Pro Circuit Race Report: Daytona
March 8, 2010, 11:59pm
Corona, Calif. – The Daytona supercross is always a special event and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rose to the occasion on Saturday night with Christophe Pourcel taking his third straight win and Dean Wilson earning his first career podium after finishing third.
The rich history and tradition of the Daytona supercross isn’t lost on Pourcel who has now won twice at the “World’s Center of Racing.”
“This is a very important race,” said Pourcel. “It is one you hear about all around the world and I am so happy to win at Daytona again. This is probably the biggest race on the schedule. I’ve won three races this year and I need to stay on my game to finish with the championship.”
During qualifying practice, the track was changed between the first and second sessions with Pourcel posting the fastest overall time in the second session while Wilson used his time from the first practice to qualify second. In the first heat, Wilson didn’t get a great start and moved up from tenth to fourth in the short 6-lap race. In the second heat, Pourcel had little trouble getting his third heat race win of the season.
“Getting on the podium feels so great,” said Wilson. “Chris gave me some advice this weekend and it paid off for me. He told be to pace myself better and I was able to charge late in the race to get the last podium spot.”
In the main event, Pourcel crossed the line after the first lap in third and steadily made his way to the lead on lap six. Pourcel rode a smooth race through the remaining nine laps to win by more than two seconds. Wilson was right behind Pourcel on the first lap and he rode in fourth until lap 12 when he made his move to the podium. The late charge saw him get to the rear wheel of the second place rider, but there wasn’t enough laps left and Wilson settled for third.
The team now heads to Wilson’s adopted country of Canada for the fourth round of the AMA Supercross Lites Eastern Region season. Pourcel holds a strong points lead with Wilson sitting in third position in the standings. Saturday’s race will be at the Rogers Center in Toronto with live coverage on SPEED beginning at 7:30 pm ET.
The rich history and tradition of the Daytona supercross isn’t lost on Pourcel who has now won twice at the “World’s Center of Racing.”
“This is a very important race,” said Pourcel. “It is one you hear about all around the world and I am so happy to win at Daytona again. This is probably the biggest race on the schedule. I’ve won three races this year and I need to stay on my game to finish with the championship.”
During qualifying practice, the track was changed between the first and second sessions with Pourcel posting the fastest overall time in the second session while Wilson used his time from the first practice to qualify second. In the first heat, Wilson didn’t get a great start and moved up from tenth to fourth in the short 6-lap race. In the second heat, Pourcel had little trouble getting his third heat race win of the season.
“Getting on the podium feels so great,” said Wilson. “Chris gave me some advice this weekend and it paid off for me. He told be to pace myself better and I was able to charge late in the race to get the last podium spot.”
In the main event, Pourcel crossed the line after the first lap in third and steadily made his way to the lead on lap six. Pourcel rode a smooth race through the remaining nine laps to win by more than two seconds. Wilson was right behind Pourcel on the first lap and he rode in fourth until lap 12 when he made his move to the podium. The late charge saw him get to the rear wheel of the second place rider, but there wasn’t enough laps left and Wilson settled for third.
The team now heads to Wilson’s adopted country of Canada for the fourth round of the AMA Supercross Lites Eastern Region season. Pourcel holds a strong points lead with Wilson sitting in third position in the standings. Saturday’s race will be at the Rogers Center in Toronto with live coverage on SPEED beginning at 7:30 pm ET.
