The Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team will line up again two riders this weekend in Maggiora, home of the tenth round of the FIM Motocross World MXGP Championship. Valentin Teillet will replace for this event Gautier Paulin, as the leader of the team is still recovering from his injuries.
Visiting two weeks ago the French GP, Gautier Paulin is still recovering from his thumb injury, and hasn’t been able to ride again his factory Kawasaki. The winner of the opening round of the series in Qatar is of course working to come back as soon as possible, spending most of his time with physical trainers since his injury. To replace him for this GP of Italy, the Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team will line-up Valentin Teillet alongside Steven Frossard, thanks to Bud Racing Kawasaki who made this possible. Riding a 450 Bud Kawasaki since the beginning of the season in the French series, Valentin Teillet got four heat wins and eight podiums in the Elite Championship and already entered two GP’s, finishing thirteenth of his home GP in St Jean d’Angely. At the moment the deal between the parties is just for this round.
Valentin Teillet: “After the French Grand Prix Kawasaki offers me this opportunity, and I’m of course delighted to race in Italy on the factory bike. I tested the bike last week and we didn’t really change the settings as I had immediately a great feeling. I knew that the team and the factory have worked a lot to develop the 450, but I was surprised to see how easy is this bike. I had a lot of fun to ride it; I will discover a new track as I never rode in Maggiora, but I will go there without any pressure, happy to have such a great opportunity.”
Steve Guttridge (Racing Manager Kawasaki Motors Europe): “I’m very happy that we concluded to be able to give Valentin the opportunity to compete on our factory KX450F-SR and within the Kawasaki Racing Team for this next race! His talent is unquestionable and the circuit should suit him so the weekend is his to enjoy. Big thanks to Stephane from Bud Racing who is creating a great platform for our younger riders to step up into such rides for the future too!”
François Lemariey (Monster KRT Manager): “Gautier is still recovering from his thumb injury, so we found a solution to have again two riders in the team for the Grand Prix of Italy. We know that Valentin Teillet can achieve good results in the MXGP class, and he had a great feeling when he tested our bike last week. We want to thanks Bud Racing who show again, after the MX of Nations last year, that there is a great cooperation between both Kawasaki teams.”