Photo by: Hoppenworld

In 2007, the 2006 MX2 World Champion, Christophe Pourcel, burst onto the American Supercross scene and surprised everyone by finishing second in the opening round of the 250SX Western Regional Championship and following that up with a win over Ryan Villopoto at round two in Phoenix. Christophe left after round three to compete in the 2007 MX2 World Championship, but a very serious injury that left many wondering if he would ever walk again, derailed his 2007 MX2 season and most thought his future on dirt bikes as well.

Surprisingly, after an arduous recovery, the Frenchman returned to the U.S. for the 2009 250SX Eastern Regional Championship and dominated the series to win the Championship. In the same year, the “Crafty Frenchman” came a DNF at Southwick shy of winning the 2009 250 AMA Motocross Championship and 2010 would be a sore reminder of 2009. Again Christophe would win the 2010 250SX Eastern Regional Championship and lose the outdoor title to a freak deal. This time, though, Christophe led the Championship going into the final round, only to lose it to Trey Canard with a crash at the final round.

Since 2010, the #377 has had a brief U.S. outdoor stint on the 450 with MotoConcepts, but he’s spent the majority of the time racing the 450 over in the MXGP series. In late 2012, though, Christophe broke his spleen and, for the last 18 months, has been recovering, training kids at his Florida home and probably lamenting his almost championships in the U.S. Well, the crafty one is back chasing a 250 Lucas Oil Pro Championship in 2014 for the Valli Motorsports/Yamaha team, and after two rounds, he sits third in the Championship points behind the other two factory Yamaha backed riders, Jeremy Martin and Cooper Webb. We missed Christophe’s character and style at the races, and we are pumped to have #377 back in the States doing what he does best.

Pourcel (far left) finished third to make it a 1-2-3 sweep for Yamaha at Hangtown. Photo by: Hoppenworld
Pourcel (far left) finished third to make it a 1-2-3 sweep for Yamaha at Hangtown. Photo by: Hoppenworld

Today, after his first podium of 2014 at Hangtown, he answered some questions for the press. You can read what he had to say below.

Christophe, two weeks in a row you were the fastest rider in timed qualification. Congratulations on those two awards. What is it about the second practice that gets you so excited and knocks your times down to Oakley Bomb Award status?

I don’t know. I think there’s more lines and I get more comfortable. We make more changes for the second practice, so it’s good.

 

You mentioned that it’s been roughly 18 months since you’ve raced before Glen Helen. What have you been doing in that 18 months? Was it all training? Was it rehab? What was the program like?

Ah, I broke my spleen 18 months ago and then I took a little while to heal up. It took like 10 months for my spleen to kind of heal up. It’s a big injury. So I was just staying at my place in Florida, training some kids and not riding a lot. A few months ago we were kind of thinking about coming back. I have my house in the U.S., and I like to be here. I feel good here.

 

At Glen Helen, you seemed to be sitting back a little bit, and today, you seemed to go after it a little bit more. Is that about you getting more comfortable on the Yamaha?

Yeah, it’s a new bike, and I’ve been on the Kawasaki forever. It’s not easy for me to get used to the new bike, but I need to get used to it and I feel better every weekend. Last weekend, it was super-rough, and that was my first race back, so I kind of took it easy and smooth. I did what I did and I’m trying to get better and not crash. Those two guys in front, they go really fast, and I’m trying to get to their pace and get better every week.

Christophe was not very aggressive in the 2014 opener at Glen Helen, but still managed solid Championship points. Photo by: Hoppenworld
Christophe was not very aggressive in the 2014 opener at Glen Helen, but still managed solid Championship points. Photo by: Hoppenworld

I know last time you were here, you had problems with the heat in the second motos. Is that behind you now or is that something you’re still worried about as the summer goes on?

No, not really. I think we all do the work. I’ve been doing pretty much everything the same as everybody else in front. I’m not doing the same technique as I used to. I’m not doing jet skiing or anything like this, and I’m on a good diet. I know it’s a lot of work so I’m doing everything right and one day it will pay off.

 

Chris, you’ve been having trouble with your starts, and obviously, that second moto you got a good start. Did you consciously decide that this is the time I need to test to see how I can run with these guys, or was it just opportunity presenting itself?

No, I was mad after the first moto. I got a bad start, and like I said, the new bike, it’s just not easy for me to get used to it. It’s only a few starts I’ve been doing with this bike. I always kind of wheelie after the start and I just lose all my speed, so after the first moto, let’s go next to the box and get it done. So I have more experience to kind of play and that’s what we did. The bike is so good, you know, it’s fast that I know we can be in front, ’cause those two other guys, they’re always in front too. So that’s what I did. I went next to the box, then Jeremy was in front of me and I tried to follow him and I got the pace. Then Cooper passed me, or I kind of let him by. It was a good moto for me to get back into it.

 

Talk about the track a little bit today. Up on the podium, you mentioned that it was particularly rough.

When I raced in 2009 and 2010, the track wasn’t like this. It’s been very, very rough, and I feel like they should kind of fix stuff on the track to make room to pass. The take offs were sketchy, and we see a lot of guys crash in the second moto. There’s a lot of people that got hurt already, and it’s only the second round. That would be nice if they do a little something.

Christophe seems more motivated than ever to finish a life long goal of winning a U.S. National Motocross Championship. Photo by: Hoppenworld
Christophe seems more motivated than ever to finish a life long goal of winning a U.S. National Motocross Championship. Photo by: Hoppenworld

When you talked about injuring your spleen, was that at Bercy?

Yeah, it was at Bercy. It took me like forever to heal up. I had a lot of pain in my side and it took like 10 months to kind of be okay.

 

You said you decided to come back a few months ago, and when you were deciding, what made you come back down to the 250 class instead of staying 450?

The main reason was I missed the title twice, and I think coming back on the 250 is better for me than the 450. It’s a lot more work. The bike is big, so it’s good for me. 250 or 450, everybody’s fast. The front is always fast. For me it’s easier to get my pace back on the 250 and get ready and get stronger to move on to 450.

 

You mention getting stronger. Is your deal with Valli a next year deal where you’re racing supercross and outdoors on a 450 next year, or is it just a one year contract?

No, the main focus with the team is doing the summer with them. That’s it. That’s my main goal and that’s their goal. We’ll see in the future what I do. Right now, the focus is to get more comfortable on the 250, try to get more podiums and ride with those two guys in front.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.