It seems that the Japanese round of the Motocross World Championship suits Christophe Pourcel and his Team GPKR. One year ago in Sugo he obtained the red plate as leader of the series and this weekend - on the bumpy Japanese track - he collected his first Grand Prix win of the season. Home of the Japanese round for three years now, Sugo is without any doubt one of the roughest track of the series. Designed in a natural valley, the circuit has a soft ground with sand and wood chippings mixed into the earth. After heavy rain on Friday the riders had to deal with deep ruts and bumps through practice and into the races on this challenging but demanding layout.
On Saturday Christophe won his qualifying race for pole position, as Antonio Cairoli also dominated his heat and, along with Tyla Rattray, both seemed to be once more the fastest men of the class. Christophe took the holeshot in the opening race and was leading at midpoint with an advantage of seven seconds over Rattray and twelve over Cairoli. Rattray didn’t give up and joined the Frenchman on the twelfth lap and then took the lead. This scenario had been played out on Saturday, and once more Christophe completed a few laps behind his rival and passed him back to win his first heat since Spain, followed by Rattray and Cairoli.
Starting the second race in third position behind Cairoli and Rattray, Christophe put some pressure on the South African who felt the heat during the tenth circulation and crashed. Second behind Cairoli, the GPKR man was the virtual winner of the GP for only one lap as he fell himself and dropped back two places. Coming into the pits to repair his handlebar damaged in the accident Pourcel returned to action more motivated than ever and unveiled a strong performance to pass Swanepoel and later Searle during the last ten minutes. Grinding down sixteen seconds to Searle in the last five laps, he passed him on the final circulation to secure his first GP win since Lierop last year.
Fourth during the MX1 timed practice session, less than half a second behind pole-man Joshua Coppins, Sébastien Pourcel wasn’t in his best shape on Sunday morning. He hadn’t recovered that well from the long trip and was not racing at his best level. Starting the first heat in the top ten he rode most of the race in seventh place, his final position. His second start was even worse and after a crash in the waves section he secured an eleventh place behind Kevin Strijbos. Eighth overall he surprisingly moved up one rank in the standings – he is now fourth - as many other riders struggled on this track. Winner of the last two MX2 Japanese GPs, Billy Mackenzie gave Kawasaki his first ever MX1 GP win.
Christophe Pourcel.‘It was a good weekend for me. I have been looking for this GP win for several weeks now! I got the holeshot in the first race and - as I did on Saturday during the qualifying heat - I didn’t push that hard in order to keep some energy for the rest of the weekend. Rattray was in second position during the first moto and he tried hard to join me, so I let him pass for a few laps. When I decided to push again I overtook him and fixed an eight second gap at the front. I came to the second heat confident but my start was not so good; I was third and followed Rattray during the first period. I put some pressure on him and he crashed at mid-race, giving me second place. Then I started to push, I wanted to come back on Cairoli but I made a big mistake in a downhill and went over the handlebars. I was shocked, my handle bar was damaged and I had to go to the pits where the mechanics fixed it. Then I looked to third place, and later second, pushing really hard to pass Searle in the last lap. I wanted this win, for the last four or five GPs I have missed out and it was time to stop Antonio. The season is long, the next event is in France and I know that I will have many fans there to cheer me.’
Sébastien Pourcel.
‘I felt tired all day long, as last year. On Saturday it was OK and I posted the fourth time but today was difficult. I had no energy, and in both races I tried to stay on both wheels. I started in the pack and was unable to increase my speed, during the second race I even crashed in the waves section. I’m disappointed as I could have had a top five result in both races but for sure we’ll have to change our program next year if we come back here. I finished in eighth position and now in two weeks my goal will be a top five result in both heats.’
Patrick Geladé.‘It’s great to win in Japan, there’s so much interest here for the GPs! Since he arrived in Japan Chris was really involved in the race; I think that he is back at his real level. We were waiting for this GP win for a long time and he got it here, in front of the Kawasaki sporting and marketing board. That’s perfect. Billy also won the MX1 class and we spare a thought for Jan De Groot who was not here this weekend. Concerning Sebastien he took good points despite his problems, and with some luck he is now fourth in the standings. We had a debriefing after the race and we all know what we have to do, for sure Seb will train hard when he’ll be back in Belgium to prepare for the French GP. It was a positive trip here and a good opportunity for all the members of the team to work closely together.’
Roger Pourcel.
‘I’m so happy with the race of Christophe, of course I knew that he was able to get a GP win for months! When he crashed I was thinking that it was a sixth consecutive victory for Antonio, but Chris never gave up and did what he had to do. He wanted this win and he got it, but it was a stressful race for all of us! I have never been so happy since Ernée last year. Sébastien got a good result in the first race but then he had the same problem as last year. He had no energy, and we’ll have to find a solution for next season if we return here. Maybe we’ll ask for some advice from Billy Mackenzie, who has now won three GPs in a row.’
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