Pourcel Debuts 2009 KX450F in Dublin

GPKR’s Sébastien Pourcel is set to inject even more excitement into the last three MX1 GPs as he’ll make his debut race on the awesome 2009 Fuel Injection KX450F at the Irish GP in Dublin.

Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing’s Sébastien Pourcel has been sensational in this year’s FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship as the 23–year-old Frenchman has taken more pole positions than any other rider, won the most heats – as well as two Grand Prix overall – and currently sits sixth in the series standings on his factory KX450F-SR still with a chance of taking the title.

For the remaining three rounds of the MX1 championship Kawasaki will give Sébastien an even greater edge over his competition as he’ll debut the brand new fuel-injected 2009 KX450F in competition at the Grand Prix of Ireland in Fairyhouse, Dublin on August 31. Lighter, faster and stronger than ever before the 2009 KX450F is more than machine enough to push Pourcel back in to the winner’s circle.

Sébastien started testing with the new bike and a pair of Kawasaki Heavy Industries factory engineers – Mr Maruyama and Mr Yamamoto – in mid-August before jumping back on to his current GPKR race bike to wrap up the French Championship in Lacapelle Marival on August 17. After celebrating clinching the French series in style Sébastien headed back to Belgium to continue testing with the new bike and its many new technologies.

Mr Maruyama (engine engineer) and Mr Yamamoto (fuel injection engineer) are the men responsible for spearheading the development of the 2009 KX450F in their respective areas and were invaluable to the testing process as they helped Sébastien and the GPKR technicians learn every detail about the bike and especially the fuel injection system – it’s Electronic Control Unit and especially the KX FI Calibration Kit. The optional KX FI Calibration Kit consists of an ECU controller, all leads and software and is by no means essential to the average user. However it does allow riders to rewrite data maps to adjust engine characteristics to suit their individual needs if they deem it necessary.

The KX FI Calibration Kit can also be used as a data logger that records up to six hours of running data – engine rpm, throttle position, engine temperature etc. The Kit can as well save the interesting information so that it can be used for performance tuning purposes. This data can also be used to help determine servicing needs and schedules.

After initially testing the new machine Sébastien was delighted with its performance and also its feel. “The bike offers great maneuverability. It’s really easy to ride and that makes it possible for me to concentrate more on my riding technique,” enthuses Sébastien. “It’s the overall power delivery that is probably the most impressive thing about this bike though. There’s a great improvement in the lower end of the RPM range and there’s absolutely no gap in the power when I’m shifting gears – it almost feels like riding a semi automatic bike.”

“The team and I really enjoy working with Mr Maruyama and Mr Yamamoto and the help they give us is amazing. I really appreciate their involvement and the amount of dedication they show towards testing and making this already great motocross bike the best it possibly can be for me. I’m really looking forward to racing the new bike in Dublin and for the rest of the season and I hope I can show my appreciation of all Kawasaki’s help and commitment by giving them some good results.”

Testing with the new race bike will continue right up until the Irish GP both with both Kawasaki and also Öhlins who provide the GPKR team with factory suspension units. It has taken some time to find the best settings for Sébastien but the Öhlins technicians have been working hard to find the perfect set-up making it possible for Sébastien to race the 2009 KX450F coming weekend at the Irish GP.

To keep up to speed with Sébastien Pourcel’s race performances on the 2009 KX450F and to see some awesome footage of Sebastien testing his new race machine stay tuned in at www.kawasaki-racingteam.eu.

Here's a bonus part...a Freecaster.tv video of Sebastien on the new KX450F.