Team Venum Bud Racing Kawasaki took off for the United States, and California to be precise, at the beginning of January. The team’s newest recruit for the next 2 years, young Australian Jake Cannon, was the lucky one to set off to discover the United States and, above all, to take part in his very first SX US race against the best young Americans of the moment. A novice in the discipline, with only one season in Australian supercross in the SX3 category, Jake set off for 3 weeks of preparation for the ultimate race, which took place in Glendale on February 1st.
It was in one of the 10 most beautiful stadiums in the world that he set his wheels down last Saturday on the biggest track of the SX US calendar. The 17-year-old rider didn’t blush against the discipline’s top youngsters, placing 5th in time practice and 3rd in the second session, less than half a second from pole. He showed then that he had the speed and ambition to go for a good result in the one and only race of the evening.
And so it was on a single 8-minute final that it all came down to this evening. Unfortunately, Jake got tangled up with another rider just 10 meters from the start line and couldn’t keep his handlebars from passing into his rival’s wheel. As a result, he fell and broke his throttle, unable to fight back and show what he could do.
The experience was more than productive, and a lot of positives can be taken from it, with speed well in evidence against competitors who have been training in this discipline since they were very young.
The Team is now back in France, already focused on the Enduropale du Touquet, where Francisco Garcia, the Team’s second Spanish recruit, will compete in the Junior category, before heading off with his two riders to the opening round of the French ELITE motocross championship the following weekend. The idea of returning to the US in 2025 is still very much on our minds.
Stéphane Dassé: “Although it’s very frustrating not to have been able to fight, I’m really happy with Jake, his attitude and what he showed on Saturday. My aim is to continue to bring young people to the United States, and in particular to Supercross, to open their minds and show them what’s going on in the world alongside MXGP, and if they want to hope one day to finish in the United States, they have to do Supercross from a very young age, that’s what I’m trying to teach them.”
Jake Cannon: “What an experience it’s been for me. I arrived here on January 10, I didn’t know the Team and I immediately felt really good. I really learned and enjoyed the experience, but I’m very disappointed not to have been able to go all the way. It makes me want to come back even more, but I’m already going to concentrate fully on my European season.”
