Monster Energy Supercross Update: Jacksonville

Monster/PC/Kawi’s Pourcel, ESX title already clinched, wins the last round before the series heads west; teammate Pourcel’s 3^rd and Monster’s Hill is 4^th in SX class

CORONA, Calif., (April 6, 2009) – Monster Energy’s Christophe Pourcel (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki), having already wrapped up the ’09 ESX title, put an exclamation point on his first American supercross championship by winning the final ESX round in Jacksonville, round 14 of 2009 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.

“I’ve got the championship already, but to win (Jacksonville) would be awesome,” said Pourcel prior to Saturday’s competition in front of 35,000-plus fans at Municipal Stadium.

Heat one in the SX Lites class looked to be all Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Austin Stroupe – at least in the opening stages. Stroupe got out in 2^nd place behind Will Hahn, then charged past Hahn through a double/double section to take the lead on lap two. Pushing hard – and maybe harder than he needed to – Stroupe tucked the front end of his KX250F into the dirt off a jump heading into a corner and was thrown over the bars. Uninjured, Stroupe got back up and got going again, but had gone from 1^st to 12^th in the quick-hitting six lap race.

“Yeah, at that point I just wanted to get back and catch a transfer spot,” said Stroupe, who fought back to the ninth and final transfer spot.

In the second Lites heat race Pourcel got past Matt Lemoine (who’d pulled the holeshot) and into the early lead. But a rare mistake would put Pourcel back a number of spots when he bobbled in a corner and stalled his bike. Able to re-fire in descent time, Pourcel still lost a bunch of spots with all the riders grouped together near the start of the race charging past him. The Frenchman made it back easily into the transfer positions, running from 10^th to 6^th by the end of the second heat.

In the main neither Pourcel, who was the fastest rider in qualifying practice (54.224), and Stroupe (2^nd fastest qualifier at 54.952) had great gate picks. Pourcel would move up first, completing a spectacular pass on lap two in getting past Vince Friese and Steve Clark to take over 2^nd place. Soon after Stroupe, who’d started outside the top ten, moved up to 8^th place with a pass over previous ESX Lites round winner Blake Wharton.

With seven laps to go in the contest Pourcel set up and passed race leader Hahn with a nice move on the corner after the finish line jump, forcing Hahn wide and taking over a lead he’d never relinquish.

“He (Pourcel) lets the race come to him, isn’t very flashy, just very disciplined,” said Monster Energy athlete Ricky Carmichael on Pourcel. Note: Carmichael joined SPEED SX announcers Ralph Shaheen and Jeff Emig in the booth for the Jacksonville contest. “He got what he wanted (SX Lites championship) and probably wants the outdoor championship as well.”

As Pourcel celebrated over the finish line jump, Stroupe was pulling out all the stops to close on Nico Izzi for the third and final podium spot. Stroupe would catch a break in one of the final sections when Izzi dove bomb his bike into the face of triple landing, though his bouncing bike almost cleaned out Stroupe as well – who was coming down from 30-feet to land the jump properly.

“I’ve felt good since last weekend and the track was pretty technical, hard to pass and I was having to back off,” said Stroupe. “A couple guys fell late and I was able to move up. Hat’s off to Izzi. I hope he’s all right.”

Monster Energy athletes represented pretty well in the SX main class with Josh Hill (Yamaha) leading the charge in 4^th place.

“I’m not going to be happy if I’m not in the top five at the last four races this season,” said a fired-up Hill prior to Jacksonville’s contest.

Monster Energy/Cernic’s/Kawasaki’s Paul Carpenter made it to the SX main event out of the first heat race (8^th), though Hill crashed early and was forced to the LCQ. In the second heat race Monster’s Jason Lawrence (Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing) was on fire, finishing 2^nd to eventual race winner James Stewart. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Billy Laninovich was able to pick up the last transfer spot (9^th) to make the SX main.

Hill would end up making the best of the LCQ and some added views of the technical Jacksonville track, winning that contest by just under three seconds ahead of Thomas Hahn. Unfortunately, Lawrence’s Boost Mobile/ampm/Monster Energy/Troy Racing teammate, Nick Wey, placed 3^rd in the LCQ and missed out making the SX main by one spot.

