Livia and Valentin win, Dylan on the podium

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Team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki was on two French tracks this weekend, in Brittany with Valentin Teillet and Dylan Ferrandis for the opening round of the French Elite MX series with a big crowd but also in south of France with Livia Lancelot for the Women series. Livia and Valentin both got heat wins, while Dylan secures a podium result.

Race day was nearly perfect for the team in Romagné, and with five minutes to go in the Super Final the overall result was great with both riders in first and third positions in the series. After his pole position in the timed practice period – two seconds faster than his closest rival – and a strong win in the MX2 race, Valentin Teillet was fighting for a podium result in this combined MX1-MX2 race. Third overall since mid-race, he was fighting for second with Sébastien Pourcel and the local crowd was cheering his hero, running from one track fence to another one! But everyone came silent when Valentin crashed hard on a jump….. During too long minutes no informations came from the Red Cross, but finally we got reassuring news from Valentin who has no fractures and could defend his fourth place in the series in two weeks time at Lacapelle Marival.

Hopefully for Dylan Ferrandis the end of his weekend was much better than the beginning, as he quits Brittany second in the standings just one point behind the leader. Not sure that Dylan was expecting such result after his big crash in the first practice session! With an injured auricular Dylan wasn’t able to hold normally his handle bar, and had pain when he started the timed practice period; just able to do one fast lap, he posted the best time of his group! He nearly grabbed the holeshot in the MX2 race, and scored a fourth position; he had another good start in the super final and finished seventh overall, winning his class after the crash of his teammate.

Missing two weeks ago the opening round of the French Women series, as she was racing the MX2 Grand Prix of Thailand, Livia Lancelot was back in ‘her garden’ for the second round of the national series. And she was back to usual on the muddy track of Salindres, as she posted the fastest lap time in the practice session, grabbed three holeshot and then won the three heats. She is back in sixth in the series, and will continue the series next weekend in Quinsaines, forced to miss the GP of the Netherlands.

Dylan Ferrandis: We did some testing sessions with the team before this race and it was successful, we made some improvement with the suspensions and here I had a very good feeling with my bike. I had a big crash in the first practice session, and damaged the auricular of my left hand, which was painful. I was just able to do one fast lap in qualifications, and I posted the fastest lap of my group. I had a great start in the MX2 race, and I was fighting for the podium when I got a stone in the holeshot kit of my front fork; I had to stop and remove the stone, and I finished fourth. My start in the super final was again good, but racing against the 450 is very tough; I passed Richier in the last laps to finish seventh after the crash of my teammate, and I won the MX2 class. I wish a good recovery to Valentin!”

Livia Lancelot: “The conditions were apocalyptic in Salindres, and when the rain stopped at midday it was even worst for us as the mud was sticky. Due to the French regulation I entered last on the track for the timed practice session as I missed the first race, but I was able to post the fastest lap six seconds ahead of my rivals. Then it’s pretty easy to say, I grabbed three holeshot and got three wins despite a Small crash in race one. I start to regain positions in the series, I’m now in sixth position before the next race, this weekend in Quinsaines (north of France) »

Valentin Teillet shines in the night

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The first ever Motocross Grand Prix organised in the Middle East offered to Valentin Teillet his first ever qualifying race win, and even if the races were not as successful team Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki proved that they will be one the teams to watch carefully in the MX2 World Championship.

Valentin Teillet had recorded a sensational runaway victory in the Qualification race, as he led the entire period to be the first rider to win in the night of Losail, as the race was run under the sports at the famous International Racing track near Doha. Unfortunately the Frenchman had terrible luck on race day! Holding a challenging fourth place in the MX2 race, he was forced to pit for repairs after a rock had damaged his bike, and on his return to the track crashed heavily and was forced to retire. After transferring to the Superfinal – a combined race for MX1 and MX2 contenders – through the Last Chance he did not have a good choice of gate and inevitably suffered a poor start against the larger 450cc machines. He was rewarded with 12th in class for his persistence.

Teammate Dylan Ferrandis, keen not to miss the GP opener even though he had only been back in training for three weeks, soon settled down to a good pace, but he too was out of luck as an early crash in the MX2 moto sent him to the Last Chance alongside Teillet and the teenager just failed to make the transfer to the Superfinal.

