Vongsana on his time with SRS Honda

French talent, Khoun-Sith Vongsana had some good results in the MX2 World Championship in the past but made the decision to sign with the SRS Honda team for the 2009 season. Things didn’t go well with the team and it was tough for him living in Italy without speaking a word of Italian.

Vongsana had problems getting paid and was then kicked off the team (despite some good results) to make matters even worse. For the 2010 season, Vongsana did find another ride in the paddock by signing with Factory TM.

“Throwback to 2009, one of the hardest years. I went to live alone in Italy, I didn’t know anyone there and I didn’t speak an word of Italian. I was living on my own and the first few weeks were difficult. The team manager, who was also a music teacher at the time, told me that I didn’t have a good technique at all. According to him, the less angle you go around a turn, the faster you could go. Now I wondered what I was doing here. He also thought I was too aggressive, so he wanted me to do 50 minute moto’s in the middle of summer in Italy (40 degrees heat). I didn’t say anything, and I did things the way I thought I would. Good thing my mechanic and the technical manager listened to me, and made me a very good bike. I was riding well, but I felt something was missing. They kicked me out of the team a few months later because they said I wasn’t working hard enough. They kept my teammate who didn’t score a point. I had a lot of trouble getting paid, and they stopped the GP’s at the end of the season. In this video, I’m in a fight with Osborne for second place and Paulin is leading the moto right in front of us. I finished 2nd in the moto and 4th overall in the GP”, Vongsana stated on social media.

Pic: xoffroad