 Christophe Pourcel gave Team CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit victory in only their third GP when he won the Italian round of the FIM World MX1 Motocross Championship at Fermo.
After finishing 1-2 at the previous weekend's Bulgarian GP, Pourcel and fellow Kawasaki rider Gautier Paulin of the Kawasaki Racing Team again showed dominant form in Italy. They were both more than two seconds per lap faster than the opposition during the timed Pre-Qualifying session the previous day and followed this up with a runaway 1-2 win in the Qualification race before quickly moving to the front of the pack in the opening GP moto. Again their vivid duel took them clear of the pack with Pourcel emerging the winner by less than a second after they had passed and repassed each other in the closing stages of the race. Unfortunately Paulin slithered to the ground at the first corner of race two and had to be content with sixth place at the finish despite a storming ride through from last position, but Pourcel was again prominent and, despite the handicap of blood streaming down his face after he was hit on the nose by a rock, he crossed the line in the wheeltracks of the moto winner to clinch the overall GP victory. This was not only the first victory for the CP377 team, but also the first personal win in the world championships for Pourcel since 2007, his most recent full season of GP racing; that win, also in Italy at the Faenza facility, was in the MX2 category so today's win was his first overall success in MX1.
Pourcel's elder brother Sebastien also maintained his renewed show of speed as he made it three Kawasakis in the first five in the Qualification race, but he too took a rock on the nose on race day and sadly had to withdraw from both races. Paulin's KRT teammate Xavier Boog's gating skills deserted him for the weekend, but he had an impressive charge from 13th to nearly snatch fourth place at the chequered flag in race one before a fall restricted his scoring potential in race two.
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