Top lady racer Livia Lancelot was invited to contest the MX2 GP in Qatar, but, despite a remarkable performance, she failed to meet the 108% qualification hurdle against the men by just 1.667 seconds. She was rewarded for her efforts with an invitation to contest the second moto of the Qatar national championship event which supported the GP and finished a highly creditable third amongst the men.

Valentin Teillet: “It was a great surprise for me to win the qualifying race, but it gave me more confidence for the GP races. I was fourth in the MX2 race when I had a small problem, which forced me to go into the pits, and when I got back in the race I crashed and had to retire, so I had to go through the Last Chance race to qualify for the Superfinal. That made it a long day. I didn’t have so much time to recover before the last race and I had a very bad position on the grid so I got a bad start, which made life difficult against the 450 on this track.”

Dylan Ferrandis: “This was my first race for six months, and I only started practising again three weeks ago. I was still getting used to my bike this weekend, and during the practice sessions I was not so confident with my knee as the doctors didn’t want me to ride so early. Unfortunately I crashed in the first lap of the MX2 race, and had to go to the Last Chance race. I just missed qualification for the Superfinal, but I was pleased to see that I wasn’t tired after the races.”

Livia Lancelot: “I knew that it would be difficult to qualify, but I’m not disappointed about my experience in Qatar. The track was spectacular with big jumps and I did my best to finish twelve seconds from the pole position and less than two seconds from the qualifying time. I was happy with my riding, but this is the World Championship! I raced the second moto of the Qatar national championship on Saturday, and finished third so it was a nice experience. I’d like to thanks Youthstream the promoter of the series and the Qatar Federation who invite me, they gave me a great support.”

Première victoire de la saison pour Teillet à Valence

Valentin Teillet a remporté ce weekend une victoire significative au Motocross International de Valence, ultime épreuve de préparation avant l’ouverture du Mondial 2013 dans deux semaines.
Après avoir pris part à la Ronde des Sables d’Hossegor fin janvier, Valentin disputait à Valence sa première course de l’année mais dès les premiers essais il se mettait en évidence en signant les meilleurs chronos de toutes les séances MX2 ! Il lui fallut un peu plus de temps pour être aussi efficace au moment du départ, mais deux belles remontées l’amenèrent aux secondes et troisièmes places des courses MX2. C’est dans l’ultime course de la journée, face aux 450 mélangées aux 250 pour la Super finale que Valentin fut le plus impressionnant ; pointé douzième en début de course il reviendra jusqu’au quatrième rang, dominant tous les autres pilotes MX2. Son équipier Dylan Ferrandis n’était pas à Valence ; ayant repris la moto il y a seulement une semaine après ses opérations au genou et à la jambe, Dylan continue à se préparer tranquillement et sera dans dix jours au Qatar pour l’ouverture de la saison.
Livia Lancelot était elle à Valence, après s’être consacrée pendant deux mois aux courses sur sable avec Hossegor et Le Touquet ; ayant tout juste repris l’entraînement en cross elle a profité de Valence pour reprendre le rythme, terminant ses deux manches et poursuivant ainsi sa préparation pour le Qatar et la Thaïlande, deux épreuves qu’elle disputera en MX2.
Valentin Teillet: « Le team a travaillé dur cet hiver, et j’ai un bon feeling avec ma moto. J’ai signé le meilleur chrono des séances d’essais, mais mes départs n’ont pas été parfaits et il m’a fallu du temps pour prendre le bon rythme. Cela a mieux été en Super finale, et c’est d’autant mieux que lors des deux premiers GP nous aurons une manche commune avec les 450. »
Livia Lancelot: « Quand je viens à Valence je dois être forte dans votre tête, car je sais que je vais me battre en queue de peloton face à vingt neuf gars. Mais je suis toujours contente de rouler ici, même si je suis venue sans trop d’entrainement en Motocross après m’être consacrée aux courses sur sable ; samedi je suis tombée assez fort aux essais, mais j’ai terminé mes deux manches et c’était un très bon entrainement en vue du Qatar. »
Stephane Dassé: « C’est toujours bien de débuter la saison avec une victoire ! Valentin a été consistant à Valence, même s’il n’a pas signé de holeshot en MX2, et pour nous cela a été une bonne opportunité de tester quelques nouveaux réglages, notamment en Super finale ou nous avons pu constater que la moto est très compétitive. »