Francisco Garcia and Jake Cannon earnt Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki team owner Stéphane Dassé a cheering birthday present with a double moto podium in the first moto of the British round of the European EMX250 Motocross Championship at Matterley Basin.
The Spaniard, second-fastest in Timed Practice, held a tight line at turn one to emerge third and was soon on the move, cutting decisively under his rival for second in the final turn of lap two. He closed the four second gap to the leader to launch past with a massive leap over the uphill triple which saw him carry the speed around the outside of the following turn. He then put his head down to establish a solid six-second lead before rolling back the throttle slightly on the final lap to win comfortably by three seconds. The twenty-five point haul has seen him pull back fourteen points on second in the points standings heading into tomorrow’s second moto.
Francisco Garcia: “I was really happy with myself, the team and the track. The track was really technical; there were not so many ruts but it was really bumpy and so dusty and I was really fast. I could be patient after starting third but once I took the lead I pushed really hard to build a gap so I could take it calmly at the end of the moto. Now I’m looking forward to tomorrow and another opportunity; I have the speed.”
The Bud team and Cannon had made good use of the two weeks since the Latvian round of the series to work on the Australian’s flying lap pace and the teenager used his sixth choice of gate to good effect as he followed his teammate out of turn one in fourth for his best start since the opening round of the series. Settling quickly into a podium race-pace in company with the series points-leader he ran down the riders ahead to make two identical passes on consecutive laps at half-distance to establish a Bud Kawasaki 1-2. Growing in confidence by the lap he defied the red plate holder until the penultimate lap and continued to race his more experienced rival to the chequered flag for a deserved third-place finish. The twin podium was a great reward for the team, repeating their success the previous weekend at the penultimate round of the French Elite series.
Jake Cannon: “I’m very happy with how everything went all day. It started well with P4 in Free Practice, then sixth in Timed Practice to give me a good gate-pick for the races. That is what has been missing; it’s been my anchor. I took a top-five start, rode to the conditions and got through to second behind my teammate. I had a really nice battle with Reisulis; unfortunately he got me near the end. I always knew I could do it but it was all in my head. Anyway it was a nice birthday present for the boss to put us both on the podium today.”
Photocredits – Pascal Haudiquert
