2003 Anaheim 3 250cc Heat #2 (Mickael Pichon's First Supercross in 4 Years)

This is the 2nd 250cc qualifying heat from the 2003 Anaheim 3 Supercross.

In 2003, Honda's Ricky Carmichael was on another roll early in the season. He had just came off his 2nd consecutive win at the last round at San Francisco. Team Yamaha's Chad Reed was keeping him in sight with a 2nd at San Francisco, but a 6th at Anaheim 2 cost him the points lead altogether. Carmichael was looking for 3 in a row here in Anaheim 3, but an old Supercross friend came in for a visit aboard a Suzuki RM250: Mickael Pichon #904.

Mickael Pichon had been absent from Supercross and Motocross for the last 4 years. He was subsequently fired from Team Honda after the '99 High Point National and had not been heard from since. Some people were hyping up how he'd face off against Ricky Carmichael. The last time Pichon and Carmichael saw each other in Supercross was in 1999 when Ricky was riding for Team Kawasaki and learning the ropes for the 250cc class. While Pichon had not won a 250cc Supercross, he did win 2 straight 125cc East titles in '95 and '96 for Pro Circuit Kawasaki. His actual first year in the states was back in 1993 aboard a Honda CR125; Pichon eventually won 10 career 125cc races. After his 2 titles, Pichon signed with Team Suzuki for 1997, but a leg injury in his heat race at the L.A. opener ended his rookie campaign. Pichon would remain with Suzuki through 1998 before moving to Team Honda for 1999.

According to Team Honda consultant Jeff Stanton, he had said Mickael had punched an AMA official in the back of the neck; Pichon was fined $3000. To add to that, Pichon's father parked in an ambulance stall and refused to move. Team manager Cliff White, and all of Team Honda were greatly embarrassed and fired Mickael on the spot. In Pichon's own defense, he announced he was going back to Europe for 2000 and beyond anyway to finish his career after 6 years in the U.S.A.

In this heat race, Yamaha of Troy's Brock Sellards #18, a 125cc East rider, pulled the holeshot. Pichon and fellow Frenchman, Pierrick Paget #916 also started up in the top 5. Carmichael got a mediocre start and managed to get by Mickael Pichon even through a near crash in the final whoop section. Carmichael managed to fight through the pack up to the leader, Sellards, and he passed him. Sellards hung on for 2nd place while Pichon and Team Suzuki's Stephane Roncada #21 rounded out the top 4.

In the main, AMSOIL Honda's Mike LaRocco #5 and Michael Byrne #32 got the dual holeshots. LaRocco's main ended early due to a crash with Team Suzuki's Sebastien Tortelli #103. Mickael Pichon's night ended early with a crash on lap 1; he finished in 20th. His one-time-only race was a disaster! Sellards took an impressive 7th place in the main, and Stephane Roncada (who was fighting an Epstein-barr virus) rode through for a 6th place. Ricky Carmichael won the race after passing Michael Byrne just after halfway -- just a 1/2 second ahead of Chad Reed.

Enjoy.