Double win for Kawasaki MX in FranceIt’s been a good training for all riders in Brittany. With some heavy showers at midday, the French track was rough and demanding: slippery during the opening races and more technical during the sunny super final.In the MX1 class Gautier Paulin and Xavier Boog share the success, with a win and a second place for each. With two strong starts this weekend Xavier lead for most of both races, but in the MX1 heat he struggled too much to pass some lappers. Coming back strongly from a bad start, Gautier took the lead in the penultimate lap and finally won this race. The start of the super final was pretty similar with a holeshot for Xavier and a mid pack start for Gautier, but in this race Xavier didn’t make any mistake and celebrated his first win of the season, followed by his team mate. Having his first racing appearance since one year, Sébastien Pourcel took pole position and took second place in the MX1 heat, showing that he has recovered successfully from his back injury. Still coping with a lack of racing rhythm, he made several mistakes on this slippery track, but regained some confidence with top ten results. He remains one of the titles contenders, as neither Boog nor Paulin will enter the following rounds of the series. Dylan Ferrandis, coming back after a four month break due to a shoulder injury, was leading most of the MX2 race but crashed twice in the last five minutes; that cost him a podium result and even a win, as he lost too much time trying to re-start his engine. Team mate Valentin Teillet was there to collect the success, only nine days after an arm surgery! In the super final, mixing the twenty fastest riders of each class, Valentin confirmed his heat win; he was second behind Boog during most of the time, finishing third overall and as the first MX2 rider. Valentin was followed by Dylan who is runner-up in the standings. Aboard his NGS Kawasaki, European MX2 contender Maxime Desprey had his second appearance on a Pro Circuit Kawasaki; coming back from twenty one to seventh in the MX2 heat, Max had a strong ride in the super final to finish third among the MX2 riders, just behind Teillet and Ferrandis. Running in the Dutch series this year, Joel Roelants made his first appearance on a sandy track aboard the Pro Circuit Kawasaki. In Oss, the Belgian finished on the podium twice. Third in each race behind Herlings and Van Horebeek, Joel has been testing the bike under race conditions and is preparing himself for the opening GP of the season. Now he has three more rounds to come before the opening round of the World Championship in Valkenswaard.  Xavier Boog: "I was not so happy after the MX1 race, as I lost too much time behind the lappers and I didn’t win after leading most of the period. The super final was better, I got the holeshot and pushed hard to make a gap; I really wanted to win this race, as I never lost on this track! My bike was perfect at each start, and then I had fun on this demanding track. I will not defend my French title in the following rounds, with the team we’ve decided to race some Dutch races to prepare for the first GP of the season.”  Gautier Paulin: ”It was the first time this season that we rode on a muddy track. It was interesting, because you always learn something and that’s what we’re looking for in the pre-season events. The first race was good for me, better than the second one; in both races I struggled at the start, especially in the super final as the twenty MX2 riders enter on the grid before the first MX1 rider. The track was nice but narrow and rough, there were many technical sections where it was easy to make a mistake. I had a good feeling with the bike, and came back from mid pack to win the first race; the super final was not as good, but it was a good training and a good test for the suspension.”  Sébastien Pourcel (pictured left): "I didn’t know
what to expect when I came here, and this morning when I posted the
fastest lap I was happy as we didn’t work so much to get to this point.
My first start was not so bad, but in the first corner I lost some
positions and was eighth; it took me just a few laps to come second
behind Xavier. I was riding safely but I made a mistake in the mud and
crashed on a jump. My handlebar was damaged but I wanted to finish my
first race since one year and I did it. In the super final I was
involved in a collision at the start. I was almost last and then did my
race; the track was rough and it was not easy to pass, but I came back
tenth. I’m not so happy as I made some mistakes this weekend, but it was
great to see that I had a good rhythm and that physically it was OK;
for sure it was a great training to come here and ride on this rough
track, rather than riding alone on a practice track.”Valentin Teillet:”I’m very happy with my results. It was unexpected as I had surgery to my lower arms just after Valence and I was not sure to ride here. I had too much problems with arm-pump and we took the decision to skip Lacapelle international, which was finally the good decision. Twice I finished as the first MX2 rider here, I couldn’t have expected more! I have a great team behind me and we have a really good bike. We were both in the top five at the start of the super final among the 450s! I was second during most of the race; Paulin passed me only a few laps before the end, and we can be confident for the rest of the season.”  Dylan Ferrandis (pictured right): "It was my first race since four months, after my shoulder surgery, and physically this race was not easy as I just started riding one week ago. I had a great start and I was riding easily in the MX2 race, but two laps before the end of the period I made a mistake and crashed; I was still leading, but in the next lap I made another mistake and damaged my clutch lever so I couldn’t use the clutch anymore. I stalled the engine and lost too much time in this incident, and finished sixth. In the super final I came second behind Boog, but I was pretty tired and during the second lap I made a small mistake and crashed; I finished eighth, which is disappointing, but I know that I’m not ready physically and the goal was to score points. The first GP is in one month, we have still four weeks to be ready.”  Maxime Desprey: "The track was not easy, and when you had a start mid-pack it was even worse. In the MX2 race I had some trouble with my gate and I was only 21th at the first lap, coming back to seventh. So that was not so bad, since I had to take off my goggles behind lappers. My start in the super final was a little bit better, but the track was worse and after a small crash I came back fifteenth overall among the 450s. My feeling with the bike is better after each week-end, it was the first time this season that I raced in the mud and I’m confident for the next rounds of the series.” |