After two difficult rounds for the Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing team Sébastien Pourcel claimed the fourth GP win of his career in Agueda, Portugal.
After two very wet events there was at last a dry GP in Agueda, a regular venue for the FIM Motocross World Championship. Travelling straight from Spain to Portugal the team members as well as the riders enjoyed the sunny weather even if it was pretty difficult to get used to the high temperatures. As usual in Portugal the organisers did a perfect job preparing the layout.
Sebastien was the fastest rider on Saturday and dominated the two free practice sessions and later the timed practice period to collect his second consecutive pole position. Starting the opening race in fourth place Sébastien moved to second at mid-race distance behind David Philippaerts. After pushing hard during the last 10 minutes to catch the Italian rider, a mistake during the last lap cost him a possible heat win.
Sebastien’s second moto start was not as good as his previous one but he took advantage of his inside position on the start-gate to reach third behind Steve Ramon and Billy MacKenzie. For several laps he battled with the reigning World Champion and finally took second position at mid-race distance. Billy MacKenzie was leading but he crashed during the 14th lap and offered the win to Sébastien who then just controlled his rivals during the last few laps.
Sébastien was the only GPKR racing in this GP as Kevin Strijbos underwent surgery earlier in the week and Alexandre Rouis failed to qualify once more.
Sébastien Pourcel: “It’s great to win here today as I didn’t get any significant results during the first two GPs. Yesterday I was again the fastest rider during the practice sessions and it was important to confirm these performances during the race day. I had two good starts even if I did miss the jump out of the gate in the second moto. After that I didn’t make any mistakes except during the last lap of the first race when I pushed hard to join Philippaerts. I know that I can go faster but I want to be consistent as the championship is long and my goal now is to be in the top five every weekend. For the team it’s a great result, Kevin is injured and it’s mentally good for everyone to celebrate a GP win. I want to dedicate this win – my fourth one with Kawasaki – to M.Hoslet who passed away last week and helped us a lot with his son in Belgium.”
Roger Pourcel: “We’ve all known for a few weeks that we were ready to win some races but we didn’t get any success so far and so we are delighted today. Sebastien put probably too much pressure on his shoulders in the Netherlands and the racing conditions during the first two GPs didn’t help him. Here in Portugal it was different, he confirmed his speed during the qualifying sessions and today on a hard and dry track he was one of the fastest riders. He did the best lap times in each race and with this GP win he offers a great present to the team.
"I’m also happy for Kawasaki who have supported us for 17 years now – we have a very good bike and for sure we’ll offer the brand some other great results. Alex still has some troubles to be agressive on his bike and we will work in this direction. But at the moment he is not fast enough to qualify but I’m sure that it will change soon.”
