Gautier Paulin on the Podium at British Grand Prix

Following his great race last weekend, where Bud Racing Kawasaki’s Gautier Paulin took the lead in the French Championship, the 19 year old travelled to Mallory Park, England, looking to do the same in the MX2 World Championship.

In the Saturday qualifying race Paulin got a good initial jump out the gate, but then having to shut off slightly to keep his front wheel down the Frenchman lost some ground on the leaders exiting the first corner only just inside the top 10. Racing as hard as he could Paulin managed to pull through to 5th by the end of the short race.

In Moto 1 on Sunday the battle was on as championship contender, Marvin Musquin exited corner one out front, with the KX250F of Paulin hot on his heels. The two rivals charged hard, both putting in near perfect laps as they scrubbed every jump looking for those last split seconds. Paulin had no answer for Musquin though, as he started to edge away. At the 25 minute point Paulin started to come under pressure from fellow Kawasaki rider Frossard, who eventually edged passed. Paulin kept his head and raced home to a solid 3rd position, knowing that the championship is only at the halfway point.

Moto 2 was a little harder for the Paulin as he rounded up lap one in 8th position after a mediocre start. Fighting hard not to let vital points slip away the Bud Racing MX2 star raced hard throughout, crossing the finish line in a well earned 4th position.

Happy to be on the podium, Paulin commented: “I lost a lot of points in Spain due to bad starts and this week I proved that I have the speed and my starts were much better in both motos. I had a small crash in the first moto and got my legs caught under the bike which lost me some time but I still managed get on the podium. We had an all French podium today and next weekend we will all want to prove something in front of a home crowd, but I just want to look at it as just another race. I go to every GP wanting to win and I will do the same next weekend.”

Gautier Paulin and the Bud Racing Kawasaki team will work hard, as ever, this week in preparation for their ‘home’ Grand Prix in France next weekend.

Image: CDS


Results:

MX2 Race 1

1 Musquin, Marvin FRA KTM

2 Frossard, Steven FRA Kawasaki

3 Paulin, Gautier FRA Kawasaki

4 Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha

5 Monni, Manuel ITA Yamaha

6 Boissiere, Anthony FRA KTM

7 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM

8 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM

9 Roczen, Ken GER Suzuki

10 Boog, Xavier FRA Suzuki

11 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Yamaha

12 Larrieu, Loic FRA Yamaha

13 Sword, Stephen GBR KTM

14 Roelants, Joel BEL KTM

15 Nicholls, Jake GBR KTM


MX2 Race 2

1 Musquin, Marvin FRA KTM

2 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM

3 Frossard, Steven FRA Kawasaki

4 Paulin, Gautier FRA Kawasaki

5 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM

6 Sword, Stephen GBR KTM

7 Boog, Xavier FRA Suzuki

8 Roczen, Ken GER Suzuki

9 Monni, Manuel ITA Yamaha

10 Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha

11 Boissiere, Anthony FRA KTM

12 Tonus, Arnaud SUI KTM

13 Teillet, Valentin FRA KTM

14 Verbruggen, Dennis BEL Honda

15 Vongsana, Khounsith FRA Honda


MX2 GP overall

1 Musquin, Marvin FRA KTM 50

2 Frossard, Steven FRA Kawasaki 42

3 Paulin, Gautier FRA Kawasaki 38

4 Goncalves, Rui POR KTM 36

5 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM 29

6 Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha 29

7 Monni, Manuel ITA Yamaha 28

8 Boog, Xavier FRA Suzuki 25

9 Roczen, Ken GER Suzuki 25

10 Boissiere, Anthony FRA KTM 25

11 Sword, Stephen GBR KTM 23

12 Roelants, Joel BEL KTM 12

13 Verbruggen, Dennis BEL Honda 11

14 Larrieu, Loic FRA Yamaha 11

15 Nicholls, Jake GBR KTM 10


MX2 World championship standings:

1 Musquin, M. FRA 234

2 Paulin, G. FRA 219

3 Guarneri, D. ITA 208

4 Goncalves, Rui POR 202

5 Frossard, S. FRA 178

6 Boog, Xavier FRA 166

7 Aubin, Nicolas FRA 136

8 van Horebeek, J. BEL 118

9 Monni, Manuel ITA 115

10 Osborne, Zach USA 100

11 Simpson, Shaun GBR 97

12 Roczen, Ken GER 92

13 Tonus, Arnaud SUI 92

14 Schiffer, M. GER 89

15 Sword, Stephen GBR 84