Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia rounded out the European EMX250 Motocross Championship season with his third overall victory of the campaign to confirm the series bronze medal.
The Spanish teenager, nominated last week to represent his country for the first time at next month’s Motocross of Nations, ended the season with a perfect double win! On Saturday he emerged fourth at the first turn and was quickly on the move. Clearly the fastest man on-track he swept into the lead on the second lap to win by six seconds, with the fastest lap of the race. Bubbling with confidence after his overwhelming victory in the first moto the Spanish teenager again rode a tight line through turn one to emerge second and was content to shadow the leader for twenty minutes before sweeping past under the eyes of the Bud Racing pit crew on lap ten of fourteen to complete his perfect weekend with a conclusive victory, his eighth moto success and third overall win of the season. His personal consistency and the reliable quality performance of the Bud Racing Kawasaki KX250 were underlined by the fact that he collected eight podiums through the thirteen-round series to earn the FIM series bronze medal.
Francisco Garcia: “That first race was a great moto for me; I made some really good passes early on and rode timed training laps to pull a gap. At the start of the second race Reisulis was pushing hard and I didn’t want to eat his roost so I was content to sit back from his rear wheel and then come back to take the lead after twenty minutes. I feel on top of the world to finish my first complete EMX season with a 1-1. I have been really happy with my last few races and my family was here this weekend to celebrate with me. Now we fly back to France and I will ride a 450 in preparation for the Motocross of Nations. It was always my dream to ride for my country and I will work 200% for the next few weeks to be ready to give my absolute best !”
Bud teammate Jake Cannon also ended the season well, even if on Saturday he missed a better result as he was fourth before being unceremoniously hit from behind by an over-enthusiastic chaser. Rejoining the race eleventh he needed a couple of laps to settle before charging again to cross the finishing line seventh. He had another strong ride through the pack to finish fourth in the second moto and over the weekend. In that second moto Jake was pushed wide at turn one to emerge ninth but quickly gained two positions and after a few laps he was able to make decisive passes to advance to fifth on lap eight and two laps later swept into fourth. His efforts confirmed eighth in his first FIM series in Europe.
Jake Cannon: “I was happy with my riding this weekend; just that incident yesterday spoilt my chances of the podium. I got stuck behind some other riders for too long during the first few laps of the second moto and that cost me the chance of top-three in the moto. Anyway, I learnt a lot from this season and I will come in stronger next season from the experience. I start supercross practice this week and fly back home to Australia on October 1 for the supercross season.”