In the main Hill was again plagued by bad luck early in the contest, starting well outside the top ten and having to charge through a field of the best supercross racers in the world in order to move up. He’d eventually have better luck than Lawrence, who’d have a run-in with Brock Hepler battling for 4^th place on the second lap. Another collision would bend Lawrence’s front brake rotor – which would end his evening.

Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s Laninovich also got out slowly at the start, but dug in and worked hard to make it back into the top ten – racing on the lead lap through much of the contest in finishing 10^th. Hill was on fire, though, and put up the fifth-fastest lap time in the main in charging all the way to 4^th place.

Monster Energy Supercross takes a two week break here for the Easter holiday before returning to action April 18 in Seattle for round 15 of the series.

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it SX, rally, insane distance jumping, MX, MotoGP, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, rock crawling, wake, mini bikes, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, Monster’s fruit juice hybrid dubbed “M-80,” the party-friendly MIXXD, the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream drink line supercharged with our Monster Energy blend, along with the new Monster Energy “Hitman” energy shot. The Monster Energy guys running the Monster Energy Supercross series dig ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterarmy.com and www.monsterenergy.com

This Week in Monster Energy AMA Supercross

Monster Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, takes to the track tomorrow at Texas Stadium where the gate will drop for the 29th time. The AMA Supercross class race will air on SPEED Sunday, April 6 at 6:00 p.m. (EST), and the AMA Supercross Lites race will air on SPEED Saturday April 12 at 4:00 p.m.

Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing is in full swing again, following last week’s AMA Supercross race at Toronto, Ontario. Because the Toronto event was an independent race, AMA Supercross Lites contender Nico Izzi did not participate. Izzi took advantage of the downtime, however, to focus on saddle time in preparation for this weekend’s race at Texas Stadium.

“I was able to train more,” said Izzi, who picked up his first AMA Supercross Lites podium at the recent Indianapolis race. “I bicycled more, rode the Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250 more, did everything a little more. Since we had a few weeks off, I was able to work really hard. You usually can’t do that while you’re racing every weekend because you don’t want to over-train. I was just able to do a little more of everything in order to get ready for Dallas. I spent the first part of the break riding in Florida and then the rest of the time I’ve been at our track in Georgia. Now, I’m just focused on this weekend.”

In the premier AMA Supercross class, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s David Vuillemin has continued to train on supercross-style tracks as he prepares for the upcoming Dallas race.

“I wanted to ride motocross this week, but I decided to continue riding supercross in order to end the season well,” said Vuillemin. “I’ve been riding on the dry Suzuki test track to get used to the hard-packed conditions. If it’s dry, Dallas is always hard, slick and slippery. Texas Stadium itself is massive and pretty unique because it’s only open over the field. We had mud races there in the past and hopefully we’ll get nice weather this year. I used to live in Dallas so it’s kind of cool to go back.”

Monster Energy® Kawasaki is ready to return to Texas and after getting back on track at Toronto, Timmy Ferry is set to get back on the podium. At Texas Stadium last season Ferry finished third in the main event.


“It was pretty wet last year,” said Ferry. “For some reason in Texas they think it is cool to have a hole in the roof. I hear it is so God can watch them play football, but I think he can see through the roof. No really, there is a really small chance for rain so I think it will be a good event. My endurance should be better, so I think I can have a good race.”

Ferry’s teammate Travis Preston is hoping the weird track conditions that have followed the series this season are through, but he is predicting they aren’t. Preston put together a solid race weekend in Toronto, charging through the field after he fell on the first lap.

“I sure hope I have an advantage there,” said Preston. “It is just a short drive away from where I’ve been riding. I’m looking forward to it. The way things are going this season, I guarantee it is going to rain so we will just expect that. It has been a weird season so far. I just need to put together a full race and ride as hard as I did last week and I’ll get a good result.”

