Jake Cannon and Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki in the USA

Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki took off for the United States, and California to be precise, at the beginning of January. The team’s newest recruit for the next 2 years, young Australian Jake Cannon, was the lucky one to set off to discover the United States and, above all, to take part in his very first SX US race against the best young Americans of the moment. A novice in the discipline, with only one season in Australian supercross in the SX3 category, Jake set off for 3 weeks of preparation for the ultimate race, which took place in Glendale on February 1st.

It was in one of the 10 most beautiful stadiums in the world that he set his wheels down last Saturday on the biggest track of the SX US calendar. The 17-year-old rider didn’t blush against the discipline’s top youngsters, placing 5th in time practice and 3rd in the second session, less than half a second from pole. He showed then that he had the speed and ambition to go for a good result in the one and only race of the evening.

And so it was on a single 8-minute final that it all came down to this evening. Unfortunately, Jake got tangled up with another rider just 10 meters from the start line and couldn’t keep his handlebars from passing into his rival’s wheel. As a result, he fell and broke his throttle, unable to fight back and show what he could do.

The experience was more than productive, and a lot of positives can be taken from it, with speed well in evidence against competitors who have been training in this discipline since they were very young.

The Team is now back in France, already focused on the Enduropale du Touquet, where Francisco Garcia, the Team’s second Spanish recruit, will compete in the Junior category, before heading off with his two riders to the opening round of the French ELITE motocross championship the following weekend. The idea of returning to the US in 2025 is still very much on our minds.

Stéphane Dassé: “Although it’s very frustrating not to have been able to fight, I’m really happy with Jake, his attitude and what he showed on Saturday. My aim is to continue to bring young people to the United States, and in particular to Supercross, to open their minds and show them what’s going on in the world alongside MXGP, and if they want to hope one day to finish in the United States, they have to do Supercross from a very young age, that’s what I’m trying to teach them.”

Jake Cannon: “What an experience it’s been for me. I arrived here on January 10, I didn’t know the Team and I immediately felt really good. I really learned and enjoyed the experience, but I’m very disappointed not to have been able to go all the way. It makes me want to come back even more, but I’m already going to concentrate fully on my European season.”

Paris Supercross: Silver medal for Anthony Bourdon

As every year team Bud Racing Kawasaki was last weekend at the Paris la Défense Arena, home of the 41st Supercross of Paris. And it was a good one for us and our partners, with a great second overall for Anthony Bourdon in the SX2 class and a podium for Brice Maylin in the SX Tour round.

The Paris Supercross celebrated its 40th birthday this year (and 41st edition as there was two SX organised in 1984) and the success is always there, on the track as well as in the stadium which was full during both days. And the atmosphere was great, a few months after the Olympic swimming competitions organised in this Arena.

Coming straight from US where he trained alongside David Vuillemin, Anthony Bourdon was stronger race after race during the weekend to fight for podiums results in each of the six races (three per day). Saturday evening he was leading the ‘Prince of Paris’ classification as he was the most consistent rider (3/4/2) while the two favourites crashed in one race. Performing well on Sunday (3/3/3) Anthony ends the event tight in the points with Tom Vialle who won the gold medal thanks to heat wins. Anthony received the silver medal behind Tom who is a reigning US champion, and this result confirms his progression in Supercross and the competitivity of our 250 KX Kawasaki.

The French SX Tour was also invited at Paris, with one SX2 race each night before the main program. On Saturday Brice Maylin finished sixth, and improved his rhythm on Sunday to perform better with a strong second position; he consolidates his third position in the championship before the last two rounds in Lyon and Grenoble. Invited to race the International SX2 class, Brice scored top eight in each race ( (5/8/5 on Saturday and 7/6/8 on Sunday) to finish seventh overall.

The team is now moving to Australia, to race next weekend the second and third rounds of the Supercross World Championship.

Mathis Valin keeps the red plate after a strong ride at Lommel / Anthony Bourdon win SX in Italy

Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Mathis Valin maintained his thirteen-point lead in the FIM European EMX250 Championship with his fifth podium of the season in the seventh round of the series at Lommel in the Flanders region of north-eastern Belgium. In the meantime, Anthony Bourdon won the Supercross international of Carpi in Italy.

Mathis had already signalled his intentions as he posted the fastest time in Free Practice and he was only narrowly piped for Pole during Qualifying Practice. Excellent reactions at the start-gate of race one saw the Bud Kawasaki sweep through the opening turn of the first points-scoring moto of the weekend to take the holeshot before he was pushed off the track in a highly aggressive move by his main championship rival at turn three. Regrouping calmly in fourth he was third by the end of the lap, second on lap three and made a smart inside-pass in a deep sandy turn to retake the lead on lap five and win pretty easily this race. The track for race two was even tougher than it had been for race one on Saturday after the track crew had only worked on the faces of the jumps overnight and left the straights and corners at their most rugged. This inevitably favoured the local sand experts but the French teenager showed his maturity as he rode his own race rather than being tempted into duels with the locals, who have ridden such tracks from a young age, to maintain fourth place throughout the moto. This earnt third overall, on the same points as second and just a single point shy of the overall winner, to ensure that he retains the thirteen-point series lead which he held at the start of the weekend.

