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.”
