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Wish more saw it that way!
I hope he does well, well enough to keep a ride and be happy as well as silence the haters.
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It was my understanding that he was wanted a deal that matched his closest competitors who would then have been; Stewart, RV, Dungey, Reed, Canard. Maybe Weimer didn't expect as much, but Pourcel was more decorated than Weimer and he probably felt Kawasaki owed him something after delivering a World title, x2 East Coast SX titles and countless Outdoor National overalls. In his mind he was equal to Dungey or Canard who were both offered Factory rides. Somewhere along the line holding out for an equal footing to those guys was seen to be being greedy. It was probably partly his own fault for being stubborn and refusing to accept nothing less, but can you really blame the guy?
I agree he should probably have taken the Geico ride instead of MCR, but to me the fact that he returned, or refused Mike Genovas cheque after that whole debacle kind of contradicts the speculation about him chasing the money.
I like Matthes and I enjoy his podcasts, but he has not hidden his dislike of Pourcel in recent years. Like most others his dissaproval appears to stem from Pourcels quirky and bolshie personality and it's pretty obvious CP doesn't enjoy the media spotlight as others do. Trey Canard (and his mum) and Mitch Payton all seem to have nothing but good things to say about the guy. Gaultier Paulin not so much, so he just splits opinion.
But thats all very well in hindsight.
Let us hope it is good for us to have Pourcel back, to see good battles, we like him or not it is normal everyone prefers this or this rider, anyway, it brings an interesting factory effort, makes the lites nationals even more stacked & as usual in the recent years, puts more legitimity as the #1 lites series globally. Good for us, especially with the opening at GH, which for me is the craziest track globally ! I can't wait !
Did anyone catch this article on RACERXthat pingree wrote about pourcel and outdoors practice back in 2009.
i was sitting with Mitch watching practice and Pourcel rolled by, standing up and going at half-speed. He had been doing that all day and for the past two months according to those who have seen him. Mitch offered this:
"He used to do that with me all the time. One day we were out here testing at Glen Helen and he just wouldn't put a lap together. He said the bike was no good and the track was no good—he was really frustrated. At the very end of the day we hadn't gotten far with Pourcel because he wouldn't ride hard and he just kept saying the track was stupid and wasn't like anything we would race on. I told him we just needed him to try some clamps and tell us if they were bad, good or no different. All I wanted was two good laps from him. He said, "Just two laps?" I told him that was all I wanted. Just give us something to leave here feeling good about. So he pulled on his helmet and went out but he wasn't happy about it. At that point Chad Reed, who was riding for Suzuki, had the quickest lap time of the day. Pourcel went out and just dropped the hammer and beat it by two seconds. All the guys on the team were high-fiving and pumped. When he came in I told him that was awesome and told him his lap time. He pulled his helmet off and said, "What, did you think I wasn't good?" That's just the way he is. He is so talented he can turn it on and be the fastest guy out there any time he really wants to."
You must be right, best way to thank CLS for the investment be it the money or the time and save his ass when he got nothing after the MotoConcepts collapse. Two teams let down in one year, good average. And of course, not his fault... again...
I think he was upset about Kawi, not CLS. I do not know how people enjoy their notice period but at this level & with the risks they take, after 3 championships & almost 5 whereas Paulin so far has none, I would not have enjoyed. Plus it was the 2nd time with Kawi after the US episode.
But I get your point, in term of image & PR, it can improve, he is not like KR. Let us hope it works out this year, I like both CP & Yamaha so I have to rely on moto gods
Pit Row
Just saw this article. Some interesting insight all around but it says that Pourcel won't let anyone trail him. I could think of a few reasons he would do that.
Post a reply to: Pourcel - 2015?