Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

raci ng, and on a typical elect rifyi ng ni gh t in the Palais Omnispo rts de Berc y , Johnny O'Mara, David Bailey and Rick y J ohn son wou ld show the Paris ian publi c wh at supe rcross was all about. Wi th the ele vatio n of rider priz e -m on e y a n d a m aj o r la c k o f interest fro m th e Ame rica n factory teams , th e B erc y Su p e rc ro ss is no lon ger the biggest stand-alone supercross in th e wo rld . It ' s now up t o th e you th o f the sp ort to p resent t he ir ow n pi ece o f m ag ic fo r the Eu ro p ea ns. Last y ear sa w th e cha nge to 125cc ma ch in es fo r th e Bercy show , with 2003 AMA 125cc Nati ona l Mot ocro ss Champion and 2000 FIM 12 5 c c Wo rl d Motocross Champ ion Grant Langston steal ing th e show, l e ad in g home a l ong list o f A m e rica n a n d Fr en ch t ee nagers . This y e ar , L ang st on returned , although th is yea r he had to d eal with local he ro Vuillem in . Th e Sou th A fr i c an lo o k e d g reat headi ng into th e fi na l ni ght , although a poor pe rform ance on the opening ni gh t (due to m ech a nic al problems) ru in ed his hop e of taki ng his seco nd Berc y victo ry . "Ther e was n o t hi n g in i t , " Langst on said . " It w as reall y j ust a matter o f wh o m ad e th e least m is takes. I felt go od a ll w ee k end , a nd while th e t rac k w as a littl e ea sy , I kn ew m y sp e ed wo u l d ha v e b e en good enough t o race with Dav id. I'm disappointed abo ut the o pe ni ng ni ght; we j ust had some problems with th e engine." Sho rt proved to be a b ig success in Bercy, and th e 20 -y ear -o ld Suzu k i rid er wa s enjoyin g eve ry m oment of h is Be rc y ex pe rience , g o in g 1-3- 5 and mak ing a f ew ext ra f an s in Eu rope with his smooth sty le . " T h is is m y favo rite ra c e," Sh ort sm ile d . "The at mosp here is the best, and just co mi ng to the city of Paris , it's such a nic e place. I' m a little sur prised I co uld race w ith D av id on the fi rst night. I was a bit scared when he c ame up b ehi n d m e - I mean, he 's th e Kin g o f B e r c y ; h e ' s b e at e n McG rath here a lo t, and McG rath w ill alw ay s be T he Ma n to m e. I was just having some fun . It 's dangerou s in those tu nnel s, but it's great fun ." T h e ope ni ng n igh t of t he Bercy Supercr oss prov ed to be possi bly th e w or st n igh t i n t he hi s t or y o f t he Parisian ev ent. A sma ll crow d o f around 7000 p eop le attended, a nd th e rac ing was less tha n what peop le had co me t o expect fro m the eve nt. Sh o rt p ulle d off t he victory a s Vuil l em in st rugg led to sort o ut his ma ch in e, and Lan gston suffered poo r st arts . Fo r Vuille m in, th e early going was n ot w hat h e h o p ed w hen he ente red the eve nt. " I c ras hed in my heat ra ce , " Vuillemin said . " I washed o ut in the sand section, hit my head and got a littl e co ncussio n. I didn't know where I was - I got checked by the doctor, bu t I was ask ing whe re my wife was, and she isn 't even here. I had to wal k th e tra ck again bec ause I forgot how it was - I was prett y messed up fo r a wh il e. Luc k ily, th ere was a lo t of ti m e b et w e en th e h e a t an d t he lastchance. so I ha d time to ge t m y head together." Vu illemin sta rt ed th e m ain fr om the sec ond row, ye t he wa s still abl e to pull up o n rac e-winn er Short and plac e himself in a good po sition for the overall. Ni ght two was a se llo ut , a nd La ngston began his ser iou s defen se of his Berc y crown, winning the main a h e a d o f Vu ill em in , w ith Sh or t i n th ird. Go ing int o the last ni ght of th e program , the top three in th e po ints were sp read. "I'v e fe l t goo d all wee k e nd, " Langston said . " I wa s second on the first ni ght , and something went wrong w ith t he engine , a nd I lost a lot of power, w h ich dro p ped m e b ac k to fifth p lace. Tonight, I j ust fe lt g reat. We're running a