For Valentin Guillod the Genoa event (Italy) was the first round of his ‘Supercross Tour’, which will continue this weekend in Lille, and will end early in December in Geneva for his ‘home race’. In Italy he scored a great podium in the Super Final!
Despite some troubles in the past weeks, Valentin was calm and confident coming to this first Supercross race since a while. For his second race on a 450 he posted some good lap times in the practice sessions, with a sixth position overall against some rivals much more familiar with Supercross. Two 450 finals were at the program of the night, and the first ten classified riders qualified for the main event. Ninth and seventh of the races, Valentin was eighth overall and qualified for the Super Final where he took an amazing start in second position behind American Brayton; both Ferrandis and Webb passed him early, but Valentin rode strong to secure a fourth overall. He came second when both riders crashed later in the race, and finally finished third as Soubeyras made a move before the end on the race. A great result for Valentin in his 450 Supercross debuts,just one week before Lille where he will find a stronger line up for two nights of racing, Saturday and Sunday.
Valentin Guillod: “In each sessions I felt better, and this weekend my goal was to finish between fifth and tenth position. In the first final I scored a ninth place, and a seventh in the second race which gave me an eighth overall, not so bad but it could have been better in the first one. In the main event I was second at the start behind Brayton, my goal was to avoid mistakes and ride clean. Three riders passed me during the race but two of them crashed, so I finished on the podium in third. I’m pleased of course with this result, I was not expecting this podium but it’s a reward for the job we did to prepare the SX events. I want of course to thanks all the people who support me, a great thanks to Yamaha but also to AlpineStars and Blackbird for their last minute support.”