Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eSUPERCROSS ParisBerg SX ~ (Left) Jeremy McGrath arrived at Bercy and picked up where he left off in the United States at the end of the '93 Supercross Series. The newly crowned Supercross champ raced to all but one race win during the three days of competition• .... rl ~ Q) ~ Q) u Q) Q McGrath shows 'em no mere at Here By Alex Hodgkinson "I 12 PARIS, FRANCE, NOV. 5-7 was the Prince of Bercy when 1 won the 12scc class two years ago . 1 hope 1 can be the King of Bercy th is year," said Team Honda's Jeremy McGrath at the pre-race pr esen tation on the third, and final, day of this year's Paris Bercy SX. And that is exactly what the reigning Camel Supercross champion achieved, despite defeat in two of hi s three races in the fina l evening of competition. Regarded as one of the premier offseason supercrosses, the Paris Super cross, held in Bercy Stadium, pits riders against one another for three consecutive da ys of bar-banging action. The top 12scc rider is crowned "Prince o f Bercy," while the title of "King" goes to the best 250cc rider. McGrath had raced unbeaten through the first two days of competition to confirm his ranking as th e world's best supercrosser, but on th e third day his Honda teammate, Jeff Stanton, served notice that he plans on regaining his crown in 1994. This year's French classic had a new race program in which the 12scc and 2s0cc riders raced not only amongst themselves, but against each other as well. The top-finishing riders from each class went on to compete in a combined 125 and 250cc Superfinal at the end of th,: evening. The new format was not greeted with open arms by the US contingent. Yamaha mechanic Brian Lunnis was the first to voice his dip leasure, and stated before the start of the week end's racing, " If my bosses at Yamaha had known that they were going to mix the 125s and 250s they wouldn't have let Mike Craig come. The diversity of performance over the big jumps makes it dangerous and the AMA season is not far off." As it was, there were few direct confrontations as the 250s ou td ragged the smaller bikes along the long start straight. The French had expected their latest star, Mikael Pichon, to clean up the 125cc class, but nervous tension got to the 17-year-old and he only won one moto (plus a class win in the Superfinal) throughout the three days. Paris debutants Ryan Hughes and Honda of Troy /Enzo Racing rider Cra ig Decker shared the 12scc class wins . Kawasaki-mounted Hughes emulated McGrath's five moto wins in six starts, while consistency clinched the overall class win on day three for Decker. Holeshot expert McGrath was actually beaten out of tum one in two out of three races on Fr iday, bu t still won. Larry Ward, who always rides above his normal form in the French arena, snatched the early lead in the first 250cc heat, but inevitably fell to McGrath and multi-champion Jeff Stanton in mid-race. "It is only my second race on the Yamaha , so 1 feel good to have finished so close," said Ward, who held on to thir d. Stanton could never close right up on his Honda teammate, and it was already clear that the Hondas had few rivals for the w in a t Bercy. Fourth-placed Jeff Matiasevich was nearly half a lap down at the flag. The second 250cc qualifier was led by McGrath all the way, as Stanton had to fi gh t h is way past Mike Craig and Fred erick Bolley. But in the big race which ended the evening, McGrath again had to come from behind. Stanton holeshot, but his younger rival slammed insi de at the second tum and displayed his usual early pace to open up a lead. Stanton closed in late in the race, but it was too late to reverse the positions. The main European challengers had failed toqualify for the race. Former 12scc World Champion Stefan Everts got taken down early in both qualifiers and in the last chance qualifier, while re igning 250cc World Champion Greg Albertyn experienced clutch problems and fell all on his own. Some acrimony was created between the 250cc GP rivals as the South African took out the Belgian in their first race. "I didn't do it on purpose. Stefan had passed me and 1 was trying to get him back . 1 had the inside line and 1 didn't expect him to come across me. That's racing. U Stefan is sore at me, OK, but 1 don't need his mother, mechanic and . entire family screaming at me," said Albertyn. The duo clashed again in the LCQ when Albertyn fell into Everts' path after a collision with Guy Cooper. Day two saw McGrath holeshot all of his races, each time pushing fellowrapid-gater Bolley into the hay bale s, but Stanton got closer than ever to beating his teammate. The Michi gan rid er had settled for qualifying in the 250cc heats, but in the Superfinal he rode with a vengeance fr om a terribl e s tart, which saw him complete the opening lap fifth. The 15lap race was nearly halfway complete before Stan ton cut inside Bolley for second at the end of the tu nnel. Once into secon d , Stanton closed th e gap on McGrath and put on a wonde rful show as he pressured the leader. Time ran out, however, and Stanton was forced to settle for the runner-up position at the checkered flag. "I felt a li t tle tir ed and ne r vo us tonight wi th the d ifference in tim e zones, bu t the reaction of the crowd as Jeff closed in woke me u p:' admitted McGrath on the rostrum. Stanton was pure magic through the whoops, and each lap closed down the leader. But the obs tacle wa s too sh or t and narrow before the tight tum under the Dunlop Bridge for him to make a pass there. With a lap and a half to go, Stanton made his move at the end of the tunnel, slamming inside to nose in front of-McGra th. Had it been a points-scoring race against anyone other than his teammate he would surely have won, but McGrath didn't back off and used his extra mo mentum from the outside line to squeeze through the narrow gap which Stanton left him next to the wall. Both riders were satisfied with their performances. Ward got a stone hooked up in his rear brake, thus leaving Bolley to snatch third in only his second ride back from a virus infection, while Everts advanced to fifth from a poor start. Albertyn again failed to qualify after crashing each race, his best performance coming in the second qualifier when he fought through to second and was trying to close down McGrath when he fell victim to the whoops. . Kawasaki's Hughes had won the first 125cc race on Friday after rival Frederic Vialle crashed down field in the closing stages, but he then took three straight gate-to-flag wins in the class qualifiers, despite continual pressure from behind. Home-country hero Pichon was under tremendous pressure to succeed and he went down early in both Friday qualifiers. The second race had to be rerun, however, after Buddy Antunez got his leg caught up in the rear whee of Jimmy Gaddis' Kawasaki in the tunnel - it took nearly 15 minutes to free him by first cutting spokes to release the tension and then knocking out the axle. Antunez's leg was, remarkably, unbroken and he was able to make the restart. This time, Pichon got away with Hughes, but the Californian withstood the pressure for 10 laps. Both races on Saturday were a similar story, though

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