The second stop in the 2025 EMX250 European Motocross Championship for the Gabriel SS24 KTM Factory Juniors team of Gyan Doenesen and Max Werner was in France to the hard pack Saint Jean D’Angely.
Despite more rain in the forecast, it was the usual schedule of two groups with separate free and timed practice. Gyan was allocated to group one securing the 6th quickest time and Max to group two with 11th.
Both boys got out of the start clean and in the top 5 in race one. When they settled into their rhythm, they were both still within the top 10 and looking to move forward. Gyan had made his way to 5th before a crash on lap 11 unfortunately forced him to retire from the race. For Max, he had a struggle halfway through the moto and dropped a few positions but found a spark towards the end of the race to come back to 12th.
In race two both Gyan and Max started together inside the top 10. Gyan steadily worked his way to 5th by lap 5 and stayed there for most of the race. He would finish in 6th place for 10th overall.
Max had a crash on lap 3 and struggled to get his rhythm back in the rutty conditions, he finished 21st in the race and overall for the weekend.
Max: “My weekend in France was a disaster, we must take the positives and work on the negatives. We have some time before the next European race but I’m looking forward to Hawkstone Park this weekend for the first British Championship to get some momentum going then onto Arco.”
Gyan: “It was a weekend full of ups and downs, but in the end, I’m happy with how things went. My practice times were much better after making some adjustments to the suspension. It felt good, and I could really feel the speed was there. I ended qualifying in 6th, which was a solid position to start the races from.
“The first moto didn’t go as planned, though. My start wasn’t great, and I took it a bit slow at first. But once I found my flow, I started making my way through the pack. It was really a matter of patience and hard work, and I managed to get up to 5th position. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, as I had a small crash where I hit my head pretty hard, and I had to retire from the race. That was definitely disappointing, but safety comes first, and luckily I was able to move on.
“The second moto had a decent start, again a bit slow in the beginning, but in the middle, I showed great speed again. I passed for 4th, but I got a bit too greedy and missed the rut, which made me drop back to 5th. After that, I started riding too tight and ended up finishing 6th, but it was still a solid result.
“There’s still some work to do at the start of the motos, and I’m also focusing on getting my body back to 100%, but I’m confident that I’ll be up there soon! Big thanks to the team for all the support!”
Team Manager Shaun Simpson: “Another tough weekend in France. Both riders had a solid week in the lead up to the weekend but things just didn’t go to plan over the two point scoring races.
“Gyan is showing that he has the speed to run in the top five, but again small mistakes cost big time. We need to clean up the mistakes, work on the intensity in the first laps and build up to podium positions. It’s Gyan’s first year in EMX250 but I think he’s finding his feet well in this class and with more consistency he will start to move forward.
“Max has really struggled this last couple of weekends to start the championship season. I can see the potential with his speed and ability but he is not executing this in race conditions. We will go back to the drawing board and work on the weaknesses this week and turn things around quickly.
“Next up for the team is the first round of the British Championship at Hawkstone Park, a track that the riders know well so we are looking to be fighting for the red plate with both riders.”
Words by Gabriel SS24 KTM – Images by Juan Pablo Acevedo
