once again that he has soon found his feet in the white-hot world of EMX racing, even if his points-tally from the weekend did not reflect his competitive spirit. The Chilean, an impressive tenth in Timed Practice, battled his way back to eleventh in the Saturday afternoon moto after a second lap fall had cost him his top-ten ranking at the start, and on Sunday he again showed good speed to hold fifth for four laps before the rugged track claimed him. Rejoining the race thirty-first after a pit-stop to straighten the levers he pushed to the chequered flag to finish twenty-first, missing the final championship point of the day by a fraction of a second in a photo-finish.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: « My start was not perfect on Saturday, and it took me a few laps to find my rhythm and my lines, but I could come back through to third so that’s a positive result. My second start was good but on the first lap I hit the rear wheel of another rider and crashed while I was in the top-five. After the crash it took me several laps to find my rhythm and my lines again before I came back to seventh. No excuses; I missed another podium by just a few points but I know what I have to work on to be ready for the next round in Turkey.”

Benjamin Garib: “In the end the results this weekend were not the best but we’re taking the positives. The first moto I crashed on the second lap but got back to eleventh. In race two I got a great start and I felt really comfortable those four laps racing in the top-five; but then I just had a tip-over and had to make a pit-stop so I lost a bunch of time. We don’t have a lot of sand tracks in Chile and this track was really rough, but we had been preparing hard at Magescq. Anyway I’m hungry for more now so I’m looking forward to Turkey and I am grateful to both the team and my family for giving me the opportunity to race the EMX series.”

Hossegor, August 21st

The KAWASAKI BUD RACING team and CHAMPION lubricants: A reasonable partnership renewed for 3 more years…

Continuity: Both parties are delighted and proud to extend a close collaboration, further strengthening the close ties established since the end of 2019.

Change: This new collaboration takes on a new dimension with the growing involvement of the factory, which since this year has integrated Team KAWASAKI BUD RACING into its official World program.

The particularity of this “Win Win” collaboration lies in the fact that not only the KAWASAKI BUD RACING team uses the CHAMPION PRO RACING GP range (in the most extreme conditions), but also because the BUD RACING entity for its part markets a wide selection of CHAMPION products on its website, paper catalog and in its stores. Recommended and approved by the team committed to the highest level off road
(Supercross & Motocross) BUD RACING customers buy with confidence CHAMPION strong feedback from racing technicians.

It only remains to wish CHAMPION and KAWASAKI BUD RACING to conquer together many podiums both in France and abroad as well as a sharing of sporting adventure strong in sensations!

The final word for the two main protagonists…

Yves DECAT / CHAMPION Marketing Director:

We are proud and enthusiastic to extend our partnership with BUD RACING because the team perfectly reflects our desire to achieve excellence. Let’s be honest, few things are more exciting, spectacular and demanding than motocross racing. The physical challenges to rider and bike are unmatched in other motorsports. And that’s exactly why we partnered with the BUD RACING team, because at CHAMPION we fundamentally believe that anything that gets your heart pumping is probably worth doing. We are the brand of lubricants for those who always push their limits. It’s for these thrill-seekers that we relentlessly test our lubricants in the most extreme conditions, to ensure they can rely on their bike whenever their daring is put to the test. We are delighted to share this vision with Bud Racing…”

Stéphane DASSE / BUD RACING Founder and Team Manager:

“To be completely honest, I did not know about CHAMPION products in 2019. Choosing a new range of lubricants for both trade and competition is not trivial. After reflection and information taken from recognized players in our sector of activity, I realized that a company present in lubricants since 1955 presented many guarantees of expertise and experience. So we decided to test before committing. CHAMPION products perfectly met our expectations and high level competition requirements. We are pleased to maintain the commercialization of this now recognized and respected range, on the other hand, we continue to use CHAMPION with confidence on all Supercross & Motocross terrains throughout the world”.

Hossegor, June 16th 2023

The 250 European Championship was not at the program of the French Grand Prix, so team Bud Racing Kawasaki offered to Quentin Prugnières a wild card entry for his first ever MX2 Grand Prix.

The European Championship is a step leading young riders to the World championship, and history has often shown us that a rider racing the top ten in Europe can perform in his GP debut. At Villars sous Ecot, the track was very tricky on Saturday due to extensive and fresh work and wet ground; Quentin struggled to find his marks and got a twenty-third place behind the grid. Seventeenth in the qualifying heat, he discover a different track on Sunday, as the club did a tremendous job of track preparation overnight.

On Sunday his first race was pretty short due to a technical problem, but he bounced back with a vengeance in the second moto. A twelfth-placed start gave the French youngster confidence and he pushed forward into the top-ten before half-distance, even holding down ninth for a time to claim an impressive tenth place at the chequered flag on his GP debut.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “It was my first GP and I rode too tense all weekend until the second moto. I had to retire in the first race, but in the second one I got decent start in twelfth position and could keep the pace during the entire moto. We go back home with a positive feeling and we’ll continue to work to prepare for the next rounds of the European championship.”

Quentin Prugnières scores this weekend a top five result during the fourth round of the 250 European Championship, just five weeks’ after he broke a collarbone. Young Australian Liam Owens scores his first points, for his second race in Europe.

Forced to retire early on Saturday during the first moto, Quentin Prugnières needed several laps of race two on Sunday to discover the lines around the track and, after a superb start which saw him third on the opening lap, an off-track excursion on lap three saw him pushed back temporarily to seventh. As he became more acquainted with the track he settled into a succession of solid lap-times which carried him back to fifth at the finish. Despite his first moto zero he will head to the next round of the championship in Latvia eighth in the series standings with seven rounds remaining, but before he will enter the MX2 French Grand Prix at Villars sous Ecot on May 20-21.

Australian teenager Liam Owens opened his points account in the first moto with a solid ride to sixteenth. The fifteen-year-old had already impressed earlier in the day with eleventh-fastest time in practice, just one week after arriving in Europe. Liam went to the gate optimistic for the second race on Sunday morning but he got caught up in an incident halfway round the opening lap of race two on the heavily-watered sticky track. Undeterred he persevered to the finish to push from last to twenty-second, two positions short of the points, at the finish.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “Yesterday I had to retire early in the race, but my start was better today and already in the first few corners I gained several positions. The first part of the race was not so good; I rode too tense on the muddy track and it took me time to find the best lines. I was happy with the second part of my race; I could improve my lap times and physically I felt much better than last week in Portugal. During the last few laps I was able to keep the championship leaders behind me and they were pushing really hard! I can’t say that I’m happy with a fifth but the way I achieved it gives me confidence for the GP of France in two weeks as I will race the MX2 GP class there.”

Liam Owens: “I’m very happy with my progress this weekend and I’ve learnt a lot. Timed practice went well; I had good speed, up there with the top guys. There are still some things I need to work on like my race-craft and starts but there were also a lot of positives. Yesterday the track was more like home; we don’t get much of the conditions like it was this morning but it’s good to learn. We fly back to Australia tomorrow, but I hope I can come back sooner than later. I love racing here in Europe; it’s awesome.”

Hossegor, May 8th 2023