Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing riders Sébastien Pourcel and Livia Lancelot both won this weekend – Sebastien dominated the French MX1 championship round while Livia took victory in the new Women’s series.
Sébastien didn’t have time to celebrate his Portuguese GP win as just three days later he was in Gaillac Toulza for the practice sessions of the French Elite Championship. He collected another pole position - two and a half seconds ahead of Aranda and Aubin - on a dry and fast circuit. The racing conditions were also great on Thursday and Sébastien had no real rivals - starting the two MX1 heats in second position he won both races easily.
His last start was not so good in the super final – mixing the fastest MX1 and MX2 riders – but once more he was leading the race before the end of the opening lap. It was more difficult for him to create a gap with his rivals and Nicolas Aubin joined him to offer a great show to the public. They passed each other several times but in the end Seb won again and scored maximum points for the first time this season. He is now second in the standings and only four points behind leader Thomas Allier with three more rounds to go.
On Sunday the first ever round of the official French Women’s Championship took place in Plomion alongside the MX3 World Championship. After three preliminary races, one regional and two national ones Livia Lancelot showed her ability on a GP track as she dominated the event. Fastest in qualification, Livia grabbed three holeshots and three heat wins to lead the series ahead of Belgian Elien De Winter. It was a perfect training for Livia just one week prior to the opening round of the Women’s World Championship in Bulgaria as she only started to ride a bike again in March after six months of recovery due to knee surgery.
Sébastien Pourcel: “I didn’t feel so well in Gaillac as I had some stomach troubles on Thursday but that didn’t affect my results too much. I posted another pole position during the timed practice period and then did three strong races even if the last one was difficult. I started all the races in the top five and was leading each race before the end of the first lap but in the third one I felt tired and wasn’t able to make a gap. Nicolas Aubin joined me and for several laps we battled together, finally I won this last heat but it was pretty difficult during the last circulations. Once more the bike was perfect, I hope that I will continue to collect strong results in Bulgaria.”
Livia Lancelot: “I raced in Plomion for my fourth consecutive event after two French national championships and I’m happy with my results so far. In Plomion I got three holeshots and won the races pretty easily as I finished each one 40 seconds ahead of Elien De Winter. I know that my rivals will be stronger next week as Elien finished only eighth last year in the World Cup but I had a good speed in Plomion and even if the track was difficult for the last race with deep lines and ruts I rode safe and fast. We worked hard with the team and my bike is perfect - suspension as well as the engine and I’ve never been so well prepared to the opening round of the World Championship.”
