After Xavier Boog in Romagné – French Elite series –Gautier Paulin won in the Netherlands sand, three weeks prior the opening round of the World Championship in Valkenswaard.

Neither Xavier nor Gautier have trained this season on a track similar to Heerde, the venue for this third round. With the rain conditions were even harder as the sand was heavy, therefore a great test for the team.

After three days of testing this with a Japanese engineer, both riders were happy with the engine settings and Xavier confirmed this with the holeshot in both races using the full power of the awesome KX450F .

Xavier didn’t have a good feeling for the track though and made several mistakes in both races; tenth in the opening heat, he retired in the next moto after three crashes.

Gautier was not as strong as his teammate at the start, but he made two consistent races; fourth in the opening moto, he was third during most of the next period. In the last lap he passed Gonçalves for second, and collected the overall win, his first for KRT.


Gautier Paulin: “I want to dedicate this win to the team, we all do a great job since I joined them this winter; the team is based in the Netherlands, but they haven’t won there for a while! The track was very strange, with a lot of slow corners and some deep holes.

My feeling was not so good during the first race, so I didn’t take any risks and just secured a fourth position.

Between the races we worked on the suspension settings, and the result was perfect; last week we worked mainly on the engine, and we had no time to work on the suspension. We found with the team a good balance today, and I’m happy to see that we all work in the same direction, with great results.

If I had a good rhythm earlier in this heat I think that I would have won, as I finish so close to De Dycker.

This week we’ll continue to work towards the next round of the Dutch series; with the new parts the engine is so powerful, we need now to work with Kayaba on the suspension. We have three weeks prior the GP in Valkenswaard, and I’m confident.”

Xavier Boog: “It was not a good day for me; apart from two great starts nothing went as I could expect and I’m disappointed. In each race I was passed during the first laps, and I made too many mistakes; I stalled the engine, crashed, twice during the first period and three times during the second one.

I don’t really know what happened, I was not going fast when I crashed; for sure the track was special with slow sections, wet and heavy sand, but that’s not an excuse. We’ll continue to practice on sandy tracks, even if I will not enter the Mill race next weekend; in two weeks I will race the opening round of the German series.”

François Lemariey: “It was a weekend of contrasts, with a great win for Gautier and a disappointing result for Xavier. Both came here after three days of testing on sandy tracks, and we can’t compare these tests to a training session or a race.

Between the heats we change some settings on the bikes, and Gautier was happier with his suspension settings in the second period; he lost his rhythm when he was behind Gonçalves, but he won overall and that’s good for the mental spirit of all the team members, including all the engineers who work for us in Japan!”

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