Quentin Prugnières scores this weekend a top five result during the fourth round of the 250 European Championship, just five weeks’ after he broke a collarbone. Young Australian Liam Owens scores his first points, for his second race in Europe.
Forced to retire early on Saturday during the first moto, Quentin Prugnières needed several laps of race two on Sunday to discover the lines around the track and, after a superb start which saw him third on the opening lap, an off-track excursion on lap three saw him pushed back temporarily to seventh. As he became more acquainted with the track he settled into a succession of solid lap-times which carried him back to fifth at the finish. Despite his first moto zero he will head to the next round of the championship in Latvia eighth in the series standings with seven rounds remaining, but before he will enter the MX2 French Grand Prix at Villars sous Ecot on May 20-21.
Australian teenager Liam Owens opened his points account in the first moto with a solid ride to sixteenth. The fifteen-year-old had already impressed earlier in the day with eleventh-fastest time in practice, just one week after arriving in Europe. Liam went to the gate optimistic for the second race on Sunday morning but he got caught up in an incident halfway round the opening lap of race two on the heavily-watered sticky track. Undeterred he persevered to the finish to push from last to twenty-second, two positions short of the points, at the finish.
Quentin Marc Prugnières: “Yesterday I had to retire early in the race, but my start was better today and already in the first few corners I gained several positions. The first part of the race was not so good; I rode too tense on the muddy track and it took me time to find the best lines. I was happy with the second part of my race; I could improve my lap times and physically I felt much better than last week in Portugal. During the last few laps I was able to keep the championship leaders behind me and they were pushing really hard! I can’t say that I’m happy with a fifth but the way I achieved it gives me confidence for the GP of France in two weeks as I will race the MX2 GP class there.”
Liam Owens: “I’m very happy with my progress this weekend and I’ve learnt a lot. Timed practice went well; I had good speed, up there with the top guys. There are still some things I need to work on like my race-craft and starts but there were also a lot of positives. Yesterday the track was more like home; we don’t get much of the conditions like it was this morning but it’s good to learn. We fly back to Australia tomorrow, but I hope I can come back sooner than later. I love racing here in Europe; it’s awesome.”
Hossegor, May 8th 2023
