Triple European podiums for Monster Bud Kawasaki!

Team Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki had a great weekend in the Portuguese round of the FIM European EMX Motocross Championships at Agueda, with three riders on the podiums! Tristan Charboneau won the seventh round of the 250 series, Marshal Weltin stands on the same podium with a third overall while Brian Moreau claimed a second position in the 125 class.

Tristan Charboneau controlled the weekend from first practice; already more than a second faster than his closest rival in free practice, he surged to his first pole position and dominated the opening moto on Saturday from start to finish, controlling his closest chaser whilst building up a fourteen second cushion over the remainder of the field. Grittily emerging in front from a wheel-to-wheel battle through the first few turns in the second race on Sunday morning he quickly took command again and once more stayed out of reach of his chasers as temperatures soared. The fifty-point maximum has lifted Tristan to tenth in the series standings.

Marshal Weltin made it a double podium for Bud Racing with two consistent third-placed motos; on Saturday he raced top three throughout but had to charge up the leaderboard from an initial sixth on Sunday morning to snatch third in the moto and over the weekend in total on the very last lap of racing. He has now advanced to seventh in the series standings prior to the two final rounds in August and September.

In the 125 class Brian Moreau was also the fastest rider in the timed practice period, and got the holeshot on Saturday for the first race. He was leading the race when he had a small crash in the third lap, but recovered and came back from fourth to second. He had another holeshot on Sunday and battled with Facchetti for the heat win; leading six of the fourteen laps, Brian got another second position and finished second overall behind the Italian. He is now leading the series by 18 points with three more rounds to go.

Tristan Charboneau: “What a weekend! One, one, one, nothing could be better this weekend! Honestly it was a difficult track, you just needed to take it easy, find the traction, use the bumps stuff like that. It’s a great weekend for Americans as my teammate Marshal is also on the podium, awesome; I can’t feature a better weekend! Both holeshots helped me for sure, then I didn’t make any mistakes; in Russia I won one moto but it was a muddy race, this time the conditions were more normal and it’s great to finally win a round of the series.”

Marshal Weltin: “I feel good on this track, I like it and finally had a good qualifying session and a good gate pick. I put myself in a good position at the start of both races; it’s great to have this first podium. I can’t thank enough the Monster Energy Bud Kawasaki team; they super support us even if the results have not always been what we were expecting. We have a break in the series now, but I will continue to work hard to prepare for the rest of the season.”

Brian Moreau: “It was another good weekend for me, as I increase my leadership with a second overall. The track was nice but bumpy, and I made a small mistake in the first race otherwise it would have been perfect. The most important was to finish both races in good positions, now we’ve nearly one month before the next round.”

Stephane Dasse: “It’s a wonderful weekend for us, with the pole position in both classes and our three riders on the podiums! Brian was strong and increases his leadership in the 125 series, he is fast and consistent this season with four podiums in five rounds. It was more difficult for Tristan and Marshal to get used to the tracks in Europe, but they were perfect this weekend; Tristan show his real potential since a few weeks, and Marshal never give up and I’m sure this podium will help them to be even stronger in the last rounds of the series.”

Moto win for Tristan Charboneau in Russia

Tristan Charboneau scored the first win of the year for Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki in the Russian round of the FIM European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Orlyonok.

For the first time since 2012 the series was back in Russia, on a new facility overlooking the Black Sea. Teams and riders enjoyed the track and facility on Saturday, but overnight rain made conditions very demanding on Sunday.

In the top ten of the qualifying session Tristan missed the opening moto on Saturday but got his revenge on Sunday morning; he took the lead on the second lap and led throughout the remainder of the race to win by nearly five seconds. Sixth of the event, he is now eighteenth in the series standings.

Teammate Marshal Weltin had been the star of the opening moto as he moved forward from an initial seventh to secure his eventual third place before half distance in the thirty-minute race. Crashing in an uphill where he got stuck for a while in the second moto, he started the race at the back of the pack and came back seventeenth. Ninth overall, he has now moved to twelfth in the series standings.

