Team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki enjoyed racing at home this weekend, as a French GP was back in the calendar at Lacapelle Marival. One week after celebrating his first European podium in Germany, Lucas Coenen again enjoyed the podium celebration with a third overall.

Never in the past Lacapelle Marival had the opportunity to organize a MXGP, and the fans didn’t miss this opportunity to come and cheer their heroes. For team Bud Racing involved in the European Championships with their three riders, it was a great opportunity to welcome some partners on site.
Once more Lucas struggles in the timed practice session, as he qualified eighteenth on a track where the gate pick is more important than ever. But Lucas keeps confident and thanks to his ability and his powerful bike, he got two decent starts inside the top fifteen in race one and within the top ten in race two; it was enough to come back fifth and third of the races for third overall. He’s now tenth in the standings.
Fastest in the free practice session and sixth in the timed practice period, Sacha did two great starts as he was in the top three at each one; unfortunately, he lost this advantage with a crash in the first lap of both motos. Back from eighteenth to eleventh in race one, and from twenty sixth to thirteenth in race two, he finishes fourteenth overall and is now sixth in the standings.
Qualified in seventeenth position, one second slower than the top eight, Quentin got a decent start inside the top twenty of the first race and came back eleventh on the finish line. His second start will be worse as he finishes the opening lap twenty sixth, to come back eighteenth.

No race for Quentin next weekend, but Lucas and Sacha will be in Spain for the fifth of nine rounds in the EMX125.

Lucas: “A good day, even if the timed practice session wasn’t so good with an eighteenth gate pick. I had good jumps at the gate, but from outside it was difficult to get a good start. My second one was better than the first one, and in both motos I found spots to pass some rivals and come back fifth and third. Another podium, it was cool this weekend to see so many fans around the track.”

Sacha: “A tough day, even if I got good results during the practice session with a pole in the free session and then a sixth, just one second from pole position. My first start was really good, I was second when I lost the front wheel and crashed; it was a tough race, I came back eleventh. My second start was again very good, but after my crash I was far away and came back thirteenth.”

Quentin: “The qualifying session was not so good, as I qualified seventeenth. My first start was decent, we worked hard for that and then I got a good rhythm, happy with my riding. The second start was not that good, maybe too excited I hit the gate and then never find a good rhythm, very disappointed with this moto.”

Just a few weeks after their domination on the French Junior Championship, Lucas and Sacha Coenen got great results in Germany where the European Championship was back in action. Lucas claimed for the first time on a European podium, while Sacha won his first European moto in this class. Not such a good weekend in the European 250, where Quentin Prugnières scores a fourteenth position.

After a very long break as the last round of the EMX125 was three months ago in Maggiora, the series start again this weekend in Germany where team 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki line up his full Euro squad as the EMX250 was also part of the event. Both championships will now continue on a high rhythm, with six rounds within five weeks with the next one in Lacapelle Marival (France) this weekend.

Qualified third in his group Sacha got a good gate pick and nearly holeshot the first moto; he missed it but after two corners he was leading the race, posting the fastest lap time in the third circulation. One lap later he was on the ground after a mistake, and he regained the race seventeenth to finish the moto in fifteenth position. No more mistake and a perfect race for him in the next moto: holeshot, best lap and a win, the first one for him at this level and a fourth overall. This weekend the podium was for Lucas, who got a third overall after two strong races; only qualified in twentieth position, it was impossible for him to get great starts as the inside positions at the gate are so important at Teutschenthal. His starts were mid pack, but in each motos Lucas made many passes during the races to come back four and third, enough to secure a nice podium result.

It was a tougher day in the 250 class for our ‘rookie’ Quentin Prugnières, who qualified only twenty fourth! Outside the top twenty at each start, Quentin missed a good start in the first moto and collided with another rider in the next one; he never gives up to come back twice in fourteenth position, with some more experience for the future.

Lucas Coenen: “Difficult to get a good start from the twentieth gate, not the first time that I struggle to do a fast lap in the timed practice session. I came back fourth and third in the motos, I try to make more passes in the last laps but that was not easy as there were many deep ruts on the track. Very happy with my first European podium!”

Sacha Coenen: “I had a good feeling with the track, but during my fastest lap in the timed practice session I crashed and finish third. I got a great start in race one and took the lead after two corners, but then I crashed after a few laps; I was shocked, made some other mistakes, it was not a good moto. I had a lot of fun in the second one, I enjoy the track, just a shame the first moto.”

Quentin Prugnières: “Two bad starts today, always my fault. I did two strong races coming back twice fourteenth, just a shame that I missed a corner and lost some positions just four laps before the end in race one. At the second start we tangle with another rider…. The team work a lot to improve the bike for the starts, I need to work to improve my technique to get better results. Next week we race at home; I will give all!”

Amandine Verstappen got a sixth position during the second race of the Women World Championship in four days at Afyonkarahisar in Turkey. She is currently sixth in the standings, with two more races to go.

Amandine Verstappen once again impressed on the 9MM Energy Drink BUD Racing Kawasaki. Seventh in Qualification, she quickly secured sixth place in the opening moto, took over fifth after eleven minutes and, with solid lap times throughout the moto, was closing rapidly on the girl ahead through the final laps to finish just two seconds shy of fourth. In a repeat of her first start on Saturday the Belgian overshot the first turn in race two and was down in eleventh place at the end of lap one but she continued to push to reach eighth by half-distance, taking over seventh four laps from the end to secure sixth overall on the day and advance to the same ranking in the series points chase.

Now Amandine will race three back to back rounds of the French Championship, and will defend her leadership as she remains unbeaten.

Amandine Verstappen: “I’m pretty happy with my lap times and races but the results were not as good as on Saturday due to my starts. The lap times were really close during the timed practice period and I was in the same second as the fourth-best time with seventh. My first start was average but I came back to fifth, really close to van de Ven and Papenmeier. What can we say about my second start? The start is so important now that when you finish the opening lap in eleventh position you can’t fight for a podium. I found some good lines; most of the girls took the inside lines in the corners and I had to go outside to make some passes and come back to seventh. Now we have to return home quickly as next weekend we have the French Championship at St Jean d’Angely.”