Team Bud Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki enjoyed good results in the penultimate round of the FIM European Motocross Championships, with a solid podium for Savaste and a fourth and a fifth place for Sanayei and Moreau in difficult conditions at Lommel in Belgium.
The sandy circuit has long been a rigorous test for young Darian as he never encounter such conditions in his homeland, but the teenager showed great spirit to achieve a commendable result in the circumstances. He already showed his determination to qualify second from his group and the resultant choice of gate enabled him to holeshot the first moto and lead for a couple of laps before the sand experts pushed him back to fourth; he showed great spirit to recover third place again before the finish. Race two saw Darian miss the overall podium on the points tie after crossing the line fourth, just over a second from third. He retains second in the series standings and has a comfortable thirty-seven point advantage over third as they go to the final round in Switzerland next weekend.
Kim Savaste has more experience of sandy tracks and the young Finn show great form with a second position in his qualifying group. His start was not the best one in the first heat, but Kim came back from a top fifteen to the fourth position, just a second behind the third rider! His second race was even more exciting, as he came back from last after a crash at the start to the second place! With these two great results Kim got his first podium of the season with a second overall with a 4/2 motos finish and is now eighth in the standings.
Not as used as his teammate to sand tracks, Brian Moreau increased his performances during the weekend; ninth in his qualifying session, Brian got a good start in the first race to finish sixth, and did even better in the second one as he came back from ninth to third! Fifth overall with a 6/3, Brian got his best result of the season and is now ninth in the standings, tight with Kim before the final round of the series this weekend in Switzerland.
Darian Sanayei: “This weekend was a bit tougher for me; we don’t have any track like this one in the USA ! I was second in my qualifying group; that was my first goal to get a good gate pick for the races. In the first race I got the holeshot, and finished the two races in third and fourth position. I’m not happy with the results but it’s not too bad for my first time in Lommel; I salvaged some good points before the final round next weekend, and I want to thanks the whole team and our sponsors for their support.”
Kim Savaste: “It was a very good weekend, even if on Saturday I was not so happy with my riding. For the race we made some changes on the suspensions and it was working a lot better; my start in the second heat was not very good, then I crashed in the second corner and was nearly last but I wanted this podium and I charged my way and made many passes to come back 2nd !. I’m of course very happy with the result, thanks to team Bud for their great support.”
Brian Moreau: “I struggled on Saturday for the qualifying, but the feeling was better and better for the races. We worked a lot on sand riding with the team trainer Thierry Van Den Bosch during the weekend and French Federation trainer Pascal Finot during the week, it helped me to get these good results. I finished the last four races in the top six, and will go confident to the final round in Switzerland.”
