Team Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki enjoyed good results in the penultimate round of the FIM European Motocross Championships, with a solid podium for Savaste and a fourth and a fifth place for Sanayei and Moreau in difficult conditions at Lommel in Belgium.

The sandy circuit has long been a rigorous test for young Darian as he never encounter such conditions in his homeland, but the teenager showed great spirit to achieve a commendable result in the circumstances. He already showed his determination to qualify second from his group and the resultant choice of gate enabled him to holeshot the first moto and lead for a couple of laps before the sand experts pushed him back to fourth; he showed great spirit to recover third place again before the finish. Race two saw Darian miss the overall podium on the points tie after crossing the line fourth, just over a second from third. He retains second in the series standings and has a comfortable thirty-seven point advantage over third as they go to the final round in Switzerland next weekend.

Kim Savaste has more experience of sandy tracks and the young Finn show great form with a second position in his qualifying group. His start was not the best one in the first heat, but Kim came back from a top fifteen to the fourth position, just a second behind the third rider! His second race was even more exciting, as he came back from last after a crash at the start to the second place! With these two great results Kim got his first podium of the season with a second overall with a 4/2 motos finish and is now eighth in the standings.

Not as used as his teammate to sand tracks, Brian Moreau increased his performances during the weekend; ninth in his qualifying session, Brian got a good start in the first race to finish sixth, and did even better in the second one as he came back from ninth to third! Fifth overall with a 6/3, Brian got his best result of the season and is now ninth in the standings, tight with Kim before the final round of the series this weekend in Switzerland.

Darian Sanayei: “This weekend was a bit tougher for me; we don’t have any track like this one in the USA ! I was second in my qualifying group; that was my first goal to get a good gate pick for the races. In the first race I got the holeshot, and finished the two races in third and fourth position. I’m not happy with the results but it’s not too bad for my first time in Lommel; I salvaged some good points before the final round next weekend, and I want to thanks the whole team and our sponsors for their support.”

Kim Savaste: “It was a very good weekend, even if on Saturday I was not so happy with my riding. For the race we made some changes on the suspensions and it was working a lot better; my start in the second heat was not very good, then I crashed in the second corner and was nearly last but I wanted this podium and I charged my way and made many passes to come back 2nd !. I’m of course very happy with the result, thanks to team Bud for their great support.”

Brian Moreau: “I struggled on Saturday for the qualifying, but the feeling was better and better for the races. We worked a lot on sand riding with the team trainer Thierry Van Den Bosch during the weekend and French Federation trainer Pascal Finot during the week, it helped me to get these good results. I finished the last four races in the top six, and will go confident to the final round in Switzerland.”

Darian Sanayei consolidated second place in the FIM European EMX250 Motocross Championship for Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki after finishing joint top points scorer at Matterley Basin in England.

The American teenager twice outpaced the series leader as he swept to a five second victory in the opening moto before finishing a close second to a local wild card rider in race two; their duel had taken them nearly half a minute clear of the remaining riders in the race. Having contested the British round of the series last year Darian already knew the track and finished top of his qualification group before two close battles with the English wild card rider, a former champion; they finished the weekend tight on points. With three rounds remaining Darian remains 56 points behind the series leader, but he has increased his advantage over the third-placed rider to 69 points.

The European 125 was also at the program of the British GP, and in the timed practice session Brian Moreau shows again his potential at 14 years old when he posted the fastest lap time of his group. On Saturday afternoon Brian got a good start in the first race, coming fourth but he lost time in a crash; ninth after three laps, he came back sixth. The second race on Sunday was not a good one for him, as he didn’t score any point after an early crash in the 1st lap. He remains tenth in the standings, before the GP of Lombardy this weekend. Teammate Kim Savaste had a consistent weekend, scoring points in both races for the first time since Arco; the young Finish rider scored a Seventh of the GP, he is now eleventh of the series, just a few points behind Brian.

Our 85KX rider Thibault Benistant was in Portugal, and entered the last qualifying race of the 85 European series. It was his third appearance since his elbow injury begin of march, and Thibault had a very good weekend with two podium results and a strong second overall at Fernao Joanes.

The EMX250 and Euro125 series will continue next week in Mantova (Italy), while Xavier Boog will enter the French SX Tour with the first round of the series in Estillac.

