The Frenchmen in MX1

Led by former World MX2 Champion Christophe Pourcel and with support from Steven Frossard, Sebastien Pourcel and Gautier Paulin the French legion will be tough to beat.

Pourcel, who managed to return to the FIM World Motocross Championships in 2010, proved that his speed is good, but he needed to work on his consistency. Having nearly won the Grand Prix of Great Britain, he stormed back to win a moto in the last two rounds of the series in Germany and Italy. Pourcel is one of the real characters of the sport and his talent will only add to the series this year.

"I am really happy to be back in the Grand Prix’s,” Pourcel said late last year. "I feel comfortable and I am happy with my team. We worked hard to get the bike sorted and I think my results in the last few rounds proved that we found a good combination.”

Of course it was Monster Energy Yamaha rider Steven Frossard who was the best placed Frenchman in the 2011 FIM World Motocross Championships with his runner-up spot in the MX1 class. Frossard started the season on fire, nearly winning in Bulgaria and then picking up a GP win in France and Sweden.

Yamaha Motor Europe’s Racing Manager Laurens Klein Koerkamp. Monster Energy Yamaha rider Steven Frossard.  Monster Energy Yamaha factory team principal Michele Rinaldi - and head of Yamaha Rinaldi Research and Development. Image courtesy of Geoff Meyer.

Gautier Paulin moves up to the MX1 class and after his moto victories in the 2009 and 2011 FIM Motocross of Nations, everyone is looking forward to see how he performs on the 2012 FIM MX1 World Championship. He also won the last round of the 2011 FIM MX1 World Championship in Italy and he is a very cool, collected rider. Paulin always looked too big for his 250cc machine and now he’s moved to the Kawasaki Factory team and on the bigger 450cc his consistency should improve.

What about Sebastien Pourcel? It’s been a while since the older Pourcel has really performed on the big stage and it will take a special effort from him to reproduce his form of previous seasons. Hopefully riding with his brother in the Team CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit he will regain the fire.

Other Frenchmen who have a shot at being contenders in the MX1 class are Xavier Boog and Anthony Boissiere. Boog finished seventh in last year’s MX1 points race, while Boissiere finished 13th. Boog has shown potential and even finished with two second places in motos in 2011.

Whatever happens with the strong French contingent in 2012 you can count on all of them standing on the podium or being inside the top five on many occasions. The question is, can another Frenchman become World Motocross Champion?

While Marvin Musquin was able to win the FIM World MX2 Championship in 2009 and 2010, and riders like Christophe Pourcel, Mickael Maschio, Sebastien Tortelli and J.M.Bayle have also had MX2/125cc success, no Frenchman has won the FIM World MX1 Championship, although five have won the World 250cc Championship, including Jacky Vimond, J.M.Bayle, Tortelli, Frederic Bolley and Mickael Pichon.