Xavier Boog enjoyed his third win of the season during the penultimate round of the French Elite Championship, and remains a contender for the MX1 title before the final round of the series scheduled on July 17th in Iffendic. In the MX2, Junior and Hopefull classes, the Bud riders all collected a race podiums or win.
It was busy program this weekend in Ernée, home last year of the Motocross of Nations. The four French classes 85cc, Junior 125, Elite MX2 & MX1 were involved in this meeting, and the club did a great job to prepare the track; the weather was not really good this weekend, but the organisers did a fantastic job to offer the best racing conditions to the riders between the showers.
Fastest in his qualifying group Xavier got a good start in the first race, but except during the first few laps he wasn’t able to follow the rhythm of Valentin Teillet who was very fast this weekend; Xavier was close from him during a few laps, but then Teillet made the gap and Xavier secured his second position. Xavier got a better start in the second race and passed Aubin for the lead during the opening lap; he pushed hard during a few laps and then just secured his win. Overall winner for the third time this season, Xavier is always seven points behind Teillet in the standings, but is now only fifteen points behind the leader Gregory Aranda before the final round.
The slippery conditions were perfect for Nicolas Dercourt, who was the fastest MX2 rider during the practice sessions. His first start was in the top 5, but Nico was impressive during the first lap and came second behind Florent Richier; he passed him straight away and made a good gap, but in the last lap a technical issue stopped him! Disappointed, Nico rebounded in the next race, winning it forty seconds ahead of his rivals and keeping some chances for the title, as he is now tight in the standings with Richier, behind Boisrame.
With their entire program the same day, including practice session, qualifying race and two heats, the Junior 125 riders (and also the hopeful) had a very long day! Fastest in his group Brian Moreau grabbed the holeshot in the first race but crashed one time while he was leading the race, and then a second one! Sixth at mid race he came back third, and later got another holeshot in race two; he lost some positions after a crash, but came back fourth to end this event tight in third position, his best result this season for the youngest rider of the pack.
Back racing after an injury end of May in Slovenia, Thibault Benistant entered in Ernée his second race of the season. Second of his qualifying race behind the leader of the 85 hopeful series, Thibault was impressive during the first race as he came back from ninth to third; unfortunately he crashed and was twelfth, but again came back strongly in seventh. He confirmed his good speed in the second race, coming back from eighth to third and just missing the final step of the podium.
Xavier Boog:” It’s cool to win my third race this season, unfortunately I got a second and a first position and just score the same number of points as Teillet. But at least I don’t lose any points compared to my rivals, so it’s positive. In the first race Valentin was very strong; I didn’t rode so well, and wanted some revenge in the second one. I had a good start and passed Aubin during the first lap, and then I pushed to make a gap and win this race. The club did a very good job, they prepared the track as it was for the Motocross of Nations and that’s just a shame that the weather was not better.”
Nicolas Dercourt: “The conditions were not easy in Ernée this weekend, but I’m very happy with my riding. I got two good starts; in the first race I passed Richier and was leading easily but in the last lap the bike stopped and I was so disappointed. I got the holeshot in the second race, had again a very good rhythm and won the race with the fastest lap time and forty seconds ahead of my rivals. That’s good for the next races.”
Brian Moreau: “The track was really difficult to ride with the rain, and I did too many mistakes; in both races I got the holeshot, but I was pushing too much on a slippery and rough track so I crashed several times. Even if I got my best overall result in the French series I’m frustrated, as I missed a podium result. The positive point is that I had a good speed, Rubini and Goupillon are strong and helped us to be faster; it will help us for the next European rounds.”
Thibault Benistant: “After my elbow injury three months ago I was back racing earlier than expected; Ernée was my second race, two weeks after a round of the European Championship in Slovenia, where I got a fifth and an eleventh position. Ernée was not so bad for me; in the first race I chose the outside gate, as I did in the qualifying race but that was not a good choice. I got a bad start and came back seventh, then in the second race I had an average start and finished third. I’m pretty happy with my riding in this race, now I will go to Portugal for the last qualifying race of the European series; the goal is to qualify for the final round in Loket.”
