Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127867
SUPERCROSS WORLD S PER ROSS SERIES U C Rounds 2, 3, 4: Paris Supercross (Above) Jimmy Button (11) and Jeff Emig (1) lead the way a1lhe start 01one 01 six motos held over the course 01 the Bercy Supercross weekend. (Below) Bercy Stadium In Paris always has plenty of flash, and the opening ceremon ies are legendary. teamm ate Damon Huffman . wh o dec isively won both races on Friday night, and Team Cha pa rral /Yamaha's jeremy McGrath , who split the two Sunday rae wins with Emig but got the overa ll scor on that final evening of racing. The only o the r rid er to secu re a race win was McGr ath' s Cha parra l/Yama ha teamma te jimmy Button , who blitzed the field for a race win on Saturday night. The Bercy rac e ma rked the second, thi rd a n d fo u rt h ro u nds o f th e FIM World Supe rcross Series. The first race was held in Spai n an d w o n by Emig, w ho vows to win this series for the sake of the trophy. "Troy Lee designed a really great troph y for the World Supcrcross Champion, and that's wh at I'm s hoo ting fO T, " said Emig, w ho has international races planned in Switzerland, japan and Italy this wi nter. "I kno w it so unds kind o f corny , but that trophy would look grea t in my living room!" The track at Bercy was tight, technical and tacky . The mos t unique featu re of the tra ck was the tunnel. At Bercy, the pro moters utilize hallways under the stands to m ak e fo r longe r lap limes. When the riders d isap pear und er the stadium du ring the race, the specta tors are kept abreast of the actio n via live feeds on the s tadiu m's mas s iv e television screens. Other track features included a large double /tabletop combo for the finish lin e, a two-lane wh oop stretch and one long rh ythm sectio n. The combina tion of the technical track featu res and the tacky clay mad e for good, tight racing throu ghou t the weekend. 250cc FRIDA Y Wh en the 250s started lining up for the start of the first moto of the nig ht, there was one very no ticeable absence on the grid . McGrath had failed 10 qualify ou t of th e hea t ra ces ea rlie r in th e e ve ning . Righ t a fte r th e start of McGrath's first heat race, he was struc k from the inside and sent to the ground in the first turn. r-, 0\ 0\ ,..... '" C"l .... QJ .c E QJ ;> o Z 12 By Chris Hullner PARIS, FRANCE, NOV. 7-9 earn Ka w asa ki' s jeff Emig, al ready th e re ignin g AMA 250cc Su perc ross a n d 250cc Motocro ss atio nal Champion , ad de d the "King of Bercy" title 10 his already epic 1997 season wh en he was declared the overall winner of three nights of racing at Bercy Stadium in Paris. The 26y ear-o ld Em ig e a rn ed 2-1-4 o ve ra ll scores to win the King of Bercy crown for the first time in his eight-year professional racing career. " I finally won the King of Ber cy crown , which means no matter w hat I do from here un out at th is race, I will alwa ys be able 10 say that I won one of th e b iggest ra ces in the w or ld ," sa id Emig , whose mechanic was, as always, jerem y Albrec h t. "I ha d a super-good weekend . I tried real hard , I rod e within my limits. At times, when I wasn' t in a position for the win, I still rode hard and kept trying." The format for the World Supercross Champions hips differs fro m tha t of American supercross . Instead of racing hea ls, semis and a main, the WorJ SX d version util izes a two-mo te system. Everyo ne has to race a heat race to tran sfer to the motos. Both moto scores count towa rd the overall sta nd ing. jo ining Saturday's w inn er, Emig, on the list of nigh t winn ers was Kawasaki "When I got hit in the start of the hea l rac e, my fro n t d isc w as be nt ," sa id McGral h. "Tha t's why I fell over a seco nd time. I we nt into a turn and my front w heel locked. That's why I pulled ofL" As a result, McGrath had to go to the last-chance qualifier and had to start on the second row . Off the start, the former Supercross Champion was mired in the back of the pa ck. As the six-lap race progressed, McGrath was able to pu ll up behind Belgian rider jimmy Verburgh in fourth , a nd needed four th or better to qualify. On the final go-around in th e LCQ McGrath and Verburgh swa pped and reswapped positions, but when they crossed the finish line, it was the young Belgian who had the advantage. The fir st nig ht of ra ci ng at Bercy belonged to Team Kawasaki's Huffman . In the first race, Huffman was second off the start, behind Suzuki's Greg Albertyn . At firs t, it loo ked as th ou gh Albertyn was going 10 run away with the race bu t Hu ffman reeled Albertyn in and on the fifth lap Huffman made the pass. "I jus t started riding tight and making a lot of mistakes - lots of st up id things that cost me a lot," said a dejected Alber-