Tomorrow night at approximately 7:30 p.m., EST, the first heat of the 2010 Monster Energy Supercross Series East Region championship chase will lift off as soon as the starting gate clanks into the soft dirt of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. As part of the proceedings, Christophe Pourcel, of the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, will be out to retain the East-Region red plate he won by winning five out of eight races in 2009. Originally penciled into team owner Mitch Payton’s West Region starting lineup, Pourcel broke his collarbone just a few days prior to the season-opening Anaheim Supercross in California on January 9. Sent straight back to his home near Orlando to allow the bone to heal up, Pourcel, with the exception of a race appearance at Anaheim II, went missing, trying to stay in shape and work toward getting some seat time on the bike. Somehow, he managed to pull it all off, and today, while he was getting into a car to head off to participate in a dealer signing outside of Indianapolis, we tracked down the native of Marseilles, France, and quickly checked in with him to see how he was feeling. Confident and in good spirits, all seemed well with Christophe and his master plan for the eight-race series.
Christophe Pourcel: I’m good. How are you?
I’m good, thanks. How are you feeling? How’s the collarbone?
It’s good. I’m back on the bike.
I know you had to try and heal up pretty quickly. Have you been able to spend much time on the bike up until today?
I’ve been on it a week. I’ve been on the bike four times.
Physically, do you feel well or are you going to have to ride yourself into shape?
Yeah, I’m all good and ready to go. I did my 15 lap motos easy, so I know I can do it.
You ride so smoothly and meticulously, do you think you’ll be able to take some pressure off of your collarbone?
I don’t have anything bothering my collarbone anyways, so it’s fine. I can do whatever I want.
What’s the plan for tomorrow night, Christophe? Are you just going to see how things go at first or are you going out for the win?
I’m going planning on winning the race.
As far as your competition – Austin Stroupe, Brett Metcalfe, Justin Barcia, Nico Izzi, your teammate Dean Wilson and others – do you have any kind of feeling or gauge as to how these guys will be to compete against?
I think there are a lot of riders on the East Coast, but there will always be someone to race with. But I am just going to ride to win the race and that’s it.
You placed second at Indianapolis last year. Did you like the stadium and the track?
Did I finish second?
Yes.
You’re sure I finished second last year?
Yeah, you won the opener at Houston and round two at Atlanta, but were third at Indianapolis...
Okay. I don’t know about the track last year, but the track for this year is not really good right now. I think they’re going to change it and they fix it all the time during the day so it’s all good for the race, so I’m not that worried about that. But right now I can tell you that it’s not that good.
Yeah, we worked a little bit on that. It’s not easy to find out what I can or can’t do. We’re still trying to find out we can do to make it better. I’ll let you know when we find out.
Despite the broken-collarbone setback before Anaheim, you sound like you’re in good spirits and feel good about everything.
Yeah, I’m all good. I’m just ready to go. I’m ready to ride.
Including the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas, you won six supercross races last year. Can you do that again?
I would like to win more than six races, but you never know.
As far as the six West Region races that have been run thus far in 2009, were you able to watch any of them on television?
I watched some. I knew Jake [Weimer] rode pretty good on practice days with me and he was good on the bike. It was pretty good to watch the races. It’s good to just watch the races on TV and then see what mistakes are made and you know you don’t want to make the same mistakes. Like Jake had a crash last weekend [Note: Weimer crashed in the Anaheim III main event and was forced to race back to eighth.] and it didn’t work out well for him. It’s like you don’t want to make the same exact mistake.
So, despite the very limited amount of time you’ve had on your Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250F, you still feel strong and confident?
Yep. It’s good, good, good.
All right, Christophe, thanks for your time and best of luck tomorrow night…
Okay, you’re welcome. Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye bye...
Christophe Pourcel: I’m good. How are you?
I’m good, thanks. How are you feeling? How’s the collarbone?
It’s good. I’m back on the bike.
I know you had to try and heal up pretty quickly. Have you been able to spend much time on the bike up until today?
I’ve been on it a week. I’ve been on the bike four times.
Physically, do you feel well or are you going to have to ride yourself into shape?
Yeah, I’m all good and ready to go. I did my 15 lap motos easy, so I know I can do it.
You ride so smoothly and meticulously, do you think you’ll be able to take some pressure off of your collarbone?
I don’t have anything bothering my collarbone anyways, so it’s fine. I can do whatever I want.
What’s the plan for tomorrow night, Christophe? Are you just going to see how things go at first or are you going out for the win?
I’m going planning on winning the race.
As far as your competition – Austin Stroupe, Brett Metcalfe, Justin Barcia, Nico Izzi, your teammate Dean Wilson and others – do you have any kind of feeling or gauge as to how these guys will be to compete against?
I think there are a lot of riders on the East Coast, but there will always be someone to race with. But I am just going to ride to win the race and that’s it.
You placed second at Indianapolis last year. Did you like the stadium and the track?
Did I finish second?
Yes.
You’re sure I finished second last year?
Yeah, you won the opener at Houston and round two at Atlanta, but were third at Indianapolis...
Okay. I don’t know about the track last year, but the track for this year is not really good right now. I think they’re going to change it and they fix it all the time during the day so it’s all good for the race, so I’m not that worried about that. But right now I can tell you that it’s not that good.
Yeah, we worked a little bit on that. It’s not easy to find out what I can or can’t do. We’re still trying to find out we can do to make it better. I’ll let you know when we find out.
Despite the broken-collarbone setback before Anaheim, you sound like you’re in good spirits and feel good about everything.
Yeah, I’m all good. I’m just ready to go. I’m ready to ride.
Including the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas, you won six supercross races last year. Can you do that again?
I would like to win more than six races, but you never know.
As far as the six West Region races that have been run thus far in 2009, were you able to watch any of them on television?
I watched some. I knew Jake [Weimer] rode pretty good on practice days with me and he was good on the bike. It was pretty good to watch the races. It’s good to just watch the races on TV and then see what mistakes are made and you know you don’t want to make the same mistakes. Like Jake had a crash last weekend [Note: Weimer crashed in the Anaheim III main event and was forced to race back to eighth.] and it didn’t work out well for him. It’s like you don’t want to make the same exact mistake.
So, despite the very limited amount of time you’ve had on your Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki KX250F, you still feel strong and confident?
Yep. It’s good, good, good.
All right, Christophe, thanks for your time and best of luck tomorrow night…
Okay, you’re welcome. Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye bye...
