The Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing team slog on through the deep mud at round two of the French MX1 championship.
The Easter weekend was cold and wet in France, which made the second round of the MX1 French Championship very difficult as the rain and snow destroyed the layout of Thomer la Sogne, near Evreux. Sébastien Pourcel finished second overall with a heat win in the super final race while Alexandre Rouis took seventh place.
The club had prepared a nice track which included some supercross sections but the rain destroyed everything and it was a tough day for the riders and the mechanics who had no time to rest between the three motos.
The start was even more important than usual with just one good line on the track but neither Seb or Alex were in the leading group at the first corner in any of the MX1 motos. Finishing in second place in the first two races behind Nicolas Aubin, Sébastien made a couple of mistakes and even lost second place for several laps in moto two when he crashed in the fences.
Seb was finally in the top five at the last start of the day and was able to put some pressure on Aubin who crashed in a corner. Seb won the race and finished second overall.
After a big crash in qualification Alexandre Rouis was not at his best on Monday. With a 10-9-12 scorecard Alex finished seventh overall and is now fourth in the standings.
Sébastien Pourcel
“Twice I missed a good start and in the mud that’s always a problem, as you got so much mud from your rivals when you try to pass them. You also need to take other lines than the good one and sometimes you crash as I did several times.
“Finally in the last race I started in the top five and I was able to put some pressure on Nico who made a mistake in a corner. I also crashed when I was leading but the gap was big enough that it didn’t matter - it’s always nice to end the day with a heat win.”
Alexandre Rouis
It was a tough weekend for me and after my big crash in qualification I was not at my best. I feel tired at the moment, maybe because I never trained so hard in the past and the racing conditions were pretty difficult here. I know that I must continue to work. I just hope that we’ll have at least a sunny day in Pernes les Fontaines next week’
Roger Pourcel
It was cold and rainy again in Thomer - difficult conditions once more! Seb didn’t start well in the MX1 races, and he raced the first one without any rear brake as he got a stone in the brake pedal. His last heat was pretty good even if it is always difficult to make any jugement in these conditions. But it was a good training for him and Alex who never totally recovered from his big crash in qualification.”
