The first ever Motocross Grand Prix organised in the Middle East offered to Valentin Teillet his first ever qualifying race win, and even if the races were not as successful team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki proved that they will be one the teams to watch carefully in the MX2 World Championship.

Valentin Teillet had recorded a sensational runaway victory in the Qualification race, as he led the entire period to be the first rider to win in the night of Losail, as the race was run under the sports at the famous International Racing track near Doha. Unfortunately the Frenchman had terrible luck on race day! Holding a challenging fourth place in the MX2 race, he was forced to pit for repairs after a rock had damaged his bike, and on his return to the track crashed heavily and was forced to retire. After transferring to the Superfinal – a combined race for MX1 and MX2 contenders – through the Last Chance he did not have a good choice of gate and inevitably suffered a poor start against the larger 450cc machines. He was rewarded with 12th in class for his persistence.

Teammate Dylan Ferrandis, keen not to miss the GP opener even though he had only been back in training for three weeks, soon settled down to a good pace, but he too was out of luck as an early crash in the MX2 moto sent him to the Last Chance alongside Teillet and the teenager just failed to make the transfer to the Superfinal.

Top lady racer Livia Lancelot was invited to contest the MX2 GP in Qatar, but, despite a remarkable performance, she failed to meet the 108% qualification hurdle against the men by just 1.667 seconds. She was rewarded for her efforts with an invitation to contest the second moto of the Qatar national championship event which supported the GP and finished a highly creditable third amongst the men.

Valentin Teillet: “It was a great surprise for me to win the qualifying race, but it gave me more confidence for the GP races. I was fourth in the MX2 race when I had a small problem, which forced me to go into the pits, and when I got back in the race I crashed and had to retire, so I had to go through the Last Chance race to qualify for the Superfinal. That made it a long day. I didn’t have so much time to recover before the last race and I had a very bad position on the grid so I got a bad start, which made life difficult against the 450 on this track.”

Dylan Ferrandis: “This was my first race for six months, and I only started practising again three weeks ago. I was still getting used to my bike this weekend, and during the practice sessions I was not so confident with my knee as the doctors didn’t want me to ride so early. Unfortunately I crashed in the first lap of the MX2 race, and had to go to the Last Chance race. I just missed qualification for the Superfinal, but I was pleased to see that I wasn’t tired after the races.”

Livia Lancelot: “I knew that it would be difficult to qualify, but I’m not disappointed about my experience in Qatar. The track was spectacular with big jumps and I did my best to finish twelve seconds from the pole position and less than two seconds from the qualifying time. I was happy with my riding, but this is the World Championship! I raced the second moto of the Qatar national championship on Saturday, and finished third so it was a nice experience. I’d like to thanks Youthstream the promoter of the series and the Qatar Federation who invite me, they gave me a great support.”

New video from Rockstar Bud Racing Team with Dylan Ferrandis and David Herbreteau ! Let’s go !

Team Rockstar energy Bud Racing Kawasaki celebrated another Grand Prix win this weekend, as Livia Lancelot dominates the final round of the FIM World Championship and won her third GP this season. With Valentin Teillet finishng 5th & 6th of the last MX2 GP, the team had a strong weekend in Germany.

Racing this season only the rounds of the Women World Championship organised alongside the MX1/MX2 GP’s, Livia nearly did the perfect season as she won the last three GP’s – France, Great Britain and Germany – after being injured – broken finger – at the opening round in the Netherlands. Fastest in the practice session, winner of the qualifying race and then dominating both races, Livia showed that she is still the fastest woman on a motocross bike.

Valentin Teillet showed great character to end the season on a high note with sixth overall despite a troubled week as he ran a fever. After still feeling the after-effects during training and qualifying on Saturday, the dynamic Frenchman put in two good leaderboard rides during the GP motos to end the season. He can look forward confidently to 2013 after scoring heavily throughout the final six GPs, and will now prepare his comeback in Supercross as he will enter the famous Paris Bercy SX on November.

Youngster Benoit Paturel who replaced Dylan after his injury, took his second GP ride of the season but was unfortunate to collide with another rider at the start of the qualifying saturday race and faced an awkward start position for the GP motos. His hard-charging style took him into a points-scoring position in the opening moto before the effort caused a bout of arm pump and he had to drop back out of the points. A less hectic ride in race two was rewarded with fourteenth.

