Team Monster Bud Racing Kawasaki was back on the box this weekend in the 250 European MX Championship, as Pierre Goupillon finished third at the fifth round of the series in Great Britain.
On the track of Matterley Basin considered by most of the riders as one of the nicest of the season, the team enjoyed a great Saturday morning as Brian Moreau posted the fastest time of his qualifying group, followed by….Pierre Goupillon! Both had the best gate pick, but got different results at the start of the first race; Pierre was in the top five in the first corner, but Brian was far in the pack. On this fast track a group of ten riders was fighting for the podium after a few laps, including Pierre who was fourth until he made a small mistake before a jump and lost four positions! Finally ninth of this race he did much better on Sunday with the holeshot and a third position; leading the race during a few laps he did a clever race, losing two positions but scoring twenty important points to be back on the podium!
Brian lost all his chances this weekend with two bad starts. In the first heat he was pushing too much and crashed twice during the first lap; last of the race, he came back twenty fourth. On Sunday after another bad start he didn’t want to repeat the same scenario, but finally took a bad rhythm and scored only six points with a fifteenth position; before the French GP this weekend he is now ninth in the standings.
Pierre Goupillon: “It’s great to be back on the podium for me as I didn’t score any points at the last round. I finally got back on the podium and it’s a great motivation before the French round of the series next weekend. I never stopped working since the beginning of the season, and we’ll continue to do so as my goal is to win some other races. This weekend one of my goal was to stay on two wheels and I did it; the result could have been even better if I hadn’t lost four positions when I made a mistake in the first race before a jump.”
Brian Moreau: “I had a good feeling on the track during the practice session, and it was great to be the faster guy! I missed my first start and I did two mistakes in the opening lap as I pushed too much to regain positions… I was last after the opening lap and never found the good rhythm to finish twenty-four. My second start was not better but I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake, but in fact I never found my rhythm and stay fifteenth during most of the race behind another rider. A disappointing weekend for me.”