The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team hopes to repeat its results from its last trip to of Texas. Austin Stroupe earned his first career victory in Houston back in February and now Ryan Villopoto is coming off of his first win of the 2008. Though he has had a two week break, Villopoto has been busy.

“During the break we did some outdoor testing,” said Villopoto. “Our main focus though was trying to get the supercross title. I’ve got to make up 24 points in three races. It’s going to be tough, but we think we can do it.”

Villopoto’s teammate Branden Jesseman also spent the two week break working hard to be ready for the Dallas event.

“I’ve been busting my butt for two weeks,” said Jesseman. “I knew there were areas I needed to work on and I spent the break making sure I get better. I think I can get a podium and be a factor in the next three races.”

The 13th race of the AMA Supercross season in Dallas looks promising for MDK KTM factory rider Nick Wey who is looking to improve upon his season best 6th place finish from last weekend’s race in Toronto.

“I feel great and can’t wait to race in Dallas. I came up just shy of a fifth place finish in Toronto and now am ready to break into the top five this weekend,” commented Wey. In typical fashion Wey spent the week training at various tracks, including Perris Raceway, on Tuesday afternoon where MDK KTM Lites rider Justin Brayton could also be found.

“I am healed from my wrist injury earlier in the season and am ready to get back out and race. I’m really excited for the Seattle round coming up and I hope to be in the top three at that event,” reported Brayton.

Brayton’s teammates Matt Goerke and Ryan Sipes will be racing the Lites class in Dallas this week. Goerke, who has been living and training out in California the past three weeks, has really stepped up his game. “We’ve seen a significant improvement in Goerke’s riding since he’s been out in California and hope to see a top five performance from him this weekend,” claimed MDK KTM Lites Team Manager Danny Paladino.

MDK KTM Factory rider Martin Davalos enjoyed his time off near his home with family and friends nearby. “I enjoyed the break and am ready to get back to racing. I’ve been close to the front this season and hope to get a win soon,” stated Davalos.

JUST Signed To The Monster Energy Army, Josh Hill Pays Instant Dividends With O/A Win At Minneapolis

Hill (Yamaha) wins his first-even premier AMA Supercross class main event

CORONA, Calif., (March 17, 2008) – Monster Energy’s newly acquired Josh Hill (Yamaha) stepped up and put his shiny new M-claw helmet up on top of the box at Minneapolis’ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Round 11 of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, this past Saturday.

Monster Energy’s Hill, in only his second year as pro and first year racing the premier AMA Supercross class, took over the lead from Ryan Dungey prior to lap four, then led the remaining 16 laps to take his first premier class main event win – giving Monster Energy its first premier class win since Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s James Stewart won round two of Monster Energy Supercross in Phoenix.

My whole family’s put everything they have into this,” said an elated Hill from the Metrodome podium. “Their whole lives. And it’s paying off. (I’m) just trying to make everybody proud.”

Trained by famed motocrosser Ryan Hughes (who also guides Monster Energy’s Jason Lawrence’s MX training), Hill’s had two premier class runner-up finishes – the last one coming a couple weeks ago at Indianapolis’ RCA Dome. But following that he had a DNF in the mud at Daytona International Speedway, which makes this win ever that much more special in that it came on the heels of such a tough result.

“Getting 2nd was amazing. But winning – I don’t even know how to put it into words,” said Hill.

With the winning effort Monster Energy’s Hill moves to within two points of fellow Monster Energy athlete Tim Ferry (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) in the top five overall in the AMA Supercross class standings – 137-135.

Next up for Monster Energy’s Hill is the Toronto round of 2008 Monster Energy Supercross at Rogers Centre, March 29th.

Monster Energy supports the sport. Be it MX, road racing, supermoto, off-road, FMX, skate, MTB, off-road, surf, snow, BMX – name it – the athletes are rockin’ Monster Energy more than anything these days. Check out all the types – Original Monster Energy, Monster Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Monster Khaos, the new Monster/fruit juice hybrid called “M-80” and the ground-breaking Java Monster premium coffee & cream supercharged with our Monster Energy blend. Josh Hill digs ‘em – so will you. On the ‘Net at www.monsterenergy.com.