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.”

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.”

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.”