Bud Racing will again represent Kawasaki this season in the FIM EMX250 European Motocross Championship with two exciting young riders – Chilean Benjamin Garib and French teenager Mathis Valin. Working with young riders has always been the target of the French squad, which enters its eighteenth season in Green. We met team owner Stephane Dasse before the opening round of the series this weekend in Spain.
Marvin Musquin, Dylan Ferrandis, Brian Moreau and Quentin Prugnières have a common background; they each started their professional career with Bud Racing, a team created in 2007 when Stephane and Sébastien Dassé decided to share their passion for motocross with young riders. In 2007 Marvin and Loic Rombault both finished in the top five of the 250 European Championship, a series which has always been the main goal for Stephane. “Ten to eleven races in the most important countries in Europe is better for us than racing twenty GPs because it gives us time to also concentrate on the French Elite championship, which is important for our partners, and also to contest some supercross or sand races so that our riders are versatile; I am convinced that Supercross brings a lot to young riders,” explained Stephane. “When we raced MX2 and MXGP for a few seasons we realised that it was less interesting for us to work with established riders rather than youngsters who have everything to learn and are very demanding. We are here to educate them, to help them to discover as much as possible, to open their minds and prepare them for the GPs.”
This season Benjamin Garib enters his second season with the team, while the current 125cc world champion Mathis Valin moves up to the 250cc class with Bud Racing. “We are highly motivated and very happy with our young riders. Mathis had a good winter coming out from the 125s and he has adapted well to the 250, while Benjamin enters his second season in Europe so he knows the tracks better. It’s great to see how well Mathis and Benjamin get along, whether in training or in everyday life; they are intelligent enough to understand that it is the best way to progress and to push each other to the top. It is really very pleasant to work with them and I genuinely feel that they are ready so we are looking forward to Spain,” added Stephane. Last week during the opening round of the French Elite Mathis led the second moto for several laps, eventually finishing his first-ever 250 race in second position, followed by Benjamin. Winter training is paying off, as the team has sent both riders all over Europe to prepare the season. “We stayed at Hossegor, where the team is based, in October and November, then in December we moved to Spain to find better weather. Benjamin returned home for two weeks at the end of the year while Mathis came with us to California. In January we went to Sardinia for two weeks, and since then we have stayed in Hossegor where we have all facilities to train at the Bud Racing Training Camp.”
With such a long connection with Kawasaki, the Bud Racing Team has a strong base and a rich history. “We still retain the passion and we work in good conditions with a good team. We have Pere Ibanez to take care of the technical side, Thierry Van Den Bosch to coach and train our riders, also a team of good mechanics, so we work with complete peace-of-mind. We have been associated with Kawasaki for eighteen years; for us loyalty is very important whether in sport or in business with customers. We are proud of this, and every year we continue to evolve.”
Calendar of the 250 European Championship:
March 23-24: Spain (Intu Xanadu – Arroyomolinos)
April 13-14: Trentino (Arco di Trento)
May 4-5: Portugal (Agueda)
May 18-19: France (Saint Jean d’Angely)
June 1-2: Germany (Teutschenthal)
June 8-9: Latvia (Kegums)
July 27-28: Belgium (Lommel)
August 10-11: Sweden (Uddevalla)
August 24-25: Switzerland (Frauenfeld)
September 7-8: Turkey (Afyonkarahisar)
September 28-29: TBA
