9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Prugnières ended the FIM European EMX250 Championship fifth after taking his second podium of the campaign at St Jean D’Angely in France.

The French teenager had already impressed in the first moto on Saturday afternoon as he swept up the leaderboard from eleventh on lap one to finish third, and, to the delight of his home-country crowd, he earns his second overall podium of the series with another fantastic ride in Sunday morning’s race two. Closed down by his neighbours at the gate at the start he was way down in twenty-second position the first time past the timekeepers but rode an enthralling opening lap, making no less than a dozen passes to move into the top ten. Maintaining the momentum he was fourth within twelve minutes, even temporarily taking over third, to not only secure the overall podium but also jump from seventh to a final fifth in the series points standings. With eight top five finishes in the last fourteen races, three race podiums in the last three events contested and two podiums, Quentin confirmed all the expectations placed in him by Stephane Dasse and Thierry Van Den Bosch and he will now be able to take a break.

BUD teammate Eddie Wade crashed during practice and did not start.

Quentin Prugnières: “It’s a nice podium in front of the French fans, but I really had to work for it after a bad start. I wasn’t able to keep my rhythm after I reached third position, but the priority was to end the season with a good result which lifted me to fifth in the standings. The beginning of season did not go as planned, but I have proved that I am a podium contender in recent races. I want to thank all the people around me in the BUD team, my family and our mechanics and I am almost lost for words to describe my feeling after this podium in my home country. I really wanted to finish the season with a podium, and now we’ll take a break before getting back working to prepare for next season; the plan is to race the EMX250 again and also some GPs.“

Quentin Prugnières and Eddie Wade both score a top seven result in one of the races in Finland, losing all their chance in a crash at the start of the other race. This weekend they will be at Saint Jean d’Angely for the final round of the 250 European Championship.

Finland didn’t meet any GP since 2014, so it’s a new track that Quentin and Eddy discovered at Hyvinkää where of course the layout was sandy. That was another tough one, especially as the sand on the starting line was really soft but on a hard ground, which caused several crashes at the start. On Saturday Eddie came out of the first corner in the top five, while Quentin crashed and started back behind the leading group a lap down. He did the whole race at their rhythm, while Eddie crossed the finish line in seventh position despite the pain following his crash one week earlier in Sweden. The roles would be reversed in the second heat, with Eddie crashing out at the start while Quentin moved into the top ten; both will make a good comeback, up to sixth place for Quentin – he lost a few places in a crash while attacking for third position – and eighteenth for Eddie who ranks tenth in the event, two places ahead of Quentin.

This weekend the team will nearly “race at home” as it’s in St Jean d’Angely that the championship will end.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “Tough first race with this crash at the start, I got up with a hematoma in the thigh so I started lapped by the leaders. I did the entire race behind the leading group, which I followed throughout the race, without attacking them since I was a lap behind. Second start was pretty good, then I moved up to fourth but I had a rear brake problem and I lost the front on a corner entry with four laps to go. I finished sixth, frustrating because the speed was there and a race podium was possible. Now looking to Saint Jean next weekend, I love the atmosphere of the GP in France and as it’s the final I want to give everything to please the fans and the team.”

Eddie Wade: “It was hard to push with the ribs but I got a good start and the adrenalin helped me for the first few laps; it started to hurt after that and I got a little arm-pump holding on too tight to compensate but I came home seventh. The crash at the start of the second race didn’t helped me, but I never give up to come back scoring points even if my body was aching a lot again. “

9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Quentin Marc Prugnières claimed the first podium of his FIM European EMX250 Championship career with second overall in the Swedish round at Uddevalla.

The teenager already laid the base for his eventual success with an impressive ride from a ninth-placed start to second at the finish of the first twenty-five-minute-plus-two-lap race on Saturday afternoon. He had advanced into the top four within six minutes and two more stunning passes saw him take over second by half-distance. The race-long leader, unhindered by traffic, was already thirteen seconds clear at that stage but the French youngster, setting the fastest lap of the race, had reduced the gap to less than six seconds by the time they received the chequered flag. Another ninth-placed start in race two on Sunday morning was rapidly converted to fifth on the opening lap. Emerging best from wheel-to-wheel tussles with each of the championship leaders, he took a firm grip on third in the closing stages to clinch second overall over the weekend and claim his maiden EMX250 trophy. With two rounds of the championship remaining he is now seventh in the series, just two points shy of fifth.

Teammate Eddie Jay Wade had a hefty crash during practice; Eddie broke one rib and had pain in his back and wasn’t able to race.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “Today I finally got the podium which I just missed a few times this season and I think I deserved it! In both races I was able to manage the pressure from my rivals, and didn’t make any mistakes in either moto. I am happy with this podium; I have been waiting for this feeling of being on the box! Yesterday I took my first moto-podium in EMX250 and I did it again today. My second start could have been even better; my jump at the gate was OK but then I wheelie for a few metres. For sure if I could have avoided this I could have been looking for a moto win. I was a little stressed on the last lap, looking behind me to see how far it was to Elzinga, but I managed the gap until the end. The track here was very technical and that suited me. There’s no words to describe how I feel right now, but on Monday we’ll be back working on the track to get more; we still have two rounds, including the French one, and I can’t wait to race in front of the French fans. “

Team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki’s moved from France to Germany for another round of the European Championship, and Quentin Marc Prugnières continues to impress with two consistent races while Eddie Wade got his best result of the season. Hundreds of kilometres away, Amandine Verstappen remains unbeaten in the French Women series.

Tenth behind the gate Quentin started the first moto eighth but he was already into the top-six on the second lap and kept pushing to narrowly miss the moto podium with a fourth position. On Sunday morning two incidents with other riders in the second moto cost him his realistic shot at the podium; down in eighteenth place on the opening lap he battled throughout the twenty-five-minute-plus-two-lap race to take the chequered flag eighth. This secured sixth place overall, narrowly missing the podium, and he is now eighth, just twenty-one points from third, in an even-tighter battle in the series standings.

His teammate Eddie Jay Wade held seventh for several laps in the first moto before a slip dropped him to thirteenth, the position in which he took the chequered flag. A top-ten start in race two was an excellent base to equal his best result of the season with sixth place at the finish, just seventeen seconds down on the winner. Ninth overall over the weekend the English youngster has leapt to fourteenth in the series points standings.

Once more Amandine Verstappen had no rivals in the Women French series, as she was two seconds faster than her rivals in the timed practice session and then won both races more than twenty seconds ahead of the other girls.

Quentin Marc Prugnières: “Overall it was another positive weekend, I just need to get better starts and be more aggressive during the first few laps to get a podium. In the first race I made a big mistake in a rut mid-race which cost me two positions and then the second race was more difficult as my start was not so good; I recovered some positions in the first corner but before the second turn another rider pushed me outside the track and I lost several positions! When I was coming back through the pack a rider crashed in front of me and I hit his bike; it was frustrating to again lose time. My speed was good but I can’t be happy with this race as everyone – me, the team, my family – expects more and I will now work in the sand to prepare for the next round at Lommel.”

Eddie Jay Wade: “The times were really close in Qualifying so I was happy with eighth and I was very good off the start in race one but the rider in front of me went through a puddle so I had to throw off my goggles. In the second moto I worked my way from tenth to sixth; I got a bit tight towards the end but we’re learning all the time and we’ll keep working. “

Amandine Verstappen: “I had a lot of fun riding on this fast track with many jumps, first time we visited this track at Millières. It just took me three laps in the first race to take the lead, then I won both races with a good margin over my rivals, a perfect weekend!”