Jean-Christophe Bujold’s 2013 Race Report

Jean-Christophe Bujold’s 2013 Race Report

Our season started early.

January: bike preparation, try outs at Tillsonburg indoor track, + BMX at Joyride 150
February: Three days of display with his new RM 125 bike in Claude Ste-Marie’s booth at the Montreal motorcycle show.

March: 10 days of training camp in Florida

April: Loretta Lynn’s area qualifier races in West Virginia plus one week of training in North Carolina

May and June: Races in Unadilla, NY for local and Loretta Lynn’s regional qualifier

May till September: eight provincial races

July: Eastern Canadian Amateur National race in Deschambault

August: Canadian National Championship in Walton, Ontario

September and October: lots of practice in preview of the Mini O’s

November: races at the Winter Olympics, Mini O’s in Florida

2013 was a transitional season for J-C. He just turned 14 years old in April, started the year with his 85, Super Mini and Suzuki 125 bikes. The 125 was just for him to get to know what a big bike could do, but the focus was really to qualify for Loretta Lynn’s and win at Walton. Things changed during the spring and early summer when he was outgrowing his 85 and Super Mini. While qualifying for LL qualifier in West Virginia (April), he was battling for the win in three of his four classes but by the time he raced the regional in Unadilla (June) it wasn’t that easy. His bigger build made it tough for him to have good starts and battle up front. The trip back home was the trip that made us change our plans for 2014. He had already raced a few Quebec provincial races in he Junior class and showed that he could ride top three most of the time. He made the decision to make a permanent switch from the small bikes to the big bikes. So a few days after Unadilla and with the help from Claude Ste-Marie Sport, J-C got his brand new 2013 Suzuki RMZ-250.

Here are his results for the year:

Tomahawk, West Virginia Loretta Lynn area qualifier
2nd in 85cc stock
2nd in 85cc modified
2nd in Super Mini 13-16
6th in Super Mini 12-15
Quebec Provincial races
1st in Schoolboy
2nd in Junior GP
5th in Junior MX2

Eastern Canadian Amateur National
1st in Schoolboy 1
3rd in Junior MX2

Canadian Championship in Walton
6th in Junior MX2
8th in Schoolboy 1

The week of racing in Walton showed that Jean-Christophe was one of the fastest Junior racers in Canada. His speed and determination showed that even with bad luck over three of his six races he always had the will to win. This is why on the evening of the trophy presentation he was awarded the `Hard Charger Award`. This award is given to a rider who had bad luck in his first moto and had the determination to finish top three in his two other motos. By winning this award, he was offered to stay for a week of training at the famous Georgia Practice facility in Georgia USA.

Our latest news comes from Florida. Over a ten day period at the end of November we were in Gainesville, Florida for a few days of training and a full week of racing. This year was the 42nd running of the Winter Olympics (Mini O’s) at Gatorback. J-C raced in five categories, his best results were in 250C. The 250C class had the biggest attendance, with over 100 racers trying to qualify for the main event.

While finishing 7th in his qualifier, it gave J-C a direct pass to the final. Earlier in the week J-C was struggling with his starts but when the final of the 250C class arrived he had his Suzuki RMZ 250 and start pad dialled in and was able to get the holeshot and the lead for a few seconds. At the end of the race he finished 13th – not bad for a 14 year-old from Canada to beat so many Americans. This was his first time racing at Gatorback.

For the 2013 season he received great support from Claude-Ste-Marie Sport, One Industries, Motovan, G.U.S. Construction Julien Champigny, Oakley, OC Suspension, D-Structure and Twice.