CHRISTOPHE POURCEL 8TH AT GLEN HELEN FOR ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING

[totalmotorcycle]

CHRISTOPHE POURCEL 8TH AT GLEN HELEN FOR #ROCKSTAR ENERGY @HUSQVARNA FACTORY #RACING
ANDERSON REDEEMS A TOUGH FIRST MOTO AND FINISHES 11TH


@Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Jason Anderson, Christophe Pourcel, and Zach Osborne traveled to Southern California on Saturday for the second round of the 2015 AMA Motocross series, held at the Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif. Teammate Zach Bell was unable to race due to previous injury. Anderson and Pourcel were looking to repeat last week’s impressive top-10 performances in 450MX, while Osborne was focused on improving upon his season opening 12th place finish in 250MX. Glen Helen’s signature uphill and downhill sections, combined with a little rainfall on Friday, proved to make this a challenging track for all riders.

450MX
Christophe Pourcel felt excellent aboard his Husqvarna FC 450. His signature smooth riding style was on full display as he pulled a top-10 start in the first moto and quickly navigated to sixth before conceding a few spots to finish ninth. Anderson had a rough start to the first moto when he and Ken Roczen got tangled, causing both riders to go down shortly after the gate dropped. He remounted in the very back of the pack and charged ahead before going down again around lap 10. Another bike landed on him while he was trying to get up, and he was unable to finish the moto

Both riders were motivated to improve in the second moto. After they pulled top-10 starts, Anderson charged to the fifth-place spot, while Pourcel moved into seventh by the second lap. Anderson held his ground in fifth, while Pourcel fell back to eighth but was still looking great and feeling good. Anderson fell back a few spots around the seventh lap, but came back with a vengeance to reclaim fifth where he finished. After not finishing the first moto, the fifth-place finish in the second moto gave him 11th overall on the day. He is currently seventh overall in rider point standings. Pourcel would eventually finish the race in 10th. His 9-10 finish gave him eighth overall, and currently maintains eighth overall in rider point standings.

“My day here at Glen Helen was kind of weird,” said Anderson. “I rode good all day, but I had two things happen in the first moto that were out of my control. I feel like I would have been top five overall, which is good. I got a decent start in the second moto and fell back a little, then made a charge in the end and got up to fifth. I was battling for fourth. All-in-all it was a step in the right direction and I feel good.”

“Overall my speed was in the top 10 today,” said Pourcel. “I got a decent start and tried to do my motos. The track was pretty rough and this is only my second race back so it’s a lot to take. It’s good just to be in the top 10 and keep pushing until the end of the motos. I feel like I’m progressing and taking steps forward, and I feel a lot better than last week so that’s good.”

250MX
Zach Osborne’s goal of improving upon last week’s finish outside the top-10 seemed to evade him. A mid-pack start and stalling the bike in a corner gave him a 13th-place finish in the first moto, while a big crash that caused his shoulder to pop out caused a DNF in the second moto. He ended the day 17th overall, and is currently 15th overall in rider point standings.

“It was a tough one today,” said Osborne. “I had really good speed in practice – I qualified fifth and was close to the other guys. In the first moto I had a small stall and it took me a little bit to get the bike going. Then in the second moto I got maybe a 10th-place start and charged up to fifth. I was catching up to third and fourth and had a small tip over. I got up and was still ninth or 10th and started to come back a bit. I had a big crash with two laps to go and popped my shoulder out, but I’m still super optimistic for next weekend.”

***

PHOTOS: Simon Cudby
CAPTION 1: After getting landed on in the first 450 moto, Jason Anderson finished fifth in moto two to bring home 11th.
CAPTION 2: Christophe Pourcel maintains eighth overall in 450 rider point standings.
CAPTION 3: Zach Osborne had a tough day, but is looking forward to a redeeming ride next week at Thunder Valley

Glen Helen Results:

250MX
1. Marvin Musquin
2. Justin Hill
3. Jessy Nelson
…
17. Zach Osborne - Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

250MX Rider Point Standings:
1. Marvin Musquin - 97 points
2. Jeremy Martin - 78 points
3. Alex Martin - 65 points
4. Joey Savatgy - 58 points
5. Justin Hill - 52 points
6. Chris Alldredge - 49 points
7. Jessy Nelson - 48 points
8. Matt Bisceglia - 45 points
9. Shane McElrath - 44 points
10. Adam Cianciarulo - 42 points
…
15. Zach Osborne – 17 points
…

24. Zach Bell – 6 points

450MX
1. Eli Tomac
2. Justin Barcia
3. Ryan Dungey
…
8. Christophe Pourcel – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing
…
11. Jason Anderson – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing

450MX Rider Point Standings:
1. Eli Tomac – 100 points
2. Ryan Dungey – 81 points
3. Weston Peick – 64 points
4. Blake Baggett – 61 points
5. Justin Barcia – 58 points
6. Ken Roczen – 51 points
7. Jason Anderson – 50 points
8. Christophe Pourcel – 48 points
9. Chad Reed – 46 points
10. Broc Tickle – 43 points