ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING’S CHRISTOPHE POURCEL IMPRESSES AT WASHOUGAL NATIONAL!

Courtesy of Husqvarna Motorcycles

Osborne and Davalos Look To Regroup During 2 Week Break

The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team had an eventful Saturday at the Washougal National, the ninth round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, held in Washougal, Washington. Christophe Pourcel experienced joy and disappointment in the first 450 moto before regrouping for moto two, while teammates Martin Davalos and Zach Osborne both had to deal with a DNF in the 250 class. Christophe Pourcel is finally starting to feel normal again after having to simultaneously recover from injury while racing the past few weeks. He posted the fourth-fastest 450 qualifying time and was looking confident heading into the first moto. He pulled a top five start and proceeded to put on one of the best 450 rides of his career aboard his Husqvarna FC 450. He started making quick passes, found himself in the second-place spot by lap two, and got on the gas. He started pulling away to solidify his podium position, but third-place started creeping up on him shortly after the halfway mark. After battling for the position, he conceded to third toward the end of the race. Still in podium position, he started fighting back before scrubbing a jump, catching his foot, and crashing right near the end of the moto. He was unable to finish the race following the crash. Understandably disappointed, he lined up for the second moto looking to salvage valuable points and rebound after a tough first moto. He got a mid-pack start and had moved into 11th by the second lap. He immediately started making passes and eventually finished the race sixth. The tough 37-6 finish put him at 13th overall. He sits solidly in the top five in 450 rider point standings. “Washougal was tough,” said Pourcel. “Everything was going great. I was in the top-five in practice. I was on the box in the first moto, Marvin and Tomac were behind me and I think we had a good groove going. Everyone was going fast and everything was flowing pretty well. I don’t know, it happened so quickly. I think I caught my foot peg or my leg on the edge of that jump and just caused a bad crash. It surprised me. I got scared for a moment because I couldn’t really move. I was pretty beat up for the second moto and wasn’t really sure if I was going to be able to race. Navarro fixed my neck up as much as he could. I got a bad start from all the way outside in the second moto and had to fight my way through to sixth so it’s not too bad. I’m very disappointed about my crash for sure. I was super focused and I just made that small mistake. It would have been nice to not crash.” Zach Osborne pulled a top-10 start in the first 250 moto and made his way to fifth by the end of the first lap. He was in the middle of a freight train of riders, firmly held his ground, and finished the race in fifth. A huge pileup in the second moto shook things up as Osborne found his way into sixth in the first lap. He made the pass for fifth in lap four before an incident caused him to be unable to finish the race around lap 11. The 5-33 finish gave him 13th overall on the day, and he is currently sixth overall in 250 rider point standings. “I had two good starts,” said Osborne. “But it was still a big disappointment. I got fifth in the first moto and was right there for a podium position in the second moto but wasn’t able to finish the race. It’s unfortunate that I’ve had two DNFs in the past two weeks. It’s tough. Hopefully I can regroup during this break and I’ll try to come back swinging for the next round.” Martin Davalos finished 12th in the first 250 moto and was motivated to rebound in moto two. He got a decent start, avoided the massive pileup, and navigated his Husqvarna FC 250 into the second place spot by the end of the first lap. He was holding strong for the next few laps and set his sights on the lead as the race neared lap 11. He was pushing hard and looking like he was going to overtake the lead. Then, with two laps to go, he made a small mistake and went over the bars. The incident banged up him pretty bad and left him unable to finish the race. The 12-32 finish gave him 16th overall on the day, and he is currently 12th overall in 250 rider point standings. “Everything started out great,” said Davalos. “I really like Washougal and wanted to go into the break on a good note. I changed my settings a little bit for the first moto and couldn’t find a really good flow. I went back to what I knew for the second moto, got a good start, and just pushed hard. I really wanted to win and was pushing as hard as I could to try and overtake the lead, but I got caught off guard. I made a mistake, went over the bars and hurt myself a little bit. I’m really disappointed about that, but I’m super pumped with my riding. It’s been awhile since I’ve been up front outdoors. I’ll definitely take the positives from this weekend and hopefully I’ll be able to heal up for Unadilla.” Washougal MX Results: 250 Class: 1. Alex Martin 2. Austin Forkner 3. Cooper Webb … 13. Zach Osborne - Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing … 16. Martin Davalos – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 250 Class Rider Point Standings: 1. Cooper Webb – 372 points 2. Jeremy Martin – 321 points 3. Joey Savatgy – 319 points 4. Alex Martin – 317 points 5. Austin Forkner - 257 points 6. Zach Osborne – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing – 253 points 7. Aaron Plessinger – 245 points 8. Arnaud Tonus – 190 points 9. Adam Cianciarulo – 179 points 10. Mitchell Oldenburg – 169 points … 12. Martin Davalos – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing – 144 points 450 Class: 1. Eli Tomac 2. Ken Roczen 3. Marvin Musquin … 13. Christophe Pourcel – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing 450 Class Rider Point Standings: 1. Ken Roczen – 434 points 2. Eli Tomac – 379 points 3. Marvin Musquin – 283 points 4. Justin Barcia – 244 points 5. Christophe Pourcel – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing – 217 points 6. Broc Tickle –171 points 7. Andrew Short – 155 points 8. Justin Brayton – 152 points 9. Cole Seely – 151 points 10. Benny Bloss – 151 points

 

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