The 250 European Championship kick off this weekend on the Spanish track of Red Sand, and thanks to Pierre Goupillon the first red plate of the season is for our team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki!

Nearly 80 riders were in Spain to qualify for this opening round, and our two riders did easily the job with a third position for Brian Moreau and a fifth place for Pierre Goupillon. None of them really performed at the start of the first race on Saturday, but both had good lines during the first laps and came back in the top ten until Brian crashed while he was 6th after 3 laps. Everyone was then focus on Pierre who came back quickly from sixteenth to tenth, and then never stopped pushing to finally cross the finish line in third position. The second heat on Sunday morning was even better for Pierre who got the holeshot, lead the race during eleven laps and then secured the overall win with a second position. In the top ten after the opening lap Brian did also a strong race to finish fifth only five seconds from the podium for his first international race aboard a 250cc; he is currently tenth in the championship before the next round in three weeks time in Portugal.

Pierre Goupillon: “Yesterday in the first race I missed a good start but I found some good lines and managed to come back to third. Today was different; I got the holeshot and could lead most of the race. In the last part of the race I didn’t wanted to take any risks when Barr pushed me as I knew that even with a second position I won the overall. It’s great to see that the hard work all winter long with the team and Yves is now paying off!”

Brian Moreau: “I’m happy with the second heat, I had a good start and didn’t do too many mistakes even of the track was rough with many bumps. It was a better day than Saturday, as I wasn’t too lucky for the first race; my start was not that great but within two laps I passed many riders. Then when I landed from a big jump I had no rear brake, probably damaged earlier when I was passing other guys. I crashed, was last when I stopped to repair in the pits and then ride, just to get some more experience.”

Involved this season with five riders in three different classes, team Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki will focus next year on the MX2 class with three young and talented riders. Frenchman Pierre Goupillon and German Brian Hsu will join Brian Moreau, who will enter his fifth season with the team.

Reigning 125 European champion, Brian Moreau (who will turn 16 begin of next year) already entered some races in the MX2 class, scoring a fourth position in a French Supercross (Tours) and a win in a Beach Race (Junior class in Hossegor) on the new KX250F Kawasaki developed by Bud Racing. Familiar with the team as he joined them five years ago to compete in the 85 and 125 class, Brian will have two new team mates next season. On the podium of the 125 European championship in 2016 Pierre Goupillon (18 years old) will continue to work with Yves Demaria, and for his second season in the MX2 class he will be looking for podiums in the European and French championships. Newcomer in the team Brian Hsu (19 years old) will line up in the 15 European rounds of the MX2 World championship; Brian won everything in the ‘smaller classes’ with a 85 World title in 2012, a European and a World title in the 125 class in 2014, and he knows that next season – his second one in the MX2 class – will be important for him. All the riders are already training, working and testing, and they will enter their first race of the season mid February in Lacapelle Marival (France), one of the main pre season event.

Stéphane Dasse: “Next season we’ll focus on the 250 class, always with young hopefuls as the average age of our riders is under 18! The main change for us will be a come back in the MX2 World Championship with Brian Hsu, who will enter the 15 European rounds of the series; it’s a first step, as maybe we’ll be back full time in the World Championship in 2019. We’ll have two riders in the European MX2 series, Brian Moreau and Pierre Goupillon, and our three riders will also enter the French championship. I’m sure that there will be a strong team spirit between those three super talented kids, and for sure Brian Hsu who has more experience will be a reference for his team mates; he’s only 19 years old and we both enter a nice challenge as we want his career to rebound with us. He will be a good mate for Brian (Moreau) and Pierre, and working together the three riders can only be stronger including Brian (Hsu) who was working mainly alone with his family until now. Those three kids have a good spirit, are talented, and we’re sure they have a huge potential. We won’t race in the US next year, the plan was to line up Brian Hsu in some events but he had to recover from a shoulder injury and as we have no pressure from our partners it was better for him to rest and prepare next season.”