Thierry Van Den Bosch: « It was a long trip but it was also a good weekend for us even if our riders had only one good race each! Tristan didn’t enter the first race due to a minor problem, but in the second one he won it; he never did any mistake from the first to the last lap, it was the the first time this season while leading a race. Marshal had a good opening moto, he had a good start and got a top three; he deserved such a result, as most of the time his starts are not so good and nobody see how fast he is in the last part of the races. Just a shame that he crashed early in the second race, but one more he had very good lap times. This event was a good one, we were all impressed by the location, the track and the organisation but it’s a pity that it rained so much on Sunday.”

Final podium in the French Elite MX1

In the final round of the French Elite championship organised in Pernes les Fontaines in southern France, Maxime Desprey secured the final third spot of the MX1 series on his Monster Bud Racing Kawasaki.
In the MX2 class, Tristan Charboneau and Marshal Weltin scored a top five result in this last Elite race of the season.
Muddy in the morning due to heavy rain on Saturday evening, the track came dryer on Sunday and there was even some dust in the last races of the weekend. Maxime Desprey was not at his best due to a big crash while practicing in the week. Hopefully the gate pick is not so important in Pernes, and in the first race Maxime did a great start and got the holeshot as he wasn’t involved in a collective pile up in the first corner! Riding with a painful arm Maxime did a strong race and finished fifth, five positions ahead of his last rival for the podium of the championship; after another good start in race two he secured his third position in the series and become the MX1 rookie of the 17 season.

Recovering at home from his arm injury before the next round of the European 125 series in Italy, Brian Moreau was not there; so Americans Tristan Charboneau and Marshal Weltin represented the team in the MX2 class. Seventh in the timed practice session just a second slower than the pole position, Tristan did a good start in 4th position and passed the competitors to lead the race for a few laps before crashing at mid period and making an other mistake in the last lap to finally finish ninth of this race, he had a stronger result in the second heat with a fourth position and a fourth overall. Tenth in the timed practice period Marshall had a goos start in race 1 with a 3rd position but while wanted to pass the guys in front, he crashed in the first lap to come back from 21th to 7th. He start not as well in race 2 but never give up as usual to come back from 15th to 6th; fifth overall of the day, he finished also fifth of the series.

This weekend both will be in Sochi (Russia) for the next round of the European 250 & MXGP event, and in three weeks both European 125 and 250 series will move to Italy where Brian Moreau will defend his red plate of EMX 125 leader.

Maxime Desprey: “I wasn’t sure to be able to ride when I came here, as the doctors fixed eight stiches in my arm after a big crash while practicing. The arm was painful and I had also pain in my upper body in the timed practice period, so I was ready for a tough day but thanks to the physiotherapist of the French Federation I had a good treatment before the races. After my holeshot in the first heat I was able to get a top five; I tried to avoid any mistake, stay focus on my riding and keep a good rhythm even if I was not fast enough to keep the lead. My second start was also a good one, and with another fifth position I kept my third position in the standings; I’m happy to reach my goal before this race, it’s good for everyone in the team to get a podium.”

An Elite podium for Maxime Desprey

The penultimate round of the French Elite Championship took place last weekend in St Thibery, and Maxime Desprey put his 450 Monster Energy Bud Racing Kawasaki on the third step of the box. He is now third in the standings.

It was a sunny weekend in Southern France for this fifth round of the French Elite, and the entire team was there. In the MX1 class Maxime did a great opening moto as he got the holeshot and led the first laps; then Boog passed him and they stay together all race long, but Max didn’t find the spot to pass him and finally another rider passed them! Third of this race Maxime scored a fourth position in the second one, to finish third overall; also third in the standings, he will defend his podium in two weeks’ time for the final round in Pernes les Fontaines.

