Two weeks after Valence, the season really opened this weekend in Brittany for team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki, with the opening round of the French Elite Championship. Despite a lack of racing and training due to injuries and surgery, Valentin Teillet and Dylan Ferrandis dominate the event and lead the MX2 classification.
For the first time in his career Valentin Teillet is leading an International series, and for the young hopeful it has been a long week of doubts! Unable to ride and train during two weeks after his arms surgery, Valentin had some pain in his arms but enjoyed the rough and technical track of Romagné. Runner-up during most of the MX2 race, he got the leadership when his team-mate crashed and later stalled his engine! In the super final mixing the twenty fastest riders of each class, Valentin confirmed his heat win; in the top five among the 450 at the start, he came second behind Boog during most of the period to finish third overall and first MX2 rider. Second in the standings is Dylan Ferrandis; coming back after a four months break due to a shoulder injury, Dylan was leading most of the MX2 race but crashed twice in the last five minutes. That cost him a win and even a podium result, as he lost too much time to re-start his engine and finished in sixth position; in the super final Dylan was close to his team-mate at the start, but then lost a couple of positions when he crashed. Second MX2 rider of the super final, he is second in the standings.
Livia Lancelot was doing her first ever attempt to qualify in the French Elite, among almost eighty riders. The track was mainly dry for the qualifying session, and Livia posted the twentieth fastest lap to get a place behind the gate. She had a great start and was in the top twenty when some riders pushed her out of the track; with a painful knee Livia went back in the pits. On Saturday afternoon David Herbreteau, the 85cc recruit of the team, dominate a regional race and confirmed his potential.
Valentin Teillet:”I’m very happy with my results, it was unexpected as I had surgery to my lower arms just after Valence and I was not sure to ride her. I had too much problems with arm-pumped and we took the decision to skip Lacapelle international, that was finally the good decision. Twice I finished first MX2 rider here, I couldn’t expect more! I have a great team behind me and we have a really good bike, we were both in the top five at the start of the super final among the 450! I was second during most of the period; Paulin passed me only a few laps before the end, and we can be confident for the rest of the season.”
Dylan Ferrandis: “It was my first race since four months, after my shoulder surgery, and physically this race was not easy as I just started riding one week ago. I had a great start and I was riding easily in the MX2 race, but two laps before the end of the period I made a mistake and crashed; I was still leading, but in the next lap I made another mistake and damaged my clutch level so I couldn’t use anymore the clutch. I stalled the engine and lost too much time in this incident, and finished sixth. In the super final I came second behind Boog, but I was pretty tired and during the second lap I made a small mistake and crashed; I finished eighth, that’s disappointing but I know that I’m not ready physically and the goal was to score points. The first GP is in one month, we have still four weeks to be ready.”
Livia Lancelot: “I qualified twentieth, the last qualifying position and I was happy but expected to do well during the race. I had a pretty good start in the first heat, but in the first corner some rivals were not so fair and pushed me out. I had pain in my knee so I stopped there; I’m disappointed, the track was top this morning, then with the rain it was more physical and I would have like to race on a dry track.”
Stephane Dassé: “It was a great day for us, both Valentin and Dylan rode very well and we were happy to see them so strong; as everyone know they didn’t had so much time to prepare this event, but that was not a problem. They both got a great start in the super final, they proved how competitive is our 250. Valentin and Dylan bring a new motivation in the team, that’s nice to work with young kids and it’s difficult to explain why but I’ve a great feeling for this season.”
