5 Minutes with…Dave Blanchet
By Billy Rainford
#418 Dave Blanchet from Quebec has been doing his best to qualify for the very competitive night program in the 450 class at the 2016 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. It would be pretty safe to say, he may have picked the toughest year to do this. With his PR-MX Strikt Gear Kawasaki team he has had some ups and downs along the way this season. He came up just short Saturday at Gillette Stadium near Boston and we grabbed him for a quick chat as he was heading back in to watch the rest of the races.
We have a chat with #418 Dave Blanchet after the Foxborough SX last Saturday. – Bigwave iPhone photo
Direct Motocross: Hello, Dave. How did qualifying go for you here in Foxboro?
Dave Blanchet: I’m pretty happy about my qualifying. I did my best time in the second qualifier by three seconds.
You ended up 45th and were close to getting in. It looked like you had some troubles with the track and couldn’t quite set up the finish line jump consistently.
The finish line is pretty tough. It was hard to jump because of the rain. The first double (there was a double out of the corner before the big finish line double) is very hard to catch right.
Dave just couldn’t put together a fast lap in qualifying. – Bigwave photo
I didn’t see it, but I heard you had a big get-off over the triple jump. What happened?
I followed #88 (Ronnie Stewart) because I wanted to try it behind him but I landed a little bit short. I gave it gas a bit too late and I threw the bike away in the air. It was a pretty crazy crash but I landed on my feet.
I heard you landed it and then did a front flip and waved to the crowd?
Yes. Thank you, God! (Laughs)
Ya, Julien (Perrier) explained it to me. Now what? Do you head to New Jersey next weekend?
Yes.
He’ll be in New Jersey this Saturday to take another shot at the night show. Good luck, Dave. – Bigwave photo
And what about Las Vegas?
I’ll do Las Vegas next year. This year, we’ll see if we can get the budget and the time to go.
Well, congratulations on giving this a shot. Good luck in New Jersey next week. Hey, what are your summer racing plans?
I’ll do Arenacross Tour and Challenge Quebec and both National races in Quebec.
Who would you like to thank?
Merci a PR-MX, Strikt, Ohlins, Novik, Goldentyre, Rekluse, and all my friends for the support. See you next week.
