Some important points in Italy for Quentin

Injured two weeks ago during the last round of the French Championship, Quentin Prugnières bravely attempt to salvage points at the second round of the European Championship in Italy this weekend.

Team Bud Racing Kawasaki and Quentin Prugnières took together the decision to travel in Italy, less than two weeks after surgery to his broken collarbone. Testing his KX 250 on Tuesday in Southern France Quentin had no pain, so the team travelled to Arco di Trento with the aim to defend his second place in the series standings and score as many points as possible.
Unfortunately a fall in traffic at turn two of the opening moto on Saturday left him with a mountain to climb but he gritted his teeth to scythe through the pack to nineteenth by the end of the half-hour race. His second race on Sunday was pretty similar, spoilt by a first-lap incident which left the French youngster at the end of the field after a mid-pack start. Posting solid lap-times despite the physical discomfort he salvaged three points for eighteenth at the finish to retain a top-ten series ranking, just twenty-one points shy of third in the points chase with nine rounds remaining. Quentin will skip the next round of the French Championship this weekend at Vesoul, to recover and prepare the Portuguese round of the European series.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “I did what I could but it was not easy after crashes with other riders soon after the start in each moto. It’s a shame as my rhythm and my physical condition were good; I didn’t have too much pain to my collarbone and I know that the next round will be better so I stay motivated.”

Opening round of the European 250 A second place on the podium for Quentin Prugnières

Just one week after his strong performance in France, Quentin Prugnières had another great weekend in Sardinia as he brings his Bud Racing Kawasaki on the second step of the podium during the opening round of the European Championship.

Riola Sardo in Sardinia is with Lommel (Belgium) the toughest track that the 250 European Championship will visit this season, due to its sandy soil. During the timed practice session Quentin confirmed his ability in the sand with the fifth fastest lap, but that doesn’t help him in the first moto as he was only eighteenth after two corners! Back in the top ten after one lap he was able to come back third at mid race and cross the finish line at this position. On Sunday morning his start was way better as he got the holeshot, and then battled with Italian Bonacorsi for the lead; unfortunately he suffers a small crash in a fast turn, lost a few positions but never give up to come back third with four laps to go. Second overall, he equalled his result of last year in Sweden.

Next week he will be with Anthony Bourdon at the third round of the French Elite, in Britany. Injured last week at Castelnau de Levis, Benjamin Garib will have a shoulder surgery and will miss some races.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “I was outside the top-fifteen at the start yesterday but I could find some spots where I was able to make passes. The track was pretty physical with a lot of deep holes so I was happy to come back to third; I wasn’t that far from Valk in the last few minutes but I made a mistake and lost a couple of seconds again. But a third in the first race was a good basis for the season. I was really focused at the start of race two today; I was so motivated to get this holeshot. Then we had some nice battles for the lead but I made one single mistake and crashed, but I never give up until the end and was rewarded with a pass near the end. I’m really happy with this podium; it was a tough race but we have worked hard this winter with the team and with Thierry (Van den Bosch) so it’s great to get the reward with this podium.”

KAWASAKI BUD RACING POWERED BY BS BATTERY FOR 2023 MXGP & SX SEASON

‘Off-road has always been at the heart of our products development. The unpredictable grounds allow us to test the durability of our products in extreme conditions. Receiving technical feedbacks from KAWASAKI BUD RACING’s Engineers and riders after MXGP races are precious for our R&D Department always concerned by weight and vibrations optimization.’ says Romain MENDUNI, R&D Manager at BS BATTERY!

BS BATTERY lithium range is 70% lighter than the conventional batteries, a good asset for all the demanding riders who look after performance! The Smart Chargers have also been designed to answer all needs, from the smallest battery to the largest capacity: lithium or acid, from 2Ah to 80Ah, 6 or 12V, 100% automatic… BS BATTERY team is always focus on making rider’s life easier.

“Since 2022, we are approved by KAWASAKI Factory as Original Equipment Supplier, continuing our partnership with KAWASAKI BUD RACING make more and more sense every year.” add Benjamin SEBBAN, General Manager from BS BATTERY.

Off-road races are very demanding: the track become trickier every minute and the bikes can be quickly damaged.

“The physical conditions of our riders and their riding skills are essential to maintain a good performance along the way. That’s why we are always trying to improve the riding comfort of our pilots and facilitate their movements. Collaborating with BS BATTERY has been key for us. We reduced a lot the weight of our bikes thanks to their Lithium BSLi-02 Battery, rider’s agility is much more optimized.” says Pere IBANEZ, Technical Manager from KAWASAKI BUD RACING.

Created in 2007, KAWASAKI BUD RACING has always been invested successfully in several championships every year. With the support of BS BATTERY, no less than three championships are on 2023 program, which will be officially launched on March 5th with the opening round of the French Elite championship.

Three riders will defend BUD RACING colors in the French championship: Quentin Prugnières (17 years old), Benjamin Garib (18 years old) will line up in the MX2 class while Anthony Bourdon (24 years old) will compete in MX1. Next 15 and 16th April, KAWASAKI BUD RACING will enter at the opening of European Motocross Championship – class 250cc commonly referred to EMX250 and will take place at Pietramurata circuit, in Italy!

