Quentin Marc Prugnières narrowly missed his first podium for 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki in the FIM European EMX250 Championship, and for the second round in a row he confirms his potential with top six results in France.

Racing in front of his home crowd, Quentin surged to his best-ever result in the first moto which was run in dry conditions before the mid-afternoon storm. Already impressive during practice as he earns third-choice of start-gate, the teenager found himself closed down off the start to complete the opening lap twelfth but was soon on the move, breaking into the top ten on lap three and continuing to push for an eventual fourth place, just six seconds behind the winner. On Sunday he again made life tough for himself with a moderate start to race two which left him ninth at the completion of the opening lap. He moved relentlessly forward during the twenty-five-minute-plus-two-lap race, eventually taking over sixth two laps from the finish to claim fourth overall, just three points shy of the podium, over the weekend. However, his thirty-three points haul sees the French youngster advance to seventh in the series standings, just sixteen points from third, at the halfway stage of the championship.

The weekend was not as good for teammate Eddie Jay Wade, who qualified in the top ten with an eight position on a dry track. In race one an early fall left Eddie down in twenty-fifth but the English youngster persevered to advance to seventeenth at the close. Sunday was pretty similar for Eddie who was second at the start but then cross-rutted halfway round the opening lap to finish thirteenth.

Quentin Prugnières: “It was a pretty solid weekend and I got my best result of the season here with a fourth overall. My first moto was good; my start was not really the best but I was able to come back to fourth. My second start was similar but I was not riding quite so well as yesterday. But I feel that there is a good evolution in my riding, especially on a track like this which was so rough due to the rain. The public was incredible; they supported me all race-long and I did my best to score a podium for them and the team.”

Eddie Jay Wade: “The weekend started confidently with P8 in Timed Practice so I knew I had the speed even though the lap wasn’t the cleanest. I was in the top-ten in the first moto until I had a small crash and I rode tense after that. I came out this morning feeling, ‚new day, clear day’ and I nearly got the holeshot. I wanted to pass quickly for the lead and was too aggressive; it was a stupid mistake and I crashed down to twentieth or so but I came back to thirteenth. There were some positives to come out of this weekend; I just need to repeat the good starts and stay up there. “

Quentin Prugnières scored the best result of his young career for 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki with sixth overall from a 5-6 moto scoreline in the fourth round of the FIM European EMX250 Championship. Amandine Verstappen was unfortunate as after finishing first race moto in top 5, she collided with another rider during the second heat of the Women World Championship.

Quentin already show good speed in the previous rounds of the series, but due to mistakes and crashes he hasn’t been able to show this with his results; finally at Riola Sardo he put all the ingredients together! On Saturday he pushed forward from his best start to date in the first moto to convert eighth on the opening lap into fifth at the finish and followed this up with another impressive charge during the second moto on Sunday morning as he advanced from twelve to sixth. Sixth overall, he is now eighth in the standings.

Teammate Eddie Wade had less joy at the start of the two motos to find himself thirtieth and twenty-third on the opening laps but the English youngster pressed on throughout both motos to narrowly miss the points as twenty-first finisher on Saturday before claiming two points for nineteenth on Sunday despite a mid-race fall which cost him twenty seconds.

Amandine Verstappen started both motos in the top three, and she quickly settled into a solid fourth place in the first moto and maintained that position until a surprise attack pushed her back to fifth on the final lap. Another electric start in race two on Sunday morning opened up the possibility of a podium finish but those ambitions were nullified halfway round the opening lap as she collided with the championship leader when their lines converged on the exit from a sandy turn; the impact threw Amandine over the bars and, badly winded, she received medical assistance for several minutes before returning on foot to the paddock.

Quentin Prugnières: “I had two solid motos this weekend. The second moto was more difficult as I ran off the track and lost four positions when I was ninth, but I had a good rhythm to come back to sixth. It was a decent weekend – a step forward – but of course we expect more and we are already focused on the upcoming races.“

Eddie Wade: “Sand is not my strong point as we saw this weekend. The heat was no problem as I live in Spain – in fact my fitness is good and I was still fresh at the end of the motos as others felt the heat – but I just need to work on my sand technique and ride it a lot more. I started to feel good in the motos but I made a silly mistake as I was closing down the top ten in the second moto which cost me points. “

The Women World Championship and the European 250 were this weekend at the racing program of team 9MM Energy Drink Bud Racing Kawasaki, who was back to Agueda in Portugal. Despite a big crash during a practice session, Amandine Verstappen brings back home the best result for the team with a top five position.

The red sand of this nice track doesn’t really offers to the team the results they could expect, four weeks after the opening round of both series. As the last GP organised on this track was in 2019, neither Quentin Prugnières or Eddie Wade knew this location and they both improve their results in each session to get the sixth (Eddie) and eleventh (Quentin) gate pick for the races. Back racing a few weeks after being injured at Mantova, Eddie got a great start in the first race and was third during the opening lap but couldn’t keep the rhythm and cross the finish line in sixteenth; on Sunday he had a better rhythm but an early crash relegates him in thirty seventh position, and he came back twentieth. Quentin had also a good start in the first race, but he crashed during the first lap; back from thirty sixth to twenty fourth after four laps he had another crash and finish twentieth. Sunday was a better day for him, as he got an eighth position.

After a huge crash on a triple jump during a practice session, Amandine Verstappen never give up and even if her body was sore she wanted to enter both races. Twice she got a start in the top twenty, to score a seventh and a sixth position; fifth of the overall, she remains in contention for the final podium as she is only five points from the third position.
No race for the team next week; the next races ill be the French Elite for the boys in two weeks’ time at Castelnau, while Amandine will enter the French women series on May 8th at St Eloi.

Just one week after winning Le Touquet with Quentin Prugnières, team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki was in Italy for the opening round of the Motocross season. Mantova met the first round of the Women World Championship and the European 250 Championship, two categories where our riders did pretty well.

Ladies first, with the strong racing weekend of Amandine Verstappen who finish so close to the podium at this first GP! Seventh behind the gate our multiple French champion had a good start in the first race, and did all the race in fourth position. Her second moto was more difficult as she collided with another girl; eleventh after this incident Amandine will come back fifth, missing the overall podium by two points.

Third of his group in the free and timed practice sessions, Quentin Prugnières shows a good speed and had a good position on the gate. His first start wasn’t really good, and he had to push hard to come back from nineteenth to eighth in this moto. On Sunday he will take a better start, and was fighting for the fourth position when he did a mistake on this rough track; another race start for him as he was twenty-one, but once more his speed was good enough to cross the finish line eleventh.

First race of the season and of course first one with team 9MM Bud Racing Kawasaki for Eddie Wade, fifteenth in his qualifying group. He was on the outside of the starting line, but got a good start in the top fifteen of race one; twelfth of his moto il was unfortunately involved in a crash at the start of the second race and was forced to retire later due to a painful leg.

Next weekend team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki will be in Gueugnon for the second round of the French Elite championship.

Amandine Verstappen: “It was a good weekend. I had a good feeling already during the free practice session but was more stressed in the timed practice period. In the first race I had a good start in third but during the first lap van de Ven went straight and I had to brake so I lost two positions. I was pleased with my speed as I came back to fourth. My second start wasn’t so bad but in the second straight line another girl hit me and again I had to brake; I was tenth or eleventh and came back fifth. I’m disappointed to miss the podium by just two points after two strong races. I feel much stronger physically as I have worked hard with my trainer all winter; he knows me really well and it was great to be back working with him.”