Press Release

Successful Surgery For Sébastien

3 June 2009


Sébastien Pourcel underwent successful surgery Thursday afternoon 28th of May in Aix en Provence, but Sébastien will be replaced for the coming 2 GP’s by fellow countryman Florent Richier.


Successful surgery for Sébastien

Professor Vedel – who already operated him after his accident in December – repaired the damaged shoulders of the factory Kawasaki rider. Seb entered the operating theatre at four o’clock, where he stayed for four hours under general anesthesia; he had to stay in the clinic until Monday, but he will attend the French Grand Prix in Ernée next week.


During the operation Professor Vedel treated his left shoulder injured in Valkenswaard; the damaged ligaments and the tendon were repaired by arthroscopy, and Sébastien left the room with the relevant support around his shoulder to avoid further complication. The doctors also made a minor correction to his right shoulder. He will be out of action for eight to ten weeks, missing most of the remaining World Championship rounds.


For the next events, KRT team will lineup Frenchman Florent Richier for the GP’s in France and Germany. Multiple German Motocross Champion and winner of many Supercross events in Germany, the former rival of Sébastien in the "Minivert Cadet Championship" will do his first appearance in Ernée on the factory Kawasaki KX450F-SR. Florent who will turn twentyfive next Sunday never got the chance to race a GP. Currently racing in Germany for Team Pfeil Kawasaki, he got the permission from his team to reach his dream during two events and after that he will continue racing for Team Pfeil Kawasaki.


“We have the bikes, the parts and the mechanics for 2 MX1 riders. The past weeks have been tough for everybody since we only had one representative. We’re happy to give a chance to Florent and there will be no pressure on Florent for these GP’s,” said team owner Roger Pourcel.


Martin van Genderen said: "From KRT point of view we are very happy that we could find a replacement for Sebastien. Of course we feel sorry that the injure of Sebastien is taking a long time and that he can’t ride for us like we planned. However everybody know that this year is a year with many injuries. With Florent we are fully operational again and we are looking forward for the race this weekend. A French rider in a French GP will give us the extra what we missed for a few weeks. Two riders on the track for KRT."


Steve Guttridge said: "At Kawasaki we like to work as one big team, Team Green, Florant has given us a lot of success over the past four years, both in German Championship, as German Champion for team Pfeil Kawasaki and also in the super cross. Florent now has the fantastic opportunity to show his talent on the MX Grand Prix stage for our official factory team. This is thanks to the good coordination of his team manager Harold Pfeil. Of course Florant will return to fulfill his duties for team Pfeill in the German Masters and DM open Championships as a priority."

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