Last year during the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, the “Crafty Frenchman”, Christophe Pourcel, came out of hiding to contest the 250MX Class aboard a Valli/Yamaha. At the end of twelve rounds, the #377 had enough Oakley Bomb Awards—given to the fastest qualifier—to re-ignite the French Revolution and even scored his first AMA National overall win since 2009 at the Unadilla National. In the end, though, his results were only good enough for sixth overall in the Championship and a rocky relationship—not an uncommon theme with Christophe—with his Valli/Yamaha team lead to Christophe sitting out the final round in Utah.
To most fans’ surprise, the former two-time Regional 250SX Champion was once again overlooked for a ride with a top team for the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season, but with the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship starting next month, Christophe is again at the top of the rumor mill. First, we heard that the former MX2 World Champion would be filling in for the injured Tyler Bowers on his former team, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki. After those talks fell apart due to Pourcel’s asking price—again, not an uncommon theme with Christophe—the rumors switched to the #377 filling in on the now empty factory Kawasaki squad. With Davi Millsaps recently terminated and Wil Hahn still sidelined to injury, it seemed like a perfect fit, but yesterday, pictures surfaced over at VitalMX of Christophe testing the Rockstar/Husqvarna 450. Maybe Christophe has been watching the 2015 MXGP series and wanted what Max Nagl has.
How will Christophe do if he lines up for the 2015 450MX Championship at Hangtown? Well, that depends on what Christophe has been up to behind the scenes. Unlike in 2014, there have been no reported sightings of Christophe riding and staying in race shape, so we doubt Christophe is very well prepared. One thing is for sure, though, the kid will have plenty of speed and will more than likely add to his huge Oakley Bomb Award collection in his trophy case. With that, I see Christophe getting good starts, running up front for the first ten to fifteen minutes and fading near the end of motos. To start the year, I think landing in the top seven would be a great results with better results coming as he gets acclimated to the Husqvarna and works his way into race shape. Hopefully he is determined to make a real run at a full time career again because one of my biggest regrets of the last ten years is that we never got to see the best of Christophe in Supercross. Bring on outdoor motocross!
You can check out pics of Christophe testing the Rockstar Husqvarna here.