Darian Sanayei: “In the first moto I had a pretty good start and passed Clarke and then Prado to get the lead. I made a small gap and won this race; it was cool to win again. Then in the second moto I got a good jump of the gate but started wheeling; Prado was at my inside and I just came wide open in the first corners to get the lead again. That was pretty cool and my speed was good but Clarke, who was just doing this race, hit me a couple of times. We had a really nice battle for a couple of laps and I just missed out on this win, but I won the qualifying and the first moto. Second overall is not so bad for the championship. The track was awesome; I enjoyed it last year and again this time.”

Darian Sanayei scored an emphatic double victory for Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki in the French round of the FIM European MX250 Motocross Championship at St Jean D’Angely. For the team who lined up five riders, it was also a great opportunity to welcome partners and fans.

The young American, faced with the need to learn a new circuit at every round, qualified eighth and made a solid start to the opening moto in third position before quickly taking the lead on lap three and moving relentlessly away from his chasers for a nine second victory. Another good start in race two saw him initially second before taking the lead already on the opening lap for another convincing win, again nine seconds clear of his closest rival. The fifty point maximum score for his first ever series victory has seen Darian advance to second in the series standings.

Teammate Nicolas Dercourt also made his best result of the series so far when he took fourth overall from 4-6 moto finishes, missing the podium by just one point. The French youngster twice had to charge up the leaderboard from moderate starts; in the first moto he advanced from eighth to fourth and in the second race he converted an initial eighth into sixth place. Nicolas is now eighth in the series standings.

In the European 125 class Brian Moreau qualified with the second fastest lap of his group, while Kim Savaste had to go through the last chance race to qualify. Brian missed his start in the first heat and fight hard to pass many riders to finally get a seventh position, but he crashed at the start of the second race and had to come back from far last to fifteenth; tenth overall, he’s also tenth in the series. From the outside gate Kim had more troubles at the start, and had twice to come back from very far; he retired with a technical issue in the first race but then came back eighth in the second heat.

Sixteen and fourteen of the practice session, Xavier Boog rode the MXGP class and had to come back from eighteenth to fifteenth in the first race, he didn’t had time to improve his result in the second heat as he damaged one radiator in a crash with another rider after three laps.

Even if the World and European Championships have a break next weekend, the team will be in Ernée for the penultimate round of the French Series.

Darian Sanayei: “It was good. The track was really nice, just some stones, so my goal was to take some good starts so I wouldn’t get too much stones in my face. I was third at the start of the first race and I had some difficulties with my hand guard touching the clutch but with the track conditions that wasn’t such a problem; it just made me ride smoother. I nearly got the holeshot in the second moto. I was second and took the lead at the second or third corner; after that I just tried to ride my own race, to stay strong and make a gap to my rivals. I rode this track a few weeks ago and, even if the conditions were totally different, I think that helped me to get a good qualifying result. I’m used to discovering new tracks, but at least I knew the track layout here, and it will be similar in the UK as I raced there last year. It was awesome to hear the national anthem; it was my goal to win some races here in Europe this season.”

Nicolas Dercourt: “ It was a good weekend for me, as I got my best overall result of the year with a fourth position overall. I had the eleventh gate pick but missed a good start in the first race; I rode a good opening lap to move to eighth, and then found a good rhythm to advance to fourth at the finish. My second moto was pretty similar, as I moved forward from eighth to sixth and just missed the podium by one point.”

Brian Moreau: “I was expecting a lot from this GP, trained hard so of course I’m disappointed with the results. In the first heat I was around twentieth at the start and came back seventh, the track was really rough and slippery; then in the second heat Geerts took my front wheel on the starting line and I crashed. I was last and came back fifteenth, it’s a learning year for me!”

Kim Savaste: “On Saturday I can’t explain why I didn’t qualified in the series, and I was upset to go to the last chance race to qualify. I won it and get used to the track; in the first race my start from the outside was not so good but I came back from twenty first to eleventh when i bent my chain guide in a rut and my chain came off with four laps to go. Then in the second race I didn’t got a good start but my riding was better and I came back eighth.”

Xavier Boog: “I’m happy to finish this French GP on my foot, as I got injured in the last two editions and that was somewhere in my mind! I was expecting better results, but without a good start now it’s nearly impossible to enter the top twelve. In the second race I had a good rhythm but I crashed with another rider and damaged the bike, my race was finished. It was a good practice before the Elite round in Ernée, we are not used now to have a full weekend of racing as the French Motocross and Supercross races are a one day event.”

Coming soon…