Livia Lancelot scored the best result for the GPKR team this weekend in Sweden with second position in the Women’s World Cup round. She now holds the red plate going into the third and last round in the Netherlands, while Christophe Pourcel was able to consolidate his second place in the MX2 standings with fourth overall.
For the first time this season Christophe Pourcel and Antonio Cairoli were in the same qualifying race on Saturday and the start was similar to the Bulgarian motos two weeks prior as the Italian rider changed his line after the drop of the gate to move across his rival. Christophe had a poor start and unfortunately crashed on a fast downhill, losing time over his rivals. He came back into the top twelve but crashed again and was forced to qualify through the Last Chance session were he posted the fastest lap time of the day.
It was virtually impossible to get a good start from his position on the grid but he came into the top fifteen around the first corner on both occasions. Unfortunately in the opening moto he crashed again on the downhill and restarted from last to finish fifteenth. His second race was much better as he fought back second position, scoring more points this weekend than Tyla Rattray who is right behind him with third spot in the standings.
Fifth in MX1 Timed Practice, Sébastien Pourcel unveiled another strong performance on Saturday. He got two great starts among the top five but his races were not as successful as hoped. Third in the opening moto behind De Dycker and Strijbos, he crashed on the eighth lap and finished eighth right behind Billy Mackenzie. Another crash in the second race cost him ten positions, and later when he was in fifteenth he had to retire with a damaged exhaust pipe.
Coming to Uddevalla for the third consecutive year, Livia Lancelot posted the second best lap time in the Women’s qualifying session and had a good position on the grid. She stole the holeshot in the opening race and led for one lap but was passed by German Steffie Laier and ended the sprint in second position. Her second start was not as good but she had some positive lines and came promptly to third behind Laier and Katherine Prumm. When the former crashed she moved up to second place and captured the same ranking overall, claming for the first time in her career the famous red plate.
Christophe Pourcel‘My first start was not too bad and on the downhill I was in fourth gear when I crashed. The bike made a neutral and I lost a lot of time and my motivation was down as I’ve been unlucky since I arrived here. I came back to fifteenth and there is nothing more to say. My second start was better; I was fifteenth and came back to second despite a small crash during the race. It was not our weekend, that’s racing!’
Sébastien Pourcel‘A bad weekend for me. I was not at my best today except for a few laps. The track was demanding and I never found good lines. I crashed in both races when I lost the front wheel and then lost the good rhythm. When I came here I knew that it would be difficult as I felt tired since Bulgaria and couldn’t practice as usual. It might seem strange but this bad result gives me again motivation to work harder. I know that it will be better for the rest of the season.”
Livia Lancelot‘My goal here was not to battle with Laier, as she was far away in the standings, but to beat the other girls. Finally I finished in second place behind Prumm, I lost one point but got the red plate so that’s a good day for me! This morning during the warm up I injured my knee and had a lot of pain, I was not sure I would able to ride. Finally it worked out that I had less pain on the bike than when I walked, but mentally I was affected by this problem. Steffie Laier was faster than me today and in the second race I saw that it was not possible to keep the same rhythm as Prumm so I secured my second place. Now we’ve two months before the final round in Lierop, for sure it will be demanding there but I will train hard in the sand to keep this red plate to the end.’
Roger Pourcel‘Today Livia had good races despite her knee injury and she proved to us that she is strong mentally and of course we’re happy with her results. We’ll continue to work hard in the sand to find the best solutions and to help her to keep this red plate. Yesterday was difficult for Christophe, so he didn’t have a good position on the grid. In the first heat his crash cost him any chances of a podium result, but in the second race he made a strong performance to come back as runner-up behind Cairoli. Sébastien was not at his best on this track. I think that he didn’t take the best lines and got tired in the first race. Then he crashed in the second one and damaged his pipe to get one of his worst results of the season.’
Patrick Geladé‘It was a weekend with ups and downs, in fact a difficult one. Gregory Aranda was not able to come due to his thumb injury in Bulgaria, and on Saturday Christophe had to go through the Last Chance session to qualify. He got a good start but crashed early, then it was a tough moto for him; he just did two or three fast laps and he was not really in the race. The second one was much better, a really good performance from him. Sébastien was fast in the first part of both races, but made a mistake in each one and lost points in the standings. Our best result came from Livia, who despite her knee injury proved to us that she has a strong mental condition. She got two great starts and made clever races as she didn’t try to battle with Laier who was faster on this track. We’re proud to have her in the team.’
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