Dylan Ferrandis underwent successful surgery after Faenza, and will start his recovery program this week.

Valentin Teillet: “I was sick last week and I was not at my best on Saturday, but today I felt better and the team found good settings for the bike. I got two good starts, and I’m delighted to finish sixth overall in this final GP of the year with a fifth and a sixth place. The season was tough as I was injured for the first few races, but I have come back well and next year we’ll be stronger. I will stay with the Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki team for 2013; we now know each other very well and for sure that will be a benefit.”

Livia Lancelot: “It’s great to win another GP, and I was pleased to win everything this weekend. The first race on Saturday evening was tough as the track was dark with the clouds; I passed Rutledge three laps before the end of the race, but on Sunday I got the holeshot and led the entire race. I won the last three GP’s where I was involved, I couldn’t expect more and now I will start again practicing Supercross, and maybe racing some events.”

Benoit Paturel: “I got good results in the timed practice, but at the start of the qualifying race I crashed and my foot was caught in the rear wheel of another rider’s machine. That meant I was only 32nd on the grid and couldn’t get a decent start. In the first race I came back to eighteenth but then I got arm pump and lost some places again. The second moto was better as I finished fourteenth. The whole weekend was a great experience for me.”

Jacky Vimond: “ Valentin was ill when he came in Germany, but he was determinate to get some good results; he finished both races in the top six, and confirmed his previous results. Benoit had some troubles in the first race but rode strongly in the second one, and did two good GP’s with us. For Livia it’s another double win this weekend, once more she was faster and stronger than her rivals and I’m sure that if she did all the series she would be champion. This weekend we were all with Dylan who is recovering from his injuries, we whish him a prompt recovery.”

Mixed feelings in Italy

Penultimate round of the 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship, the Grand Prix of Europe will not stay as one of the best memories for team Rockstar energy Bud Racing Kawasaki, even if promising Benoit Paturel scored a brilliant second position in the European MX2 class. The team members couldn’t celebrate this podium as usual, as on Saturday during the qualifying session Dylan Ferrandis broke his leg.

Dylan Ferrandis suffered a most unfortunate crash during the qualification race and will now miss the last GP of the season in two weeks. The best 2012 GP rookie broke a femur and was put in plaster at the local hospital so that he could return to Lyon hospital in France where he has been operated with success on sunday evening.

Teammate Valentin Teillet had two strong races to tenth and sixth place to finish the GP seventh overall; Valentin struggled in the first heat with the track which had been too much watered in the night, but recovered and was able to put fast laps after mid race despite the discomfort of a twisted ankle which cost him several positions. His second race was much better even if he started mid-pack, as he came back from eleventh to sixth while passing strong riders like Tonus, Nichols…

The team also played a prominent role in the final round of the European MX2 championship as satellite rider Benoit Paturel record a podium finish. Second and third of the races he finished second overall, only one point behind the new champion Mel Pocock.

Valentin Teillet: “It’s good mentally to get some good results, and I’m happy with the second moto. In the first race my start was pretty bad and later I twisted my ankle; I had quite a lot of pain but I still managed to get a tenth position. Between the two motos I worked with Jacky Vimond on the lines, and we strapped up my ankle; I was about tenth at the start, but I had a better feeling with the track and set some good lap times to move forward to sixth. Of course the thoughts of the entire team were with Dylan today, it’s always tough to have a bad injury and let’s hope that he will come back next year even stronger.”

Benoit Paturel: “My start in the first moto was not so good, but I recovered to second, very close to Lacan, and it was a great boost as I had missed several rounds of the series due to injury. The start in the second race was similar but again I came back through the field to third and that earn the second place overall. That’s a great reward for the team Bud racing who is behind me, but also for my trainer who helped me to be stronger this season; we’ve worked hard to reach another level, and now the goal is to find a team to compete again in the European series next season.”

Jacky Vimond: “It’s a difficult weekend for the team as we all saw from the pit lane the bad crash of Dylan who broke his leg. It’s a bad news for all of us and first of all for him, who will be out for few months now. Concerning the races, it was pretty good, Benoit Paturel did two very good races and confirmed that he’s now one of the strongest riders in the European MX2 series. Valentin struggled in the first race, but we worked together between the races to find some solutions and it was great to see him fighting in the second heat for a top six result.”