Alli sat down with AMA Motocross Hall of Famer Jeff Emig to get his thoughts on the tight race for the 250 class championship title that’s slated for this weekend’s Pala National. Dungey took the premier class championship title, but there’s a great battle up ahead for second in points that will all go down on Saturday at the brand new Southern California track.
What are you looking forward to this weekend in Pala?
What’s so exciting about the race at Pala this weekend is that it’s a brand new national track. It’s in a great location in between San Diego and L.A. and all the inland areas. And I think there’s a lot of excitement where the people are interested to go see a new racetrack and see what it’s all about. I’ve been out watching a lot of work going into the place, so for all of us local guys it’s great because now we have a brand new track that’s a national caliber track and only about an hour drive.
This Pala race is really all about the championship battle for 250 class. We still have a great battle in the 450 between Brett Metcalfe and Andrew Short for second in points, along with the battle for four and fifth. But it really just comes down to the intensity of this 250 championship, which I think has really captivated everybody. Trey Canard was 57 points down, I believe, at one point on the lead, and now he’s seven points down. And he’s still going to need a little help, even if he wins, to win the championship. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Trey Canard
When was the last time a new track was added?
I believe Glen Helen back in ’93 would have been the newest track that was on the schedule. And I mean, think about it, that’s a long time ago. But it’s the first time that we’ve been in San Diego County, or anywhere close to San Diego, since the early ‘80s, back in the Carlsbad Raceway days.
So there’s obviously no one going in with a competitive track advantage, but are there any guys who have been putting in a lot of time there?
Basically, both riders have extremely talented and strong teammates. If you look at the track, and if you try to do some analysis, you would think that this is going to be a tough track for anyone to really dominate on. It’s going to be rough, it’s going to be soft, there’s going to be lots of jumps. It’s going to require a lot of horsepower. Starts are going to be key.
Did last weekend’s race in Steel City set the precedent at all for Pala?
You’ve got these teammates that up until last week in Steel City, each riders teammates still were kind of doing their own thing. But at Steel City we really saw the cream rise to the top and we saw the championship contenders elevate their game to a level where nobody else could even come close. So if it plays out the same, then Pourcel is going to win. I just don’t think that a rider like Christophe Pourcel is going to be extremely happy unless he goes out winning. I guess at the end you want to win the championship, and that’s the main thing. But you also want to put your stamp on the series, and there’s just a lot of pressure on both riders to get it done this weekend.
Christophe Pourcel
The word is Pourcel needs to get third or worse in one of the motos for Canard to take the championship with a win, what are your thoughts on that?
It comes down to pressure and momentum. I was in a similar situation in 1992 when I was just a grip of points down on Mike LaRocco, and it was all about the momentum. We came into the final race where the mentality was, you gotta win the race to win. And it was somewhat comforting to know that you don’t have to worry about second or third or anyplace else. It’s clear. The goal is defined and there is no question about it. So if I’m Pourcel or Canard, I’m not thinking about anything else except winning the race.
And if you’re in the moment, in the moto, and the situation arises where a second-place is going to be good enough, then you can let that thought creep into your mind. But, I tell you what, if I was either one of those guys, it’s about going out and putting on the ride of my life. This is going to be one of those championships where people look back and they saw a number of riders have spectacular rides, an extremely talented competitive series, and all of that, but the guy that wins the championship is going to have to be superhuman.
I’m not sure a lot of people know this, but Pourcel is a big Superman fan, so he’s got the Superman thing going. So is Superman going to prevail here, or is the kryptonite that is Trey Canard going to get the best of him? It’s going to be interesting.
Trey Canard
Any advantages you see in one rider over the other?
I do believe in momentum. So right now you have to acknowledge that Trey Canard has got the momentum. He’s got all kinds of positive things happening around him, and that’s a good place to be. I would much rather have that than I would the points right now, to be honest with you. And we’ll see. Canard could put in the race of his life, and Pourcel could get two seconds, and Canard could win and he’d lose the championship by one point. And in the process, he’s won five overalls, so he could have six overall wins and a bunch of moto wins and still not win the championship.
And I’ve also been in that situation too, where I won more races and more overalls and not been the champion. All it leads to is an extremely exciting weekend of racing in Southern California. I think it’s fitting that the championship is going to come down to this track. There’s a new venue and we’re going to have beautiful weather. There’s going to be great fans there that are going to be really excited to have a new race on the circuit and we’ve got live television coverage for all the fans that can’t make it.
Pourcel and Canard