About the World Supercross Championship, KAWASAKI BUD RACING will also race in both classes – SX450 & SX250, including 2 riders per class. KAWASAKI BUD RACING team’s final composition will officially release in a few weeks. The FIM World Supercross Championship will host the British Grand Prix at in Birmingham, Great Britain on Saturday July 1st.

THREE CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR BUD RACING KAWASAKI IN 2023

Created in 2007, Team Bud Racing Kawasaki has always been invested successfully in several championships every year. With the support of its partners, no less than three championships are on our 2023 program, which will be officially launched on March 5th with the opening round of the French Elite championship.

After winning its twentieth title last year, Team Bud Racing Kawasaki is back racing with riders involved in no less than three championships: the French Elite, the 250 European Motocross and the World Supercross without forgetting some prestigious events such as the Paris Supercross or beach races. A strong program for the team supported since its beginning by Kawasaki, and which revealed in the past young talents such as Marvin Musquin, Dylan Ferrandis or Brian Moreau to name a few. Three riders will defend our colors in the French championship: Quentin Prugnières (17 years old) who is doing his fifth season with us and Benjamin Garib (18 years old) will line up in the MX2 class while Anthony Bourdon (24 years old) will compete in MX1. In the European 250 Championship we will line up Quentin and Benjamin, a young Chilean rider who start racing in the United States where he was spotted by Stéphane Dassé. All three riders have joined Thierry Van Den Bosch, our coach since several years, to go back training and working their fitness since last month.

Stéphane Dassé: “Competition has always been in our heart, and even if times are a bit tough we are still motivated to compete in all these championships. We will race the European 250 again this year, although the increase number of races and travel complicates the deal, now we’ve eleven rounds in the EMX and it’s getting complicated for the teams to combine with national championships ! Quentin is contesting his last season in this championship and after some good performances last year he is expected to fight for victory. He must do one more step to win, be a little faster in qualifying to have good positions behind the grid and make good starts. This championship is always very strong, I know that physically he is ready, it’s up to him to play! As for Benjamin, he will discover a new world, new tracks, he has good potential and we hope to see him closer to the top 5 through the season. Regarding the World Supercross, it’s a very big potential and interesting championship, we already signed Cédric Soubeyras who is the best in Europe actually and we are finalizing our contacts with his three teammates, which will be revealed soon.”

Two more podiums for team BUD Racing

Team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki was involved in two different worlds this weekend, with a four men squad at the opening round of the World Supercross at Cardiff (United Kingdom) and one rider at the European Motocross of Nations at Talavera de la Reina (Spain). On both sides the team had the honours of the podium, with Chris Blose at Cardiff and Quentin Prugnières at Talavera!

It’s in the Millennium Stadium of Cardiff, land of rugby, that the brand new World Supercross Championship kicked off this weekend with four riders representing the 9MM Energy Drink Kawasaki Team, two in each class. It’s in the SX2 class that the team had the honours of the podium with a second overall – just one point behind the winner – for our American Chris Blose (2/4/8) who did a strong performance while Australian Matt Moss (3/DNF/11) lost his chances for the overall with a DNF but he finishes tenth overall. In the WSX class both Cédric Soubeyras and Adrien Escoffier joined the team just a few days before the event and improved their results trough the weekend, as they get used to their 450 KXF, and both score several top ten results. The second of the three races format was the best one for Cedric Soubeyras (12/4/6) who finish sixth overall, three positions ahead of Adrien (10/13/9) who lost time in a crash. Our four ‘musketeers’ have now one week before flying to Australia for the second and last round of the series in two weeks’ time.

Leader of the French team at the European Motocross of Nations aboard his 250 Kawasaki, with one teammate in the 125 class and two in the 85 category, Quentin Prugnières was the best French representative and leads his teammates to the overall win. Winner of his qualifying race on Saturday, winner of the first race mixing 125 and 250 and second in the last heat, he did a huge performance in Spain! With good results from Mano Faure in the 125 class, Amaury Maindru and Mathys Valin in the 85 class, the Frenchies won the event for the first time in the past five seasons. Next race for Quentin will be the Paris Supercross on November 13 and 14, where he will join his SX teammates.

Stéphane Dassé: “Very happy to be part of the World Supercross Championship, this first event was a great one! I’m convinced that this new series will help to develop Supercross worldwide, as Supercross is so far an American speciality. Concerning our 450 riders Cédric is just back from injury while Adrien discovers the team and the bike, and it’s in the SX2 class that Chris Blose offers us a nice podium with a second overall, while Matt Moss did some good things.”

Quentin Prugnières: “It was a top weekend, I did the job by winning the qualifying race and the first moto. Then I score a second position, in all the races I posted the fastest lap time and I gave everything until the last minute. I keep in mind a lot of positive things, and was happy to fight in all the races with Jan Pancar who is a regular MX2 top ten contender. With my teammates we did everything to win this event and the feeling is amazing, I’m proud to be French and to put the French colours on the highest step of the podium.”