Christophe Pourcel of Kawasaki Team CLS was equal top points-scorer at the British round of the FIM World MX1 Motocross Championship at Matterley Basin as three Kawasaki’s finished in the top eight. 
The 23 year old Frenchman had showed great speed and skill as he topped qualification on Saturday and in the first moto of the GP he pressurised early leader Steven Frossard until his compatriot made a mistake to make the way clear for a deserved win by the Kawasaki rider, his first victory this year. After another excellent start in race two Pourcel looked set to repeat his first win, but a simple mistake on a jump saw him throw away his chances and forced him to pull out of the race because his bike was bent in the incident. But for once Lady Luck was on his side and after a collision between two other riders the race was red-flagged and rerun over the full distance. Having already changed into his regular clothing before the red flag came out, Pourcel faced a hectic dash to get ready for the rerun and the stress restricted him to third place, but this was enough to see him end the day as equal top points-scorer.
All of the Kawasaki riders showed top ten speed during the course of the weekend and Jonathan Barragan of the Kawasaki Racing Team was sixth overall in the GP after a sparkling ride to fourth place in the second moto. The score lifts the Spaniard to eighth in the championship standings.
His teammate Xavier Boog had got the weekend off to an excellent start with the holeshot in the qualification race, and the Frenchman showed good speed all weekend. An unfortunate opening lap in the first moto left him almost last but he battled furiously to recover to 12th place by the chequered flag, and had every prospect of a top score in race two as he started fifth but then crashed already on the opening lap after launching too far over a jump; although nothing was broken, he was too badly shaken to continue. Xavier also advanced one place in the standings to ninth.
Davide Guarneri of Kawasaki Bud Racing also had an excellent ride in qualification to earn sixth choice of gate, but an unlucky start in race one left the Italian fighting back through the pack from 14th place to finish eighth. He was going even better in fourth place in the second moto when the race was red-flagged but was unfortunate to suffer a bad start in the rerun which restricted him to 11th position.
French teammate Gregory Aranda was much happier than in recent weeks as he finally shrugged off the injuries which have dogged him all season. With more time to find a suitable set-up he twice finished 12th, his best result of the season.
Scotland's Billy MacKenzie, who has raced to medal positions for Kawasaki in Australia for the past two seasons, made a guest appearance in the colours of the British LPE Kawasaki team and raced to an excellent seventh place in the opening moto. He was unfortunately involved in a collision with another rider in the second race which caused the race to be red-flagged, but was reported to be conscious and talking even though still in much pain later in the evening.
Christophe Pourcel: “Since Loket we never stop working with the team; not so much on the bike as I was already happy with the settings, but I rode a lot of motos in practice to prepare the last three GPs. The track was much better than Loket, it was similar to the US for the first moto, but it was different in the second one as there were not so many lines. In the first race I had a nice battle with Steven (Frossard); I was trying to make a pass in several places but it wasn’t easy but in the end Steven made a mistake and it was great to win that race ! I didn’t want to take too many risks on the first lap of the second race and I was following Simpson but I made a stupid mistake on a table top and came up too short. I crashed and the bike was damaged, so I decided to stop and I was angry with myself for my mistake. I was on the way back to my car ready to leave the track when the team called me to come for another start; it was all a bit of a rush but we made it. I crashed a few times this weekend, but it was fun to race with Cairoli and Frossard, we had a really good speed and both were clean when we made the passes.”
Jonathan Barragan: “We saw again this weekend that if I get a good start, then I can get a good result. In the first race my start was not so good and then I crashed several times to finish fourteenth; but with a good start in the second moto I was able to finish in fourth position, one of my best results this season. It’s a shame that I have not had better starts, it’s so important nowadays in the MX1 class.”
Xavier Boog: “It was a real motocross track this weekend, and until the crash during the second race it was one of my best weekends so far. I qualified in fifth yesterday, came back from twenty sixth to eleventh in the first moto and got a good start in the second race. I was fifth but I was riding a little too tense and I went too far on a jump; I landed in a hole, my hand came off the handlebars and I crashed. I had pain to my back and my neck; they took me to be examined at the hospital and nothing is broken but I will have more examinations this week at home.”
Davide Guarneri: “Yesterday I had fun on this track and was riding well to finish sixth in the qualifying race, a good result. Today I was maybe fifteenth at the start of the first race, and had good speed as I recovered to eighth with good speed. I had my best start of the season in the second race and I was fourth, riding easily, when they put out the red flag after fifteen minutes! In the rerun I had a really bad start. I was pushing hard for fifteen minutes but then I started to feel tired; the track was getting really bumpy and the sun was coming down so it was difficult to see and I finished eleventh.”
Gregory Aranda: “I was ill this week and that was not easy for me; I was sweating and during the first race I was forced to take off my goggles. I finished twelfth and was sixth in the second moto when they stopped the race. At the restart I didn't get away so good and I got another twelfth place finish. I’m happy as I was having fun on the bike again this weekend. After Loket I had a meeting with the team and we’ve worked on the settings; I felt more confident on the bike and I’m now looking forward to Germany and Italy.”
