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Mickael Pichon - MXIllustrated Feature
Interview Tuesday 12th December 2011 By Jonathan Mccready
Two times World 250cc Motocross Champion Mickael Pichon will go down as one of the true heroes of the sport. Racing in the same era as two of the greatest of all time (Stefan Everts and Joel Smets) Pichon stood his ground and fought toe to toe against the two Belgian legends.
His AMA 125cc Supercross success and two FIM World Motocross Championships proved that he was a man with a motivation unlike many of his rivals.
Some could say he was complicated, at times grumpy, but always honest Pichon was a total contradiction of himself, yet despite his difficult manner he was always easy to interview and most of the time friendly towards the press.
I clearly remember two moments when I had irritated Pichon, one was at the Grand Prix of Spain in I think around 2003 and for those who remember it was a very muddy GP and Pichon’s bike gotten stuck in a really deep, muddy rut. The Frenchman tried and tried again to get it out, but it was a hopeless exercise and he eventually left his bike and took the long walk back to the paddock. I remember standing in the middle of the mechanics area as he walked back to his team’s truck. As I stood my ground and started taking pictures of the mud covered Pichon he gave me a Mike Tyson like glare and walked within inches of me, at that moment I seriously thought he might take a shot at me, he had so much fire in his eyes.
Another time was as his career came to an end in 2006 and many were mentioning how strange it was that he would retire with some mystery illness (Pichon retired after the opening GP of the season after mentioning he has some type of sickness). I wrote something about the mystery illness and just as in Spain Mickael walked towards me with an aggressive look in his face, again I felt as though there would be a confrontation, yet again he walked inches from my shoulder and on his way.
Funnily enough each and every time I ever interviewed Pichon he was very friendly and always open to answering any question. At this year’s Stefan Everts charity race we met up again and as usual he was friendly and joking around.
When Pichon retired in 2006 it was a great loss for the sport. The Frenchman was always outspoken, and professional. Some loved him, some hated him, but everyone wanted to see him race. Irelands Jonathan Mccready sat down with Pichon a little while ago and did this very interesting interview.
Motocross Illustrated: How often do you ride now that you are retired from full time racing?
Pichon: I still ride a little bit, but not too much. The last three years I rode eight to ten races a year. But this year I got injured in the winter with my wrist so I have on done three or four races. I was surprised when my manager said to me about coming to this race, because I haven’t raced outside of France for a couple of years.
Motocross Illustrated: I believe you have also done some road racing?
Pichon: I rode a little bit of Road racing, I did the 24hour in Le Mans, It was ok, I was not super fast but I had a good speed to be able to ride the 24 hours, I still do it, I have a 1000 at home.
Motocross Illustrated: Do you enjoy that form of racing?
Pichon: It is good but very fast, I have fun but it’s a bit scary, I feel more comfortable on a motocross bike.
Motocross Illustrated: Going back to you motocross career in the 90s, how was the adaption to living and racing in the US coming from France in 1995?
Pichon: It was ok, when it is your dream to race in the US in Supercross; you adapt yourself pretty good, especially when you spend most of your time riding. I was riding probably five or six days a week and when you go to Pro circuit you have good tracks for training. You spend so much time travelling and on the bike. I was living in California which is a nice area, the weather is good, there are many tracks to ride, and it is all the best to be a rider over there.
Read the rest of the interview at www.motocrossillustrated.com or below.
Stanley Leroux Design
