Team Hunt: Round Two With Christophe Pourcel 11

After a shoulder injury at the end of the Nationals kept him out of action for silly season (and the Supercross season), the hunt goes on for a new ride for Christophe Pourcel. Wednesday was round one at Pala, with the GEICO Honda crew, and on Thursday he went 180 degrees, and did a day of testing at Perris Raceway with the Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha guys.

Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha team manager Jon Mitcheff had worked at Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki in the past, and tapped into their resources to come up with Christophe's handlebar bend, which made him feel a bit more at home on the blue 450, right off the bat.

Christophe seemed to settle in pretty quickly, with less fussing over the controls and setup than he'd done the previous day. One thing he did comment on was that he didn't particularly like the hydraulic clutch on the Honda, and was happier with the conventional cable-operated setup on the Yamaha.

Debriefing after the first motos. They opted to make some changes to rear gearing, and front suspension.

Making changes after the first round of laps, Valli Motorsports Rockstar Yamaha's Todd Brown dials it in from the cozy confines of one of their sprinter vans. It's interesting watching the progression in speed and style as the team makes requested changes, and Christophe gets more comfortable on the bike.

One of Christophe's potential Valli teammates, Ricky Dietrich, was also on hand and putting in some serious motos. He took the win in the second day of the recent WORCS round, so it's obvious fitness for the outdoors won't be an issue.

So what do you think? Would Christophe be better on the Honda? The Yamaha? Something else? We joked with him and asked where should we go tomorrow, and he smiled and said, "Maybe we're done today?" He also mentioned that if you want to keep up to date with him, you can check in at www.christophepourcel.com, which links directly to his Facebook page.

We'll see. It'll be interesting to see where he lands.