Back from the World Championship final in Australia, Anthony Bourdon and the Bud Racing Kawasaki team headed for Lyon for the SX Tour final. The final saw Anthony climb the podium twice, to claim the runner-up spot in the SX1 class.

Back on his 450 Kawasaki after racing in Paris and Melbourne in the 250 class, Anthony quickly found his feet in the cauldron that is Lyon’s Palais des Sports. In contention for the final championship podium prior to this final, Anthony scored precious points on Friday evening when he climbed onto the second step of the podium after a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle with the new French champion. All the signs were green, until a collision at the start of Saturday’s final sent Anthony crashing to the ground! After starting last with Greg Aranda, the two crashed again in their comeback and set the stadium crazy with a superb comeback to the front, with Anthony taking third place in the final corner just 5 seconds from victory.

With 7 podium finishes in the 8 races contested in the premier class of the French supercross championship, Anthony has put in a very fine season to place his Kawasaki and all the sponsors he represents on the championship’s second final step.

The grand finale of the 2023 Supercross World Championship took place in Melbourne Australia on Saturday, November 25. In front of more than 30,000 spectators, on a track conducive to fierce battles in both the 250 and 450 classes, the Bud Racing team riders played the consistency card to end their international season on a high note.
In the SX2 class, Anthony Bourdon enjoyed a solid evening, finishing 7th and 8th in the races. The good news is that Anthony proved he has the speed to be a front-runner, stepping up his game throughout the season. As is often the case, it’s his starts that are preventing him from doing better. He finished 7th overall in Australia and 8th in the final championship standings.

Fighting spirit
Adrien Escoffier, who was also handicapped by poor grid starts, gave his all to come back in 14th, 9th and 12th place in SX2. His fighting spirit in spite of a complicated start to the heats enabled him to finish 12th overall. In the championship, he finished one place better, in 11th position, despite a “blank” round in Cardiff which prevented him from entering the top 10.

In the SX1 category, Cédric Soubeyras got off to some good starts throughout the evening, finding himself in the right spot on three occasions. He had a fine evening, finishing 6th, 7th and 9th in the races, finishing not only 7th overall but also 7th in the World Championship in the 450 class.

With his pace improving session after session, Justin Hill finished 12th, 9th and 8th in his heats to finish 10th in the event. In the championship, he finished 5th in the provisional standings after Abu Dhabi, a successful gamble for Justin, who retained this 5th position after the final round. With hard work, positivity and good humour the watchwords of this end-of-season review, the Bud team thanks its partners and congratulates all its riders.

Anthony Bourdon: “I’m ending this World Supercross Championship on a high note. It’s not quite the result I’d hoped for, but it’s not bad. The speed is there. Now I’ve got to improve my starts to get to the front. Thanks to Bud Racing for believing in me in this new category. It’s a pleasure to work with a smile on my face alongside this always cheerful team.”

Adrien Escoffier: “My poor qualifying throughout the year is a huge handicap for the evening rounds. It’s a big point to work on if we’re to hope for better results. My withdrawal from the very 1st round of the championship also prevents me from finishing in the top 8. You have to learn to take the positives out of each event, and the WSX experience remains incredible, both humanly and from a sporting point of view. I’d like to thank Bud Racing for giving me this opportunity for the 2nd year in a row. It’s a real pleasure to work with this motivated team, which instils good humour. These are unforgettable moments of sharing.”

Cédric Soubeyras: “I’m pleased with my performance in the last two rounds. I finished 7th in the championship, which isn’t too bad considering the first round I missed. I’ve had a great year with the Bud Racing team and I hope to be back for another year, because I love introducing people from all over the world to my sport“.

Justin Hill: “Keeping my 5th place overall in the championship was my goal this weekend and it’s achieved. It was my first year in the WSX championship and I really enjoyed traveling the world while doing my passion and my job. I’d like to thank the Bud Racing Kawasaki team for all their hard work this season.”

Celebrating this year it’s 40th edition, the Paris Supercross allowed Anthony Bourdon to get his first ever podium in the French capital, with a super third position which gives a great exposure to the Bud Racing Team and its partners.

Having successfully completed the years since the first edition organized in March 1984, the Paris Supercross has behind it a long and superb history and the team has always been attached to this event. This 2023 edition did not look the best for us with the withdrawal due to injury of Matt Moss, who was ‘Prince of Paris’ last year but very quickly Anthony Bourdon bring back smiles in the team as he was one of the strongest men in this SX2 class. Feeling more and more comfortable throughout the practice sessions and races, Anthony missed the final podium of the first evening by a small point. On Sunday he finished the practice sessions just six tenths from pole position, so everyone knew that it could be a great evening for him! On the podium of the first race he never give up in the second and fight with Tom Vialle for victory, a victory he got with a strong move in the last corner of the last lap! Once again on the podium in the final race with a third place, Anthony finished this evening in second position and took third place in the ‘Prince of Paris’ rankings. A result which will give him more confidence before flying to Australia, where the final of the World Championship will be played next weekend.

Involved in the SX1 class, Josh Hill got injured and after doing his best on Saturday (9/9/13) he didn’t race on Sunday.

Anthony Bourdon: “An incredible weekend for me in Paris, in front of an enthusiast public! It was great to win this race and to battle with Tom Vialle, we race together when we were younger and it was cool to be racing with him. Very happy with my results, we did some good improvements on the bike. When Stéphane suggest me to ride a 250 I took up the challenge and that’s pretty good; I needed some time to adapt, but now I have fun on this bike and it’s great for all the team to get a good result in Paris.”

Stéphane Dasse: “Matt Moss was supposed to defend his title with us but after his injury we didn’t really know what to expect from this edition, but Anthony rose to the challenge brilliantly! We knew he was able to do good things, and we were pleased to see him fighting with the best guys to get a podium; he was consistent on Saturday, he was even better on Sunday and it was great to see him fighting up in front and get this victory. We had a lot of guests this weekend, we are on the podium, a great edition of the Paris Supercross! »