Christophe Pourcel won this weekend his first heat aboard a 450 bike, during the fourth round of the Belgian championship in Kester. Third and sixth of the other races, Christophe finished ths event in third position and is now second in the standings behind Ramon. Home of several GP of Belgium in the past, Kester is one of the most technical but also most popular race in the country and more than 7000 spectators enjoyed nice racing with numerous GP riders.
Fastest rider in qualifications on Sunday morning, Christophe started the first heat in the top five and finished third behind Philippaerts and Ramon. He got a better start in the following heat, and led the race after a few laps to collect his first ever win on his KX450F Kawasaki. Unfortunately he struggled with Strijbos at the start of the last race, and finally came back in sixth position behind MX1 GP riders De Dijcker, Philippaerts, Ramon, Brown and Van Daele. Third overall behind Philippaerts and Ramon, he passed Priem in the standings and is now runner up behind Ramon with four more races to go.
Standings : 1.Ramon (Suzuki), 263 pts ;
2.Christophe Pourcel (Kawasaki GPKR), 215;
3.Priem (TM), 189 ;
4.Van Daele (Honda), 170 ;
5.Strijbos (Suzuki), 169; etc…
Next event: Nismes, July 8th
Thierry Godfroid Fifth In The Belgian Moto TourThierry Godfroid finished the Belgian Moto Tour, first round of the International Rally Championship, in fifth position with the brand new KLX450R Kawasaki. Thierry is the single rider to enter the top ten with a mono cylinder, and enjoyed this great experience.
For his first International appearance on a race the KLX450R proved to be more than competitive, as Thierry placed his GPKR Kawasaki in second position of the race until the last stage. Wet on Thursday and later dry on Friday and Saturday, the small, slippery and narrow roads of the Belgian Ardennes were perfect for the former Motocross and Supermoto rider who enjoyed the event and it’s atmospher.
But during the last stage on the roadrace track of Spa Francorchamps, Thierry was unable to battle against the 800 or 900 multi cylinder of his rivals. ‘The last stage counted only two laps of the formula one track, but the difference was more than 100 km/h with his fastest rivals. He lost thirty seconds per lap, and lost finally three ranks. But this fifth place is a good result, we were pleased to see Thierry and the KLX450R in the top five of most of the stages and we had no troubles with the bike during the three days of racing’ explained Patrick Geladé, the boss of Gepa who organized with Kawasaki Benelux this experience.
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