Teammate Benjamin Garib took a tenth-placed start from gate fifteen and maintained a top-ten ranking until a small slip pushed him back to twelfth on the final lap. Fourteenth for the first twelve minutes of the Sunday moto until he was forced to retire, the Chilean’s Saturday scoreline was sufficient to see him advance to twelfth in the series standings.

Mathis Valin: “We came in Belgium two weeks ago to train and prepare for this race in Lommel, and we got the reward. On Saturday in the first moto I took my time and when I found my rhythm I passed the two guys in front of me and made a gap. On Sunday I must admit that I was disappointed with my riding; I was fighting the track and that cost me some energy. I got a good start again, but I didn’t felt comfortable with the track. But normally this should be a learning year for me and I am still learning every weekend! The most important thing is that I have kept the red plate and I only lost one point to one of my main rivals this weekend. There are still four round to go, so now we go home to work to keep the red plate until the end of the series.”

Benjamin Garib: “I got a decent start and was running around tenth all moto; on the last lap I had a small crash trying to make a pass so I had to be content with twelfth. This is my first time at Lommel and it’s a cool experience even if I was forced to retire in the second moto.”

While his team mates were racing the Belgium sand, Anthony Bourdon got his first Supercross win of the season for the SX international of Carpi in Italy. Anthony had a very good night, winning his heat race and finishing 3/1 in the main events to grab the overall win.

French Supercross Championship: Anthony Bourdon vice champion SX1

Back from the World Championship final in Australia, Anthony Bourdon and the Bud Racing Kawasaki team headed for Lyon for the SX Tour final. The final saw Anthony climb the podium twice, to claim the runner-up spot in the SX1 class.

Back on his 450 Kawasaki after racing in Paris and Melbourne in the 250 class, Anthony quickly found his feet in the cauldron that is Lyon’s Palais des Sports. In contention for the final championship podium prior to this final, Anthony scored precious points on Friday evening when he climbed onto the second step of the podium after a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle with the new French champion. All the signs were green, until a collision at the start of Saturday’s final sent Anthony crashing to the ground! After starting last with Greg Aranda, the two crashed again in their comeback and set the stadium crazy with a superb comeback to the front, with Anthony taking third place in the final corner just 5 seconds from victory.

With 7 podium finishes in the 8 races contested in the premier class of the French supercross championship, Anthony has put in a very fine season to place his Kawasaki and all the sponsors he represents on the championship’s second final step.

SUPERCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL FOR BUD RACING KAWASAKI TEAM

The grand finale of the 2023 Supercross World Championship took place in Melbourne Australia on Saturday, November 25. In front of more than 30,000 spectators, on a track conducive to fierce battles in both the 250 and 450 classes, the Bud Racing team riders played the consistency card to end their international season on a high note.
In the SX2 class, Anthony Bourdon enjoyed a solid evening, finishing 7th and 8th in the races. The good news is that Anthony proved he has the speed to be a front-runner, stepping up his game throughout the season. As is often the case, it’s his starts that are preventing him from doing better. He finished 7th overall in Australia and 8th in the final championship standings.

Fighting spirit
Adrien Escoffier, who was also handicapped by poor grid starts, gave his all to come back in 14th, 9th and 12th place in SX2. His fighting spirit in spite of a complicated start to the heats enabled him to finish 12th overall. In the championship, he finished one place better, in 11th position, despite a “blank” round in Cardiff which prevented him from entering the top 10.

In the SX1 category, Cédric Soubeyras got off to some good starts throughout the evening, finding himself in the right spot on three occasions. He had a fine evening, finishing 6th, 7th and 9th in the races, finishing not only 7th overall but also 7th in the World Championship in the 450 class.

With his pace improving session after session, Justin Hill finished 12th, 9th and 8th in his heats to finish 10th in the event. In the championship, he finished 5th in the provisional standings after Abu Dhabi, a successful gamble for Justin, who retained this 5th position after the final round. With hard work, positivity and good humour the watchwords of this end-of-season review, the Bud team thanks its partners and congratulates all its riders.

Anthony Bourdon: “I’m ending this World Supercross Championship on a high note. It’s not quite the result I’d hoped for, but it’s not bad. The speed is there. Now I’ve got to improve my starts to get to the front. Thanks to Bud Racing for believing in me in this new category. It’s a pleasure to work with a smile on my face alongside this always cheerful team.”

Adrien Escoffier: “My poor qualifying throughout the year is a huge handicap for the evening rounds. It’s a big point to work on if we’re to hope for better results. My withdrawal from the very 1st round of the championship also prevents me from finishing in the top 8. You have to learn to take the positives out of each event, and the WSX experience remains incredible, both humanly and from a sporting point of view. I’d like to thank Bud Racing for giving me this opportunity for the 2nd year in a row. It’s a real pleasure to work with this motivated team, which instils good humour. These are unforgettable moments of sharing.”

Cédric Soubeyras: “I’m pleased with my performance in the last two rounds. I finished 7th in the championship, which isn’t too bad considering the first round I missed. I’ve had a great year with the Bud Racing team and I hope to be back for another year, because I love introducing people from all over the world to my sport“.

Justin Hill: “Keeping my 5th place overall in the championship was my goal this weekend and it’s achieved. It was my first year in the WSX championship and I really enjoyed traveling the world while doing my passion and my job. I’d like to thank the Bud Racing Kawasaki team for all their hard work this season.”