Last race of the season for Valentin Guillod, the Geneva Supercross was a different event for the Yamaha rider who raced at home and was expecting a great result for the last round of his ‘Supercross Tour’. Despite difficult starts, Valentin ended the season with a fifth position and can now enjoy some holidays.
Racing on his home soil this weekend, Valentin prepared this race very seriously with some intensive training in southern France. During the Press Day he discovered the track, and posted a very good third fastest lap in practice on Friday afternoon. Third of his semi final he was confident for the main event, but after a race incident with another rider in the second corner he was last! Back on the track he never gave up but put too much energy in his race, and did a couple of mistakes; only eleventh at the end of the final, he had some ‘revenge spirit’ on Saturday. Leading the first part of his semi final, he finally made a mistake in the whoops section and qualified in fourth position. Once more the start in the main event was not good for him, as Malcom Stewart crashed in front of him in the first corner! Starting the race again in last position he did his best race of the weekend; doing no mistakes, keeping a fast rhythm and doing some great moves he came back in fifth position with the full support of the Palexpo fans. A great end of this Supercross campaign, and a good preparation for next season, which will be his first one in the 450 class.
Valentin Guillod: “Racing in Geneva is always a great moment for me, and this year again the fans were crazy during the weekend, cheering me during the races. The track was nice, with some good sections and a great design; it was nice to ride there, event if the track was more slippery and the whoops more difficult on Saturday. On Friday in the main I wanted to do so well that I did some mistakes, maybe I was too excited after the incident at the start. The result was not great, but there were some positive points, such as the second fastest lap time in the race or the support of the fans. On Saturday I had a good speed in my battle with Malcom Stewart for the lead in the semi final, but again I was excited and made a mistake in the whoops section… I lost too much time at the start of the main with the crash of Malcom, but I was more focus and didn’t do mistakes during my comeback to finish fifth. Now the season is really over, I will take some holidays with family and friends to recover; I will be back training early in January, on this great 450 Factory Yamaha!”