In the MX2 class it’s Marshal Weltin who was the strongest Bud Kawasaki rider, scoring a fifth overall only three points from a podium result! Fifteenth in the practice session Marshal did as always two strong races, coming back from eleventh to fifth in the first one and then scoring a sixth position with very good lap times in the last part of the races. Tristan Charboneau got a better result in the practice session (twelfth) but couldn’t finish the first heat; after a good start in the second race he collided with some riders in the opening lap but finally came back from thirteenth to eight.

Nineteenth in the practice session with his 125, Brian Moreau delivered his best performance of the season in the Elite MX2, just one-week prior the French Grand Prix! He had a tough task at the start among the 250, but he never gave up and did two impressive races coming back from 26th to 17th in race one and from 33rd to 15th in the next one. A very good training for the European 125 this weekend in France!

This weekend the team will be in Ernée for the next round of the European 125 and 250 championships, during the MXGP of France. And on Monday, on the same track, some journalists will have the opportunity to ride the 250 KX Kawasaki 2017 and also the 250 KX Kawasaki that Marvin Musquin was riding ten years ago!

Maxime Desprey: “In the first race I got the holeshot but in the first part of the race I didn’t had the best lines and Xavier passed me, we did all the race together but I never could pass him and finally another rider passed both. I had a good feeling in this race, much better than in the second one where I was not fast enough to do better than fourth. I was on the box and now I’m third in the standings before the final round. Thanks to the Bud Racing team, now focused on the MXGP of France.”

Brian Moreau leads the Euro 125

On the podium of the first round of the 125 European Championship two weeks ago in the Netherlands, Brian Moreau did even better this weekend in Kegums (Latvia) as he won his first ever European race with a strong 1/1 and got the leadership of the series.

After Valkenswaard it’s on another sandy track that the European championship went this weekend, and it was a good venue for Brian. Fastest rider in his qualifying group, Brian came second after a few corners in the first race and passed Italian Facchetti before mid race for the lead. Then he had to resist to the come back of Norwegian Horgmo, who was never in a position to attack him so Brian claimed his first heat win. On Sunday morning the second heat was similar; Brian did a few laps in second position, then put some pressure on the leader and passed him at mid race to get another heat win. Winner of this round Brian is the new leader of the series, and will arrived at the French Grand Prix in his club (Ernée) with the red plate for the third round of the series.

In the European 250 class our three riders qualified with a 9th position for Tristan Charboneau, à 17th for Kim Savaste and a 25th for Marshal Weltin. Racing this series for the first time this year Kim was the best rider of the team with a tenth overall; starting twice outside the top twenty, the Finish kid came back strongly in both races. Eleventh overall Marshal recovered pretty well from his bad gate pick, while Tristan was not so successful. Involved in a pile up at the start of the first race he came back from last to 21st and then retired in the second heat.

No race for the team next weekend, but then three busy ones with a French Elite (St Thibery), the European series (Ernée, French GP) and the final round of the French Elite (Pernes les Fontaines).

Brian Moreau: “It was a good weekend, I didn’t do any mistake to win both races and it was cool to hear the French anthem on the podium. It was very emotional and I had some tears coming! I was able to stay focus from the beginning to the end of the races; we worked a lot on this point with Thierry (Van den Bosch) this winter, and also about the best way to manage the races. Now I take my time, that’s what I did in both races when I was in second position; in the second heat I came back on Notario and passed him after the waves section. It’s my fourth season with team Bud Racing Monster Energy, I was not working too hard during the first two years but now it’s different, I understood that there is not other solution to succeed. I don’t realize yet that I will have the red plate at the next round in Ernée, it will be cool and I will do my best to win also there.”

Stephane Dassé: “This success of Brian is a nice reward for the team who follow him since four years, and we could see his improvements each year. He just turned 15 at the beginning of the year and made a big step this winter, now he is really focused on his job and he offers us some great results in the European series. The championship is still long but these good results will help him to be even more confident and it’s nice to see another kid being successful with us, as were Marvin (Musquin) or Dylan (Ferrandis) in the past.”