The unsolved mystery of Christophe Pourcel continued over the weekend, with the Frenchman opting to sit out the Grand Prix of Latvia round of the Motocross World Championship.

Team Monster CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit confirmed before the weekend that Pourcel needed more time to adjust to the KX450F following his double DNF on debut in Germany this month.

Team owner Jean Jacques Luisetti commented on the late decision to skip Latvia in order to prepare the last rounds of the series.

“For sure it has been a tough decision, but we’re convinced that it was the best one,” said Luisetti. “Since he is back on a bike after his terrible accident four years ago, Christophe is very demanding about the bike settings and we still have to work.

“For sure many people will comment this decision, but if we come to retire in both heats that would be worse; we need to work in a quiet atmosphere, and for sure it’s better to work during private sessions rather than on a GP.

“It was important to ride Germany to know in which directions Christophe wants to go, and we already made some changes on the bike but the work in not yet finished – our rivals worked all winter long to set-up their material, not us due to Ben Townley’s injury and we need time.

“We already found solutions in connection with Pro Circuit in the USA, and made several improvements this week, and we’ll continue during the next two weeks to work hard. The goal is to be ready for Lommel, we all know that it’s a tough race but Christophe will be back there.”

The Lommel round in Belgium will take place in a fortnights time on 30-31 July.