stock engine, but it's good enough . I didn 't have too much trouble, got t he lead and kept my lines." But th e thi rd n ight w as th e m o st exciting of th e weeken d , as Sh ort , Vuill emin and Lang sto n went to war. L an g st o n an d V u i lle mi n w on th eir hea t rac es, wh il e Short finished a d ista nt second to Vuillemin after a poo r start. Going into the ma i n even t , Short and Vuill em in were tied fo r the o veral l, with La ngsto n t wo poi n t s ba ck in th ird. T he re was no doubt of wh er e th e c r o w d' s loy a lt ies w e r e pl a c ed , because whe n Vuillemin took the lead midra ce, th e Bercy arena erupted . " It' s always important t o come here , " Vuillemin said. "I love this event, and it's good for m e to co me here , raci ng in front of my c o untrym en. T o win he re so many times is just so n ic e for me. I c am e here as a sk inny kid and m ade my mark on this event." eN Palais Omnisports de Bercy Paris France , Results: November 7-9, 2003 NIGHT 1: I . A ndrew Sho rt ( Suz); 2 . Da vid Vu ill em in ( Yam ) ; 3 . M ik e Br ow n (Ya m ) ; 4 . Troy Adam s ( Yam) ; 5. Grant Langston (KTM); 6 . Ryan Mills (Hon); 7 . Kelly Sm ith (Yam ); 8. Jay Marm ont ( KTM ): 9 . Rodrig Th ain ( Hus) ; 10. Serge Gui detty ( Ka w) . NIGHT 2 : 1. Grant Langston ( KTM) ; 2 . David Vuillemin (Yam ); 3. Andrew Short (Suz); 4 . Pascal Leuret (KTM) ; 5 . Mi ke Brown (Yam); 6 . Troy Adam s (Yam) ; 7. Danny Smith (Yam) ; 8 . Ryan Mills (Hon); 9 . Kelly Smith (Yam): 10. Stephan e Demartis (Yam) . NIGHT 3 : 1. D avid Vuillemin (Yam ); 2 . Grant Lang ston (KTM) ; 3 . Pascal Leu ret ( KT M); 4 . Ja y Ma rmont (KTM ); 5 . Andr ew Short ( Suz); 6 . J osh Han sen ( Yam); 7 . T roy Ad ams ( Ya m); 8 . Dann y Smith (Yam ); 9 . Jeff Gibson ( Yam); 10 . Ryan Mill s (Hon ). KING O F BERCY O/ A: I . David VuHlemi n (5) ; 2. Grant Langston (8) ; 3 . Andrew Short (9); 4 . T roy Adams ( 17) ; 5 . Pascal Leuret ( 19); 6 . Rya n M ills (2 4); 7. Mi ke Brown ( 27 ); 8 . Jay Marm ont (29 ); 9 . Danny Smi th (29); 10. Jeff Gibson (3 1). BRIEFLY••• Two-t ime FIM 250cc World Motocross Champion Mickael Pichon attended Bercy as a spectator. The French rider is still in talks with Honda and Aprilia, although he would like to race for the Honda team in 2004 , depending on if he can organize lu nding. "I will not sign for anyone until I am given a l OQ-percent assurance that I WIllget paid. - Pichon said. "I don't want to end up like some of the previous Honda riders who where offere d great deals and then not paid. I have meetings wit h both Honda and Aprilia in the coming weeks and will begin testi ng in February. I am very motivated to beat Suzuki aft er what they did to me. - Attendance at the Bercy Supercro ss was the w orst in the history of the event. Friday night saw the famous stadium only thre e-quart ers lull, and while Saturday was a sellout, the last night was again only three-quarters lu ll. .Jean -Michel Bayle wi ll race several rounds of the 2004 French Enduro Champions hip and will possibly do the French round of the W orld Enduro Championship. He will race a Honda in the 450cc class. The Bercy officials were very disappointed wit h the altitude of the American factory teams. Kawasaki and Yamaha showed littl e interest in the event and even made it difficult for the riders to att end. Riders who wou ld have liked to ride and were not allowed included .Jam es Stewa rt. S tepha ne Roncada and Eric Sorby . while a numbe r of other riders pulled out due to inj ury. A ust ralia n Supercross Champion .Ja y M armont showed great speed in Bercy . The 20· year-old Australian finished with B-DN F·4 and could have done a lot better had he not injured his wrist during the Friday practice . The young Aussie is already signed with KTM for the 2004 Australian season and will more than likely move to America in 2005 with KTM support. cue ... n e vw s N OVEM BER 26 . 2003 19

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